"When we first got to Fiji, we didn't know that the ferry that we were on was the last one to reach the island...they did one last-minute trip before the cyclone hit."
Two people have died in the storm, the Fiji National Disaster Management Office said.
Fifty-four evacuation centres were active with 2001 displaced people, it said.
The Papas were warned about a "tropical depression" as they approached the island, but were "a little bit naive" as to how bad it would get, she said.
Locals were securing the area when they arrived and all of the boats returned to the mainland as there was nowhere to safely store them.
"But I think it was when they told us to stay in our rooms in our villa and they were putting up boards on all the windows to stop them from blowing in from the cyclone, that I was like 'oh my gosh, this is intense'".
Papas said the locals had the situation under control, with torches at the ready when the power cut out.
"It was still pretty nerve-wrecking, but they kept us pretty calm."
Around 30 people were on Matamoanoa when Cyclone Sarai hit, she said.
Yet they were still without water on Sunday, after the cyclone tore up pipes that treated the seawater for drinking and plumbing.
No ferries have come on or off the island and swimming in the sea is also off the travel itinerary, as it still too dangerous, Papas said.
"I heard one of the locals saying he's never seen ferries suspended for three days in a row."
The couple arrived on Boxing Day and will return to Fiji in the New Year.
"We're definitely over the worst of it now," she said.
