Fabulous fortnight of Fijian fun for family of four!
Our bones jangling, the coach races through the night toward the Fijian Shangri-La. Three quarters of an hour or so later we escape the coach, with a mix of relief and excitement. Our two week Fijian holiday has now begun.
Our room is cool, compact and comfortable. It’s combined living and sleeping which makes the stylish-looking TV rather redundant once our two sub-four year boys are counting sheep. It also means we occupy ourselves of an evening in the bathroom, me perched on the lid of the toilet seat while Jane gets the chair. It’s a novel situation and one we find rather amusing. But it certainly beats sitting outside, sweaty and the target of rampant mosquitoes.
We are not of course imprisoned in the bathroom once the boys retire. We alternate our nightly walks around the resort, randomly roaming or visiting the shops, games room and internet centre. Internet is free, fast and best of all air conditioned. There are four terminals from which to monitor outside affairs if that’s your bag. It’s easy to snare a daily session, especially at meal times or before bed. On other nights, worn out from the day’s activities, we’re slumbering not long after the boys.
 Our days pivot around the Shangri-La’s first rate pool which caters well for kids (all ages) and adults. Harry and Oliver rove across all depths, with parental assistance of course. There are forays into the saltwater to snorkel, kayak and splash with the boys. Jane and I also enjoy playing volleyball and touch footy, usually while Harry naps and Oliver moulds sand. There’s a ‘Little Chiefs Club’ but the only occasion we call in is for an emergency toilet stop. It seems well set up but locating its daily agenda is another matter.
Most of the resort’s sporting activities, such as water basketball, aqua aerobics and mini-Olympics, are organised and well patronised events. Our hosts are enthusiastic, participatory and always of good humour. All activities, physical or otherwise, are advised through the ‘Daily Bulatin’ placed in your room’s letterbox every evening. Toad patrol and chasing, along with observing and listening to the native fruit bats, are free. You will not find these activities listed in the Daily Bulatin however.
Parasailing is popular, as are the tube and ‘donut’ rides behind the resort’s speedboat. There’s no need to camp out to secure a sun lounge-or any other equipment for that matter. Lounges are plentiful and you can usually find the required number whatever your intentions-tanning, reading or ‘progeny patrol’. Collect and return your towels poolside with no paperwork required. There’s an attractive adults only pool as well, well away from the hubbub of the main pool.
Eating at the Shangri-La’s main family dining venue, the Lagoon Restaurant, can be a noisy and somewhat stressful affair. After two nights we seek refuge from the Lagoon's frenetic atmosphere at the nearby Beach Bar and Grill. Here we can all truly relax and really appreciate our dining experience. The menu is excellent, staff attentive and our meal plan is honoured. Patrons enjoy an impromptu ‘jam session’ when Oliver and girl friend are invited to strum and sing with the Bar’s resident guitarists. We end up dining here for the remainder of our nightly meals and particularly enjoy the fresh seafood night.
Note there’s no toilet at the Beach Bar and Grill. If you’re caught short, retrace your steps for the nearest relief at the Lagoon Restaurant.
 Just a word about the meal plans. Remember that even with pre-pay plans you’re still likely to exceed your credit. So check your account at least once before check out to minimise any rude shocks. This is especially relevant at Plantation Island (our second host) where you trade hand-written meal vouchers for actual…meal vouchers (buffet or al a carte). It’s an odd system that suffers from double (even triple) data handling, thereby increasing the risk of account miscalculation.
If none of this bothers you, then have another Fiji Premium and relax. In contrast, the Shangri-La operates an electronic ordering/ recording meal system so the likelihood of non-trivial mistakes is slim. For the record, our account at the Shangri-La was spot on while at Plantation Island we noted some discrepancies in our bill.
If like me you enjoy the odd 25 minute walk or cycle session at the gym then head to the Shangri-La’s well appointed gym. Just make sure to schedule all your sweating before 7pm closing time. It’s not ideal opening hours for parents of young children but that’s the deal.
We skirt the 9 hole golf course once. Though it seems well kept and configured neither of us are tempted to swing a club in the heat. As we return to reception and pass the mangroves we pause to watch some formidable looking mud crabs dart back into their homes. We retire to the pool to escape the heat.
In this fashion six nights slip seamlessly by. Day seven and we transfer to Nadi’s Port Denarau by coach (minus the shaking of bones) then to Plantation Island by catamaran.
After 50 minutes or so on the cat we’re at Plantation Island’s Brigham Bar sipping a complimentary glass of tropical juice as our hosts check us in. A short golf cart ride later and we’re at our garden bure. It’s a palace compared to our room at the Shangri-La: Stand alone, two bedrooms and bathrooms with a spacious front living area. Two air conditioners and four ceiling fans have our ‘palace’ beautifully cool and comfortable. Screens on all windows deny the mozzies our blood. We finish our inspection, freshen up and seek lunch at the Old Copra Shed.
Thankfully the buffet area is quite compact and the selection less global. There's also an appealing range of al la carte dishes, several of which we sample during our stay. On the first lunch occasion Oliver flakes before taking a bite. For a brief moment we enjoy being a single child family again. It’s over all too soon!
The restaurant’s on-the-beach location proves a mixed blessing. On one hand it rather distracts at meal time. On the other it provides some relief as Oliver finds willing accomplices to dig and build in the sand or wade along the shoreline. On this occasion we decide that it won’t harm Oliver to run on air for a few days in favour of some beach fun.
The buffet fare is consistently tasty, though we choose to avoid the salad bar. Here it’s easier to find more greens and they’re cooked al dente. The dining highlight's without doubt the pig-on-the-spit, accompanied by a delicious range of roast vegetables and other meats. Anandas restaurant, near the airfield, is another dining option and will honour Plantation's meal vouchers. Other possibilities are Dicks Place and Flame Tree restaurant at Lomani Island Resort. You might like to make the latter two by electric cart. Otherwise set yourself for a leisurely 40 minute round trip in both cases.
 The waiting staff are wonderful. Again, Harry is singled out for close attention. His cheeks are again squeezed and noses rub. With our consent he’s plucked from his highchair and disappears for the next little while, variously juggled between our resident guitarists, waiters and bar staff. On another day Harry acquires a shell necklace as one of the male waiters bends down to squeeze his cheeks. We return it the following day. Harry will miss all this attention once we’re home again.
Though I admit it’s hard to imagine, the atmosphere here’s definitely more relaxed than at the Fijian Shangri-La. This probably has a lot to do with fewer rooms (or bures) and more beachside (which’s more easily accessible) as much as our hosts’ friendly and attentive nature.
A large white board adjacent to the ‘cocohut’ informs guests about daily activities at and from the resort. We make best advantage of the free hour long snorkelling (twice daily) and fishing (once each day). Jane and I alternate between snorkelling, fishing and minding the boys in and around the pools and beach. A middle-aged but fit-looking kiwi couple I meet on a snorkelling outing inform me (with some surprise) that their island circuit required three hours. A detour for a couple of ‘quiet ones’ (beers) may explain their sluggish time!
Plantation Island seems to attract New Zealanders preferentially. We note the unmistakable kiwi accent and meet many others throughout our stay.
Kids club activities are well devised-so crabs and toads procured by kids during the day are later harnessed for after-dinner racing. Coconut flesh scoured out to create coconut shell boats finds its way onto the evening menu. For $5FJ kids paint T-shirt fronts and the resort logo’s then applied to the back. It’s great to see such resourcefulness and enterprise.
At nights with the boys in bed we seize some 'us' and ‘me’ time. Unable to compete with Harlan Coben’s latest novel for Jane's attention I step out for some evening walks. The immediate coastline is well lit at night and by good fortune it’s a full moon during our stay. This and the sun's absence make for pleasant walking, especially on the easily accessible ridges where the breeze blows soft and cool. Nadi’s lights are easily spotted. One evening I snare a sizeable land crab. Waved under Jane's nose it instantly has far more success than I at displacing Harlan Coben from her grasp. After posing for some photos, I return our friendly crustacean to its home.
The weather throughout our entire Fijian stay is glorious. There are just a couple of rain events while at Plantation Island and only one of these during late daylight hours. On this occasion we’re doing the early dinner sitting with the boys. I help clear tables set for dinner as plump rain drops begin falling. It’s all over in about 15 minutes and in 30 you wouldn’t even know it happened.
We watch our boys’ water confidence grow markedly over 13 days. Though the waterslide parts Oliver from his inflatable ring a couple of times, leaving him briefly submerged, his appetite for water play quickly returns. Our water baby, Harry, just can’t get enough submersion. He’s knocked over a couple of times with boat wash as he sits naked at the water’s edge. A minor disruption to his animated water play.
We depart Plantation Island on day 13 to the Novotel Nadi for our last Fijian night. On the cat is our left-handed, machete-wielding coconut splitter (splitting’s the first step in building a coconut hulled boat). It transpires that he's an accomplished sailor with two world-class teenage sailing daughters. We laugh as he wryly admits his daughters have already seen more of the world than their father. As we prepare for home, we hope Oliver and Harry have similar travelling opportunities in their younger years - sailors or not.
Damien Blackwell
Hobart
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