Chaletgirl

Fiji

July 4, 2011 at 8:03 am | Posted in Holidays | 9 Comments

We’re home.

We’ve just had the most delightful week, holidaying at Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort. I really want to tell you all about this place, but if I find that I can’t get a bure when I want to go back, I will be super grumpy that I let the cat out of the bag.

We had reasonably crap weather. Just as it has been unseasonably cold all over Australia, Fiji has been dragged under it’s icy spell (although when I say icy, I may be exaggerating). It was certainly cooler at times than what I expected, although most days it was still lovely in a T-shirt. The pools were too cold to swim in, but the sea was delightful.

The resort is a bit of a bugger to get to. It’s located on the northern island of Vanua Levu, far away from the popular mainland Fijian resorts in Denarau, or the lovely resorts in the Mamamuca Islands. You can fly in on a scheduled domestic flight from Nadi, or if those planes are full, you have to do what we had to…..charter your own seaplane! Which sounds all very glamorous and posh, but 95 minutes of being thrown around in the air like a sock was almost more than my poor stomach could bear. Clearly my children did not inherit my weak sense of balance that means I can barely snorkel without wanting to throw up. Here they are, playing their iPads on the seaplane, while I stare out at the jiggling horizon, trying to hold my breakfast down.

When we finally arrived at the resort and I landed both feet on that amazingly solid, not-moving-at-all dock, and the band serenaded us, and we were handed ice cold glasses of fresh, tropical juice…..well? Call me happy.

When they lifted my children from the seaplane and handed them straight to their nannies, who took them off (so happily!) to the ‘Bula Club’……well? Call me ecstatic.

I had no idea what they planned to do with them there all day but the other kids all seemed happy and content. I vaguely recall seeing them both at about 2:13pm that afternoon and they weren’t that interested in seeing me, so I left them to it and returned to sprawling on the day bed, book in hand.

Included in the resort tariff is a full time nanny for each child 5 and under. I had been somewhat regretful that Henry had turned 6 in April, but I knew that the set-up for older kids (a buddy to look after 5 kids) would also work well for him, and give him a little more freedom. As it turned out, they allocated him a full time nanny, despite his age, due to his food allergy. I was very thankful that they did this of their own accord, and his delightful nanny took such great care of him.

He went on some fantastic excursions with the other kids and their nannies. They went exploring on a nearby island with the resort’s Marine Biologist and learned all about mangroves. They went on a rainforest hike up to a waterfall and swam in the cold rockpools. When he got tired on the return trip, his nanny carried him back down. He went out in the glass bottomed boat to see the reef fish and coral, and he even tried snorkelling out on the reef. One day at breakfast he asked me if he could have some extra time to practice snorkelling before the boat trip, and I asked the nanny if that was possible, thinking that the pool would suffice (there were three pools at the Bula Club – 3 pools just for a handful of kids!). She said sure, and next moment, he’s heading out on the dock with his nanny and the boat driver, and they took him out to a great snorkelling spot for some extra practice.

He spent the rest of his time catching hermit crabs, planting mangroves, sliding down the waterslides, swimming, jumping on the trampoline and making lots of new friends. Apparently. My day bed was super comfortable and seemed to draw me in each day and envelop me with quiet time and cocktails.

Emmeline’s nanny was just as awesome, and completely up to the task of dealing with my difficult child. Most kids, when they get to Fiji, learn those necessary Fijian words ‘Bula’ and ‘Vinaka’ (hello and thank you) within the first 3 minutes, and walk around the resort from then on beaming a Bula! at everyone they meet. My daughter obstinately refused. “No Bula. I can not.” But introduce her to someone that is happy to take her to the beach at any given time, and do whatever her little heart desires, then even she is sold.

I was told that she spent her days at the beach, in the pools, in the sandpit, collecting hermit crabs and frogs for racing, on the glass-bottom boat, painting a T-shirt and making a grass skirt…..but since all I could see from my day bed was the blue sea and the cocktail menu I will have to take her word for it.

The Bula Club is tucked away from the bures and the main bar/pool area. There is a family eating area and an adults-only eating area. There is an adults-only pool. Nobody was bothered by other people’s kids, and the kid free couples we spoke to confirmed this. There are only 25 bures at the resort, with a maximum capacity of 85 people, so even at full capacity, there are not a lot of people (or kids) there.

We did a few things as a family. Um, breakfast for one. (The kids ate all their other meals at the Bula Club). Fantastic food there, too, by the way. Fijian resorts aren’t really known for great food, but I can highly recommend the food at JMC. The kids don’t eat too much differently from the adults – lots of fresh, healthy filling food, much of the produce is grown at the resort itself.

Other family activities included a trip to the local village where much of the resort staff come from. We watched the kava ceremony and there was dancing and music and it was delightful. Emmeline’s nanny has a son the same age as Henry, and we met her cousin who takes care of her son after school while she works at the resort. The kids really enjoyed meeting some Fijian kids and seeing how they live.

On the sunniest, prettiest day that we were there, we all took a boat (speedboat, fast, no chance to get sick!) to a deserted island.

We had a picnic lunch, played on the beautiful beach and raced hermit crabs. When Emme got whiny and grouchy, the nannies picked up both kids and took them for a walk around the island and they came back armed with beautiful blue starfish, cowrie shells and sea cucumbers (which all quickly went back into the water). It was heavenly and warm and delightful and one of my favourite days I can remember.

That night, as Emme slept, watched by her nanny and Henry watched a movie with the other kids and ate his body weight in popcorn, my husband and I dined alone, surrounded by water, at the end of the dock under the stars.

In summary, the Bula Club and the nannies at JMC were so completely awesome. Every time I saw my kids (2:13pm on the first day, and possibly about 11:27am on Wednesday) they were happy, stimulated, sunscreened, fed, active and engaged. And so well cared for.

My husband and I got to spend actual, real, live, uninterrupted time together. We had conversations that we could finish! We had naps! We swam and snorkelled together! We played Scrabble! We went ‘out’ for lunch and dinner every. single. day. We had cocktails and nobody had to drive. We knew our kids were happy and taken care of, and we relaaaaaaaaaxed.

And if you think about it, and I have, what could be more important to kids than their caregivers having a break, connecting, spending valuable alone time together? In the long run, it can only be good for the whole family.

The villa turned out to be as gorgeous as expected. Here’s our own private daybed next to our own private plunge pool….

The view from the villa….

The amazing bath/shower area….

and the lovely bedroom….

When we left the resort, I cried.

When we took off on the little domestic plane, I cried again. Maybe a few were tears of happiness that I didn’t have to go back on the seaplane, but mostly sadness at leaving this beautiful place and the beautiful people that had taken such good care of all of us.

Proof that I did, in fact, spend some time with my children this holiday. Even if it was, um, on the plane on the way home.  :-)

Yes, it is pricier than the average Fijian resort, but given the inclusions (all meals, nannies, most excursions and activities, non-alcoholic drinks) and given the level of care that each of you receive, I say GO. Especially if you have kids age 5 and under and can make use of those nannies. Sell that kidney, beg or borrow from your mother, rob that bank. You won’t regret it.

No consideration was furnished for this blog post. It is entirely my independent opinion. However, if JCMFIR would like to provide me a holiday in exchange for a review, then I am all ears. I can be there tomorrow.