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Bula and Welcome to the
Fiji Island Tours Bula Sheet for June. It has certainly got colder here
in Sydney where we are based, and if you are feeling the cold, wherever
you are, immerse yourself in this newsletter for a few moments and
imagine you are in Fiji. This months newsletter is dedicated to
traveling to Fiji with your children. You may not be aware, but Fiji
Island Tours have a dedicated arm of the business called "Fiji for Kids"
. Within this arm of the business we aim to tailor the best holiday for
you and your family to Fiji. In the name of research, we must try out
these resorts with our own families, who gladly come along and take note
of the best bits, and the not so best bits, so that we can pass that
information on to you.
I, Juliet, Fiji Island Tours Sales and Marketing Director, have just
returned from a ten night stay, traveling with my husband and children
aged 4 and 2. We returned to an old favourite - Castaway Island Resort.
Castaway is just perfect for those of you traveling with children and
the minute you step off the launch, seaplane or water taxi you will be
in family paradise.
Castaway is located in the Mamanuca chain of Islands, about 30kms due
west of Nadi. With 174 acres of lush tropical vegetation, surrounded by
white sand beaches and vibrant coral reefs, its a classic tropical
island.
But what is it that makes Castaway so special for families? I think the
very fact that it is not designed solely for kids, but for the whole
family. There are not hundreds of children frantically running around
disturbing the peace for all the other guests, but a genuine mix of
holiday makers. There are groups of families coming together from all
parts of the world for re-unions; honeymoon couples enjoying the
tranquility of the resort; small family groups who naturally join up
with other small family groups as their children join up and play;
groups of people who had all got together for a wedding to be held on
the island; and even when we were there two groups of television crews
filming (unobtrusively I must say) the resort to pass on our secret to
the rest of the world.
Castaway is relaxed, safe and fun.
As adults needing time out to recharge, but also wanting to spend time
with the children, Castaway was ideal. Simple things like being able to
have a leisurely breakfast in the morning and watch the children feeding
the fish on the beach (with yesterdays bread gladly given to them by the
kitchen), being able to watch them playing on the beach from our Bure
(we were in a beachfront Bure), letting them safely wander to the
activities bure to get snorkeling equipment or spy boards, knowing that
they were safe, and that a friendly Fijian would most certainly take
them by the hand should they need help. Letting them sit with the band
at lunch time listening to the boys - whose repertoire included "Big Red
Car" and even a lullaby when every now and again Hugos eyes got heavy
and a rest was needed.
 Kids
Club is of course available to those children over 3. Activities include
sandcastle making, coconut hunting, cracking and even cooking, weaving,
nature walking and treasure hunting. The kids club even manage to get
the adults involved sometimes when activities move to the beachfront and
more legs are needed for the three legged race, the potato sack race
(adults versus kids) and the egg throwing competition. Kids Club is open
all morning, with a lunch break in the middle of the day. In the
afternoon it is open until 3.30pm and then open again in the evening
until 9.00pm Its a small well run and personal place and the team that
run it are wonderful, happy and loving - and most importantly, the kids
love it.
While all this is going on we were soaking up the atmosphere of our
family paradise – Andrew and I even managed to read several books, sail
aboard one of the resorts catamarans, windsurf and best of all I enjoyed
several of the best massages I have ever had at Bure Lomani. At night
the children greeted Nasaka our babysitter with glee, read books and
then exhausted from the days activities went to bed while we enjoyed the
evening dining on great food and drinking wine from an extensive wine
list. The brief had been met - we were relaxed and the children were
happy - very happy. Best of all we had spent our holiday together as a
family.
 Great
news for the resort is all the Bures are being renovated. Its been many
years since the Bures have been updated and the renovation is just
beautiful. Some of the island Bures have been finished already, and the
programme for renovations works from the Island Bures through to the
Ocean View Bures and finally the Beachfront Bures. Ever mindful of not
disturbing the guests, the renovations are happening just a few bures at
a time. We were not even aware of them until someone told us. Once all
the Bures are complete Castaway will certainly have stepped up a
category in terms of its accommodation.
Castaway is of course not the only place in Fiji to visit as a family.
We moved from there to the mainland and spent three days at ShangriLas
Fijian. In sharp contrast to Castaway, the Fijian is big and bold. The
Fijian offers everything that a big hotel offers and if that is the kind
of holiday you are looking for ShangriLa is great - there is a games
room, a huge kids club with all sorts of playground equipment, a giant
pool (one of three) with dedicated kids areas, an icecream bure and kids
eat free meals and deals. There are lots of other kids to play with, and
lots of organized things to do. Shangrila is over half way through
major renovations and the resort looks wonderful for it. If you have
stayed there before and are looking for something different consider one
of their Bures. We stayed in a two bedroom Beach Bure and it was
wonderful - pure luxury and best of all the kids had their own room.
 Another
great thing to consider for your family holiday is a Blue Lagoon Cruise.
One evening while we were on Castaway as the sun was setting around the
corner came a Blue Lagoon Cruise boat. The Castaway boat zoomed out to
it and dropped off some Castaway guests to join the cruise. It just
looked so wonderful. What a great idea. Blue Lagoon will pick you up at
many of the Mamanuca Island resorts to join one of their cruises. Blue
Lagoon Cruises have just announced too that they have increased their
child fare age limits to 15 years. This means that Blue Lagoons 2 cabin
family rates for two adults and up to three children (15 years and
under) is amazing value for family holidays in Fiji. On all Blue Lagoon
cruises, only a few hours each day is spent underway, with the rest of
the time spent at anchor in a sheltered lagoon and ashore. This gives
you and the kids the opportunity to go exploring remote islands, swim,
snorkel or just relax on the beach.
Whether you are considering a stay on the mainland, on the islands, or a
cruise we would be happy to talk through the many options that are
available for travelling with kids. Charmaine and Richard have just
returned from the annual Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange (BFTE) conference
and are armed with new information about all the resorts - gathered
through the conference and also through independent trips to the resorts
themselves. Charmaine travelled through the Yasawas on a recky to gather
information about the many backpacking and adventure resorts in the area
and next month in our newsletter well cover some of those resorts.
Our newsletter is now archived on our two websites - so if you want to
go back and read any of the past newsletters please look at
www.fijiislands.com.au or
fijinet.com. You
might find this a good resource if you are planning a holiday and want to
look back and see if we have covered it here. In the meantime, remember if
you have just returned and you book again within 12 months you will
receive a 2.5% special discount on your subsequent Fiji booking. This
offer is extended also to cover any referrals for Fiji travel which you
may give to us and who complete their booking. You, as the referrer will
receive an amount equal to 2.5% of the value of that booking. This will
be credited to your next booking with us.
For full details of anything discussed in this newsletter please contact
us as below:
Email. sales@fijiislands.com.au
Tel. (02) 9979 2403
Fax (02) 9979 2407
From all members of the Fiji Islands Team our very best wishes.
And please remember that our other division Islands and Corporate Travel
continues to serve our clients with their travel arrangements throughout
the World for both Holiday and Corporate Travel.
Richard Miall
Director Lamil P/L
Fiji Island Tours
Island and Corporate Travel |
Email:
sales@fijiislands.com.au
Phone: +61 2 9979 2403
Fax: +61 2 9979 2407
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