My last post about our trip was pretty brief so I thought I'd give you a more in depth view of what it was really like taking a 2 & 3 year old overseas.
Deciding on a destination for our first family holiday was a no-brainer. We'd heard so many great things about Fiji so we just had to go.
I'm fortunate to have a lovely friend who just happens to be a travel agent so it was great having someone take care of all the nitty gritty travel details.
We chose the Outrigger on the Lagoon Resort for our stay and it did not disappoint.
As we live six hours from Sydney, where we were departing from, we drove down the day before our flight & spent the night with my mum who was ferrying us to the airport he next day.
The flight was the one thing I was most anxious about with the kids. They are both very active boys who don't like to sit still for long & we had a four hour flight ahead of us.
We boarded & got ready for take off. I'd packed the iPads of course & some toy cars to keep the kids amused for as long as possible.
Angus fell asleep before we even took off!
I couldn't believe my luck. And he slept for the first two hours of the flight!! We'd had such a busy morning & there was so much excitement that he was completely exhausted.
I even managed to watch the in flight movie from start to finish with no interruptions #winning
William was also great. He just took it all in his stride & loved every minute of the plane ride. Four hours was definitely long enough & the last hour did find us having to think of lots of ways to keep them entertained & quiet but all in all I have to say I was really proud of the way they handled the flying.
We arrived at Nadi airport in Fiji about 7.30pm their time- one hour ahead.
We then jumped on a private bus to travel an hour to the resort. We didn't get to see much of the landscape due to it being dark but we were all super excited to have arrived.
The first thing that hit us stepping out of the bus was the humidity. About 94% most of the time we were there & it took a bit of getting used to!
After a quick dinner, we settled into our room & were all ready for a good night's sleep, ready to explore the next day.
DAY 1: As we'd arrived late the night before, we decided to spend the first day checking out our surroundings at the resort.
The resort is pretty spectacular. 5 restaurants, two beautiful pools, kids club & nannies & some great entertainment. And the people are gorgeous. So warm & friendly & so happy.
We decided to let the kids have some fun for a couple of hours at kids club so we could have a god look around. This of course included a bit of shopping. The resort has about 5 or 6 shops housing some clothing, homewares & general souvenirs.
We had most of our meals at the main restaurant. Breakfast & dinner were Buffet style with a dinner 'theme' each night & lunch was a set menu. The food was faultless. Lots of variety & so yummy!
DAY 2: There were lots of activities to choose from each day and so, on the second day, Ben decided he would hit the Golf course & I had seen there was trip to the local village to join their church service. I'm not overly religious but I thought it would be a good chance to get away from the resort & meet some of the locals. The kids were keen to hang out at kids club again so that gave us both 2 hours to ourselves.
I would have to say that the church service was probably my most favourite part of the trip for me. The people were incredibly warm & welcoming & the children were just gorgeous.
An the SINGING was UNREAL! Not a single instrument to be seen but the harmony & vocals were amazing. I loved every minute of it.
Ben returned from the golf course informing us that he had won a boat trip to an island the following day so day 3 was sorted.
DAY 3: We were up early to catch a bus to Port Denaru, about 2 hours from our resort. Angus, being car sick, promptly threw up in transit, but thankfully slept after that so that was a saving grace.
On arrival to the port, we boarded a ship with around 40 other people & set sail for Schooner Island, about a 2 hour boat ride away.
Again, the kids travelled really well & took everything in their stride. The crew entertained us with music & singing. The only downside was the heat! Once arriving on the island we were able to swim at our leisure, snorkel or take a trip out in the bottom glass boat. William had a great time spotting lots of 'Dori' fish.
We were served lunch on the island & after some relaxing & games, we headed back home. It was a long day but was definitely worth it.
DAY 4: This was our last full day in Fiji. It seemed to come around so quick, like most great holidays. We decided to head back to the local village where I'd attended the church service, for a village tour. Our tour guide was Jim, a lovely old man with so much to tell us about his village - how they lived, how they ate, how they celebrated. Fiji is a very poor country, with most workers only earning about $4hr (crazy right?!). They only eat red meat in special occasions - birthdays, weddings, funerals - as it is too expensive to buy from the supermarket. They have an open house rule, where they welcome anyone into their home at anytime & fences are not allowed. It's actually a perfect set up. Mothers & fathers are surrounded by their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles & they all share the parenting role. However, they are very adamant that the men are the boss & the women do all of the housework & cleaning while the men hunt & forage. A lot of the husbands on the tour thought this sounded pretty good!
After the tour, we were treated to a welcoming ceremony, where we got to taste Kava, the local ceremonial drink which taste similar to what I imagine very muddy water would taste like.
This being our last night, we booked ourselves dinner at one of the 'adults only' restaurants while the kids attended a disco a kids club. The restaurant was right on the water & even though a storm came in it was lovely to just enjoy a meal together without having to chase he kids around.
Before we left the restaurant, we were treated to a special farewell song that almost brought me to tears. It was certainly hard to say goodbye the following day.
Our flight home was as good as our flight over there with both kids having a good sleep.
If you are considering a trip to Fiji, DO IT!!!
It was a life experience that we will never forget!
Til next time,
Mel xx
