At 8.30am on April 25, 2023, we finally did it. We left Australian shores for the first time since 2019. Our destination may have only been a short four hour flight to Fiji, but with it a massive sigh of relief. While life at home has mostly returned to normal – albeit a ‘new’ kind of normal – this definitely felt like we were finally closing that chapter for good. We were free. We were on holidays. We were exploring somewhere completely new – for me at least.
The occasion: celebrating a big birthday for his beautiful mum. It was promised to be five days of relaxing by the pool, except, of course, for when we were required at the spa, dinner banquet or beach. And it was five days that surprised, soothed and surpassed all expectations.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that Fiji has never been high on my bucket list. Maybe it’s too close to home. Maybe it’s my fair complexion. Maybe it’s the resort culture. I don’t know. But I’ll also be the first to admit that for whatever my reason, I was wrong. So terribly wrong.
Within seconds of arriving at our hotel, there was a shell lei around my neck and a cocktail in my hand. The heat was enveloping but in the most exciting of ways. Palm fronds swayed in the breeze; the pool trickled over its edge. “Bula!” Everything sparkled and my heart skipped a beat.
His parents had joined the Intercontinental Hotel Group’s ambassador program – I believe it costs $300 a year and is very much worth it – and as such we were inducted into what I assume is the ‘influencer’ way of life. Access to the private clubhouse and pool, top-tier rooms, complimentary everything. It feels wrong to include the ‘happy hour’ in that list, because it become overtly apparent that in Fiji, every hour is a happy one.
A complete surprise to me was how many hours I spent by the edge of the swimming pool. But then again, when everything beyond is a bright, cerulean blue, the sun seemingly dances ever so delicately across your skin, and there is a never ending supply of Diet Coke (“here you go, darling”) served with a smile and a side of ice, why on earth would you leave?
We spent one of the days on a jet ski safari, heading out to a small bank of sand just barely poking up out of the otherwise boundless ocean. From there we snorkeled until the outline of our swimsuits was sizzled into our skin. There were bright blue star fish everywhere, the whole cast of Finding Nemo, some even say a small shark.
From a palm-fringed island in the far distance we could faintly hear someone yelling ‘Wilson!’ The one to its left is where Survivor is set, we were told.
Apart from that, we never strayed far or found ourselves in anything other than a reclined position. Apart from attending a luxurious three hour spa treatment, or the one activity I was adamant about doing: horse riding. That took place on the beach one night, as the sun slowly set on the horizon.
We’d arranged it with Joe who had been singing at one of the resort restaurants the night before. His son owned the horses that hung out on the beach each day, right on the outskirts of the resort boundary. My mare was called Lucy, and with her fraying rope reigns in my hands, and a stupid smile smacked across my face, I got to ride off into the sunset. It was quite the moment.
Apart from a flash storm that rolled over the resort one day – with lashings of rain and lighting cracks lasting only mere minutes before returning to nothing but blue; “deep breaths” – I can’t remember a time when I was so consistently relaxed. Before long the beautiful song the staff sweetly sang each time a guest left was being sung to us.
Things this holiday taught me: you can never watch the sun set into the sea too many times, you should never say no to anything, and every song sounds better sung acoustically by a friendly Fijian (especially if you’re sitting by the pool during ‘happy hour’ downing your fifth frozen daiquiri).
Also, Emma, you don’t like lime daiquiris, stick with the classic strawberry. But now I’m just clutching at straws (and everyone knows it’s much more fun to just drink from them).
Where in the World 