Holidays

Its school holidays and I am basically going on holidays with the kids. I have decided that I have a few job applications in, but I am not going to actively "hit the pavement" so to speak until the kids go back...

So, I am now twiddling my thumbs so to speak...

We won't be going away - trips to Malaysia and Fiji for the girls is plenty - and I think some time at home will do everybody the world of good. The weekend was hectic with the half year dance concerts (3 shows and lots of rehearsals over the weekend) and Kate had to perform with a broken wrist.

Speaking of her wrist, she's at the doctors currently getting a new x-ray and being assessed by the GP. Last message from Niki was that she may not have a break after all, but she is in alot of pain. Perhaps a sprain? Who knows...

Castaway Island Holiday!

Well, it was a great week. We came, we lazed, we lounged and we ate and drank. None of us wore shoes whilst we were there and "evening wear" was shorts and t-shirts and swimmers.

The weather was great, sunny in the mornings, very hot by midday and then cooling down through the afternoon so that come by dinner time, it was very comfortable to eat outside.

Castaway Island was brilliant in the sense that there were only 60 odd bures but about 130 staff on the island at any one time. There are 160 employees in all, but they have a 12 days on, 3 days off rotation. This meant that there were no hassles, always someone within "bula!" distance to talk to and the whole vibe of the place was peaceful.

Speaking of the staff, they were excellent - always relaxed, happy to chat, enthused that you were having a good time and all in all, I think the most hospitable people we have met.

Food was excellent... we took on the meal plan which meant we only had to pay extra for alcohol and drinks for the kids outside of fruit juice. The breakfasts, lunches and the dinners were therefore simply walk in, find a table, order or go to the buffet and then sign off that you were there and your drinks and go... it was very well organised, and the food itself was fantastically presented and tasted great - particularly the seafood.

For the girls, they had a great time and because it was a family orientated resort, the girls developed good friendships with the other resort kids and for a change the bulk of the kids were 6-12yr old girls rather than the usual 13-14yr old boys reeking havoc that we have struck of late. On top of that, the island staff ran a Kids Club which meant that there were plenty of scheduled activities during the days and at night all the kids were kept busy whilst adults could have dinner to themselves between 6:30 and 9:00pm.

So while we dined in the restaurant, the kids went to bonfires, played games, learnt Fijian dances etc.

And plenty of activities for everyone too... we had free use of snorkel gear, kayaks and catamarans. We also got a free tour of the reef via a glass bottom boat - which Brookie loved - on the Thursday Kate and I went Parasailing. Kate went tandem with one of her island friends, so it was great that she did this without me. It was a big deal for her.

The bure's were great. They were airy and air conditioned and right on the water.

I am rambling a bit... can't say enough of the place and we'll definitely be going back.

Our welcome to the island... this was taken as our launch hit the beach. No wharf on Castaway, you literally hit the sand!

Our island bure... from the front.

The view from the bure's verandah. Spectacular!

Yours truly working hard! ;)

Brooke and Kate in the water out the front of our bure...

Sunset off the balcony of the islands restaurant...

Kate and Brooke (who at this stage had their hair braided) at the Kids Klub with one of the staff Alesi.

The girls got to perform at the "Lovo Night" which was the night of Fijian dancing and food... The staff put on a cocktail party complete with Kava for the adults and then the kids who had rehearsed all day were part of the show of traditional dancing and singing.

Here we are on that same day watching Kime prepare the "lovo" which is an underground earthen pit of hot rocks and banana leaves where the food is cooked all day. There was enough food here to feed the entire island!

Kate coming into land during her parasail... she is the front set of legs!

Me being kitted up to go parasailing. The very technical instructions were "sit down and dont pull the ropes until you come into land".

This shot is special because it was taken on the launch back to the cruise ship to take us home. Aseri here was the leader of the Kids Klub and she was on board to take the tickets and first Brooke and then Kate started to cry because they were going home. Soon Aseri was crying as well and you know the kids have had a good time when they burst into emotion as you pull away....

Bula Vinaka!

We're back! After a long trip home, we have made it... a fuller post will probably arrive tomorrow, but currently I am sorting through 225 photos and am in too relaxed a mood to be getting back into anything technical like blogging! lol!

Spent 8 nights away, most of it drinking or sleeping (can I do both at once!?) and have discovered a new found passion for the Tropical Splice cocktail...

Castaway Island is the best resort I have ever been and I highly recommend it!

Pics et al to follow soonish...

BrisVegas

Sorry for the lack of updates I have been in Brisbane since Friday on what we like to call a "Boys Weekend".

My mate Gools in Brisbane had a baby, I had a free weekend as did my mate Noyz and we booked the flights and went.

Our hotel was a 5min walk from Queen Street Mall, and basically we spent up big at I think every bar and club on that strip.

Added bonus, we also went to the soccer and were sitting just a few rows back behind the Iraqi bench.

Live and kidneys are working, but barely... and normal Lime Kettle diatribe will resume tomorrow...

The teams line up for the National Anthems...

Pissed Idiots

I'm Back! Holidays Were Great!!

Hello all! Am back from Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast and am happy to inform you all that we're tanned, relaxed and happy!

The week was perfect weather wise with no rain except a passing shower on our first day and to sum up, the daily itinerary went like this:

Morning: Wake up, walk to cafe, buy coffee and newspaper. Read said paper for an hour or so. Kids went to the morning craft session run by the kids club until about 11:30am. Kids then rode bikes with the other park kids. Lunch of sandwiches or hot chips.

Afternoon: Pool... swimming heaps until about 3pm, then down to beach for low tide for an hour or 2 and then back to pool for say another hour.

Evening: Usually the resort had some sort of event on for the kids - Karaoke, Disco, Movie Night etc. BBQ dinner or Niki would cook a nice meal and we'd go to the event and have fun. After that, kids were usually zonked and went to sleep easily while we had a drink or three on the verandah.

Thats it! 7 days of that! No driving, no hassles, no time pressures to be somewhere... I did get the odd work call, but I palmed most of that off to this week when I go back...

The girls get their first taste of the surf. This is the first time Brooke has been out past her ankles!
Wrestling in the pool... a daily event!

Rock climbing... looking for crabs!
Seaweed Girl!

Bubbles!

Niki and the girls before we headed out to the pool / beach!

Gold Coast - The Family Stuff

So after the massive day at Wet N Wild, we had dinner with Mum & Dad, my great Aunt & Uncle Gladys & Jack and my Pop.

(l-r) Gladys, Mum, Kate, Me, Pop, Dad, Jack, Brooke

Pop is 83 years old and still goes strong. He walks every day around the beach and we experienced that first hand when he turned up at the hotel at 5am Saturday and I took the girls along with Pop and Dad for his daily walk... bloody long way! When we got back at about 6:30am, the girls and I went back to bed for a good 2 hours!

Saturday was spent at the pool and at the beach. The weather was fantastic and we had a great day. Kate, buoyed by her time in the wave pool went out up to her chest in the waves with me and Brookie for the first time went beyond her ankles in the water. It was a great day:

Niki & The Girls at Greenmount

After the pool and beach, we went out for dinner to Felini's in the Mirage Resort complex with my Nan and my Aunt Jan... the girls were excited as we had booked a limo for the occasion. They were very excited as you can see:


The dinner itself was great. The waiter was a bit snooty - particularly as we had the "audacity" to bring children to a fancy restaurant, but the girls were impeccably well behaved.

Dinner @ Felini's

As you can see, Brookie was enjoying being at the head of the table!

Sunday we had lunch with my Nan again, but this time there were 16 of us all up as Nan's sister (Aunty Nancy - who's 87 and deaf as a post), Mum's cousins and Nan's neighbours and friends all piled into Oskars at Broadbeach.

The lunch was huge and desert was a Bomb Alaska (sp?). Nan seemed to have a good time, there were two red wine spills (none from Niki or the girls!), a girl in a skimpy bikini played badminton on the beach for a good 2 hours for entertainment and the food was excellent.

Nan & The Girls

Nan enjoys her Birthday cake / Bomb Alaska

And thats about it! We didnt eat much for dinner... the girls were hungry so we went out for pizza which went largely uneaten, we went back to the hotel, packed and then got up early Monday for the flight home.

We flew back on JetStar which I thought was very good. It makes you realise how tired the inside of a Qantas plane is in comparison to JetStar's relatively newer fitout. The only hiccup home was getting the car out of the Long Term Carpark at Sydney Airport after I had lost the ticket, but that was about it!

A very good weekend for the family!