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...

Last Days

Second last day… I have my final payout figure confirmed, I am very happy, I am busier than I thought I would be at this stage and am very tired after a number of late nights celebrating with friends and colleagues my redundancy.

My office colleagues are joining me tonight for a last drink and I am looking forward to basically getting some sleep!!

I should point out that come Friday, we will be heading to Fiji and I guess Lime Kettles will remain dormant for 8-10 days… but never fear, I will still blog on about rubbish and keeping you all up to speed on the growth of my beard and the length of my hair.

Rudd, Nelson, Petrol Prices

OK, the heat is now on the Rudd government and the poorly perceived Brendan Nelson is banging on the lack of the ALP governments action on petrol prices.  Media then reports that Nelson is showing some backbone and that it is important that he keep the government accountable on these issues.

But lets step back a minute.  Whilst I am not condoning that Rudd be accountable, let’s just look at the record on petrol prices and the previous government.  Was it not the Liberals who introduced GST and which compounded on the sales tax?  Was it not Howard who agreed to propel Australia into a mid-east conflict that saw petrol soar to record prices? Was it also not Howard and the Libs who sat back and idly watched petrol hit 90c, then a dollar, then $1.20 and $1.30?  Now prices are at the $1.47 to $1.63 (depending on the cycle), the Liberals are crying foul!

Perhaps they should have looked at their money grabbing schemes of years gone by in which they loaded fuel excises to ensure that they maintained their massive budgetary surpluses.

This is perhaps the ultimate lime kettle.

Hit & Run Society

What is it with people… again, yet another hit and run accident in Sydney.  People seem to always stop for a dog or cat that they hit, but when it comes to people, they do a runner.  It just seems to me that there is one of these everyday somewhere in Sydney.

Has society really gone that far downhill that we now have this poor attitude to our fellow man?  Or is it part of some crazed fad that people (idiots) steal cars and look to run over pensioners?  It just seems so much of a daily event that I really have to wonder.

And then on top of that, there was the story out of the US yesterday of a man shot dead by police as he literally beat a toddler to death.  What makes a grown man kill a child with his bare hands whilst under the threat of being shot by police?  I am glad he was killed… but why did it happen?

And then there is the story from Italy yesterday of a women chained to her bed and locked in a room for 18 years.  Was it only because of the Fritzl case in Austria did someone in Italy tip off this woman’s circumstances to the police?

The world is going through a weird cycle at the moment… nothing seems to far fetched anymore.

Moving Offices

Well, we moved the office over the weekend and I have been out all morning and have arrived at the new place with my PC in bits and unconnected, a new phone that needs my voicemail added and a half dozen boxes of my “stuff”.

Funny though, I will only be here a week and hence I am not even going to unpack.

My new space, like everyone else’s is very small and I am looking at a blank wall as opposed to my previous view 21 stories up, but that’s OK.  A lot of people are whingeing, but I feel nothing but relief that I will be leaving at the end of the week.

On that note, I had a chat to a person about a role in another firm (won’t name names) and that went positive, but it will take some time.  That though is the one thing I have a lot of – time.

Into the Vault

This one is going straight into the vault for the girls' 21st birthdays...

Kate & Brooke do a rendition of the Go-Go's 1980's hit "Our Lips Are Sealed"...

They're actually doing this song for the school choir... you know you're old when the one hit wonders of your youth become the respectful choir songs of your children!