Fiji Part 2 - Plantation Island

the second half of our family adventure was spent on plantation island, a resort in the malolo islands just off the western coast of fiji. if you missed the first half on denarau island you can see them HERE. plantation island was the perfect compliment to the radisson blu. the accommodations were far less modern, didnt have as nice of a pool... but the beaches were awesome! to get to plantation island, we had to take another high speed catamaran from the mainland. the fijians are definitely good at giving their visitors a nice warm welcome.







first look at the water and we couldnt wait to jump in!



you can tell by the hotel lobby that it was much older than the radisson blu



the walk to our room kinda gave me a gilligans island kind of feel



this is what traditional fijian accommodations look like, called a bure. this one is a single



our bure was much larger, with 4 separate rooms all connected.



room was huge... much larger than we needed. we probably could have fit a whole other family in here. had 2 bathrooms



even a separate room with a couch, bed, and table. many people visiting fiji hire 24hr nannies to watch their kids, and since you need to provide accommodations for the nanny this separate room is where they might stay



porch



and our view of one of the many pools on the resort, which we never used



happy to have finally made it!





we had plenty of time to explore the resort during our 7 day stay











didnt use this playground much either. sorry kid we didnt travel this far to play on a teeter totter



dont think i ever saw anyone in the arcade



plantation island was recommended to me by several people for families... it was definitely kid friendly. they have a kids club where you can drop your kids off (only for 4+), and they have activities planned all day for them





there was dancing almost every night, which aiden loved



but wouldnt go by himself



which got tiring. try dancing every night with a 40lb sack of potatoes...



main restaurant where we ate most of our meals



more wandering...







the other way to get to plantation island is by small plane





watching the fish







most people ate at the buffet at the main restaurant, which had different themes every night (american, italian, etc). we did have fijis most famous dish, called kokoda, at one of the a la carte restaurants. it was probably my favorite, fish cooked in lime juice, marinated in coconut cream sauce... really good!



usually had some kind of dinner entertainment (random photo, but little did we know the 4 kids next to the stage would become aidens best friends)



besides walking around and eating... we hung out at the beach pretty much all day every day. relaxing on vacation is a new concept for me... i kinda liked it!



aiden definitely didnt mind it



neither did the girls



ava hanging out







trying to figure out this snorkel thing





not feeling daddy right now



or mommy







exploring













snuck in a few drinks during naps



probably shouldnt be holding a baby after drinking...



found lots of cool shells and little crabs when we walked out onto the sandbar



also saw this cool looking makeshift raft... until you look closer you can see its reinforced with welded steel bars



we usually stayed in the water until it got dark











and after that we would usually watch some kind of show









ava with the performers, not very happy



and when there was no show, aiden was fine chasing the dance floor lights with the other kids



i woke up early a few mornings to try to make some timelapse videos of the sunrise with my gopro camera





we did all get up early on sunday to attend a fijian church service. here we are all up and ready to go (aiden doesnt know were going to church yet)



worship drum played before service



the sanctuary











ava was a good girl during service, but aiden was definitely not. he lasted maybe 10min, then i had to take him back to the room, change, and of course go straight to the beach



two nights in a row we attempted another family photo, but aiden woould not cooperate! would not smile, even with a whole family trying to get him to laugh he fought hard to resist a smile. little punk... this is the best we could get



by the end of the trip we had made friends with an awesome family from new zealand. aiden had SO much fun with the them, we really wished we had met them sooner because we could tell aiden was getting tired of just me and nanci every day. heres jo and martin, along with their kids jack, callum, madeline, and mikayla



what a great group of kids, so well behaved that it made us embarrassed that WE had the crazy kids!



aiden had so much fun with them





helping bury jack





aiden was all over callum, he dragged him eeeverywhere! thankfully callum was a really good sport about it



here aiden is with the kids when they came to see us off when it was time for us to leave. they stayed 2 more days. really wished we were able to spend more time with them they were all so great. barreras in new zealand 2014??? well see...



last banana smoothie before the looong journey home... catamaran to mainland, car to nadi airport, airplane for 11hrs to lax, lax flyaway bus to union station, metro red line to downtown, and a final 3 block walk to our apartment. really wasnt looking forward to all that!



and that is pretty much it! making this post really made me wish i was back in fiji. i researched a lot of places and i really think we made a good decision. with nancis maternity leave quickly coming to an end, we were really restricted to a trip in july, and fiji not only had great weather, but was a great location for a family vacation. the only thing nicer than the warm water was the warmth of the fijian people. they work long hours for hardly any pay... they have so little yet they are so happy. we have everything here and nobody is happy. visiting places like this really helps put your own life in perspective.

a lot of people thought we were crazy to attempt this with a 2.5yr and 3mo old... ill have to agree with them! hawaii would have been MUCH easier, but nanci and i were feeling a little more ambitious for this trip. we all had a great time, and i think we would do it all over again... but this was NOT an easy trip and i wouldnt recommend it for everyone. but i think with a lot of thought and careful planning we came out of it having tons of fun, and although we came close several times we didnt murder any of our children! ill be putting together a video of the trip soon, so until then thanks for stopping by! vinaka!!!