In celebration of my Dads 70th birthday, he invited the whole family for a week long trip at the Shangri-La Resort in Fiji.
The first day was essentially set aside to travel. Fortunately Fiji Airlines currently runs direct flights from Canberra to Nadi, taking about 4 hours. This was Ollies first time overseas and he was very pleased to see that he got a stamp in his passport. The trip from Nadi to the resort was about 1.5hrs away via a hotel shuttle. The shuttle driver had a photo of himself as his lockscreen and overtook cars on a wet road like he was driving a sports car.
That night we got to the resort around 9.30, too late for any restaurants, so we ordered room service. Everyone in the family ended up coming past and saying hi as they arrived at the resort.
The next morning we headed out in our swimmers to check out the closest resort pool and find some breakfast. The line was pretty long for breakfast, so we headed to the pool instead. We found the recliners and pool loungers fill up quickly, so we were lucky to find a couple near the kids pool.
We also checked out the beach just behind the pool. That day was spent alternating between swimming in the pool and beach. That afternoon we headed to a smallish bar near the beach that’s only open from 3 till 8pm daily and caught up with all the family.
The next day was more of the same. We’d learnt our lesson the day before and Rosie captured a great spot halfway between the beach and the pool. This day was spent watching the kids splash around, swapping between the pool and the beach as the mood struck them. We were there for around 5 hours, so they must have really enjoyed it. We enjoyed the drink and food service, but we were learning that ‘island time’ was definitely a thing and you’re much better off ordering more than one drink at once and then ordering again immediately after you’ve finished one.
That afternoon we dropped Ollie and his cousins off at the kids club for an outdoor movie night while the adults headed out dinner.
The next day was my birthday, so we managed to get Ollie to go to breakfast with my sister and had a quiet breakfast without any kids at the smaller of the buffet breakfast places. After breakfast Ollie and I rented some snorkels and spent a good hour learning how to use them in the shallows near the main beach.
That afternoon as a birthday treat most of the family headed out to rent some jet skis. We all had a great time. Ollie rode with me and really enjoyed himself, then I headed out with my own Dad for a burn around the course. With only 2 jetskis at the resort, we all had to take turns heading out. Somehow all of the kids ended up in the water with one of the friendly handlers for the jetskis. The kids ganged up on him, and he was tossing them around in the shallows for a good 30 minutes.
That night we had organised a family get together at one of the resort restaurants. We all dressed up in tacky Hawaiian shirts and enjoyed a pretty good meal together. We were the rowdy bunch in the restaurant that night. A few of us ended up heading to the resort bar afterwards, but with such a family focused resort there wasn’t much nightlife going on. We did see a massive gecko though.
The next day was a bit of a quiet one with a lot of hanging out in the hotel room in the air conditioning. We did pick up a proper snorkel and goggles for Ollie after he enjoyed things so much the day before. The proper set was a much better fit for Ollie compared with the ones the resort loans out. That night we went to the Asian restaurant and Ollie got to taste ‘Asian nuggets’.
The following day at breakfast we took some bread from the buffet out to the beach. Ollie used his new snorkel set to explore the fish the bread attracted to the beach. Rosie got some of the morning off and spent a lot of it in the kid-free breakfast area, but she spent a lot of time getting her hair and makeup done as well.
That afternoon my sister got married on one of the small beaches with a small ceremony. Afterwards we all enjoyed a great meal outside, and we got to watch a fire ceremony on the beach that another dinner group had organised. It was a great night.
The next day was our last full day in Fiji, so we enjoyed the beach and the pool for the last time.
As it was the final day at the resort we headed out to the reef for pre-booked snorkelling trip. This turned out to be fantastic fun. The kids really enjoyed themselves, though they were initially scared about jumping into the ocean so far away from land.
The guides were really helpful and there was a decent sized homemade float that you could rest on if you got tired. All up we were out for about an hour, but it felt like it went much quicker. Ollie is fully obsessed with snorkelling now, though there’s not a lot of places he can go out in June in Canberra.
That afternoon we headed to the ‘Virtual Reality Zone’ for a short session with the kids. We all had a great time.
The next day we all woke up at 4am, and then caught a shuttle into the airport. We eventually got home around midday because of the time difference, though I’m not sure anyone of us was happy about leaving Fiji’s tropical climate for Canberra’s -3 evenings.
A big thanks to my parents, and especially my Dad, for bringing us along on this trip. We all had a ball and the time off from work in June was definitely appreciated. Congratulations to my sister and her husband for a wonderful wedding.
For the resort, I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars. I would consider the Shangri-la Fiji to be a cheap and cheerful option suited for parents and young kids. The service was pretty terrible, but everything else was average or above average. Things like slow service, orders that were completely lost, limited watersports equipment for loans and slow room cleaning meant that you don’t get the real 5 star experience you’d find at other resorts. We had fun though, and the people there were usually parents just looking for a good time in between looking after their kids.
As a final activity on the last day we took the kids into the resorts virtual reality arcade. Ollie spent 30 minutes fighting virtual monsters, while the rest of us had a couple of turns on a 4-seater moving roller coaster style ride. It was all good fun.
The next morning we had a very early flight home, requiring waking up at 4am. Due to the time difference we got home around noon, happy to be home but less happy about the freezing weather. Overall this was a fantastic trip that packed a lot in even though we never left the resort for almost a week. Big thanks to Mum and Dad for inviting us along and organising this trip for all of us.
The Shangri-La Fiji seems to be aimed at a budget crowd, focusing a lot on kids activities and simple buffet style meals. The service was frustrating at times, they rely on an ancient carbon paper receipt system that requires all orders to be signed immediately, the drinks packages were confusing and they require you to essentially prepay for food and incidentals. It’s a big resort as well, with around 1000 people staying there during peak season. It wasn’t bad, but there are some simple improvements that would make it a much more relaxing place to stay.
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