Platinum Paradise

Every so often Garry and I find ourselves scheduling a holiday in an unexpected location.  Our recent vacation in Fiji was no exception.  These Pacific islands were never on our radar.  However, after a few calculations, Garry discovered that he was only a modest long-haul flight away from achieving Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyer status for the first time in almost a decade.  I was also well on my way to achieving the same milestone.

Platinum status definitely has its perks.  The most popular of these is access to Qantas First Class lounges worldwide.  These are true havens of luxury that you can access regardless of your ticket’s cabin class. The Sydney lounge includes complimentary dining the equal of any inner city café and a small spa offering complimentary massages and beauty treatments.  It would be fair to say that in the past we’ve headed for the airport well ahead of schedule to simply enjoy everything the lounge has to offer.

Platinum status also improves your chance of a points upgrade, including Garry’s much loved First Class cabin on the A380.  You even get double the normal earning rate for points on each flight and thus quickly earn enough to fund your next points upgrade. However, the perk that makes me smile every time is access to the Business Lounge on domestic flights. Domestic flights are unappealing at the best of times so a decent lounge makes all the difference.

Anyway, Garry researched airfares and destinations before settling on flights to Fiji.  This soon became a proxy celebration for his forthcoming 50^th birthday, and ultimately my birthday as well once we’d booked a flight for mid-September. My milestone ticked over five days after we returned home from our Fiji vacation.

We eventually settled on a week ensconced at Sofitel on Denauru Island; just 20 minutes away from Nadi airport. We booked ourselves a room in the Waitui Beach Club section of the hotel.  This offered a secluded setting on the beachfront with an adults-only admission.  No screaming kids. Our booking included complimentary breakfast on the beach and a complimentary cocktail hour (including canapes) at 5:00pm every afternoon. 

For once our research was on the money.  The beach club turned out to be a hidden gem.  It was definitely the best on offer in the immediate area (where almost a dozen hotels and serviced apartments vied for business).  The staff were friendly and professional.  The pool area was picture perfect.  The facilities were clean and relatively new.  Even the décor and furnishings in our room were surprisingly fresh and sharp despite their apparent age.

Denarau Island was also a pleasant surprise.  The area proved to be a spotless, luxury enclave offering a golf course, water park, palm-fringed roads and a marina area with a selection of half decent (tourist-oriented) shops.  Unlike a resort in Bali (where chaos engulfs you as you pass through the resort gates), on Denarau, we could leave our hotel grounds and still find ourselves wandering a clean, quiet and immaculate tropical suburb.

We’d also booked a week that proved relatively quiet at the hotel. This meant we secured a favourite daybed location by the pool or along the high tide mark every day with ease.  Prior to our arrival was worried the week would drag and I’d find myself bored within days.  However, we soon slipped into a daily routine and the days simply flew by.

In the end, we hardly left the resort with the exception of a day trip mid-week to Malamala Island.  The island’s claim to fame is its self-titled claim of being the world’s first island beach club. We paid a little extra and booked ourselves a poolside daybed.  This gave us a “between the toe” view across the club’s sculped infinity pool towards a sun-baked Pacific Ocean horizon.  The island itself was wrapped by white sand beaches and ringed by a reef.  It also offered superb food, cocktails and the usual flurry of water sports activities.

Without a doubt, we’ll be returning to Fiji. Oh yes; and I ticked another country off my globe-trotting list.  Depending on your definition of a country that’s Number 67; or Number 70 if you count fleeting border excursions into North Korea, Paraguay and Zambia.