Member Postcard: Sydney and Fiji

Indagare member CN and her family recently returned from Sydney and Fiji. Here are her impressions from the trip.

We started in Sydney and it was amazing. We stayed for five nights (which I was worried might be too much time) but I wish we had had one more day. It was cool, sunny and crisp the whole time we were there, which was lucky. Our guide was incredible and my boys still talk about him.

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Sydney, which was beautiful and had great service. The hotel had one of the best breakfasts: a delicious, extensive buffet as well as an à la carte menu.

We did a tour of the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium and then took a water taxi to the Taronga Zoo. My kids loved running around the Opera House area. Our hotel was in such close proximity to this iconic arts establishment that my husband and I were able to walk there when we saw a show. It was so much fun

Everywhere we ate in Sydney was great: Mr. Wong, Billy Kwong and the ever-chic Catalina. Eating at Iceberg’s was fun because we could watch the Bondi Beach surfers in action, and I had the best steak ever. We also went to Balmoral Boat House at Mosman, which was simply incredible (www.theboathousebb.com.au). It is casual and kid-friendly, located on a protected beach where all the children are playing and wading in the water. We also would have loved to try Café Sydney and Alpha (alpharestaurant.com.au).

Related: Member Postcard: A Summer Getaway to France and Spain

We sailed around Sydney Harbor on a windy day, but loved it even so. We ventured to the beautiful Blue Mountains and were able to see wild kangaroos—and one with a baby joey! My kids loved Scenic World here, where you take a ride down the mountain and hike around (www.scenicworld.com.au). They bought boomerangs and our guide stopped at a park where they could practice throwing. We are very excited to return to Australia and cannot wait to explore more in Sydney, Melbourne and other special areas.

After Sydney, we went to Laucala, an island resort in Fiji. We loved it and felt like we had our own private island. The concierge and staff made sure we were able to do everything we wanted, whenever we wanted. They went out of their way to do special things for us so many times, like arranging a soccer tournament for my son at the staff village or celebrating our anniversary early with a special barbecue, cake, rose petals and champagne. It’s good to know that the housekeepers do guest laundry everyday so one doesn’t have to pack very much at all. Also, the concierge set up an ‘on-call’ babysitter for us who lived on the next island over. She was a lifesaver! We called her whenever we needed and most nights she would do in-villa dining and a movie with the boys so my husband and I could enjoy our dinner.

At the resort, we partook in yoga, meditation, personal training and hiking. The dive center here is incredible and has every water sport amenity imaginable. The food at Laucala was incredible—from the farm-to-table degustation at Plantation Island, to the Seagrass Thai restaurant and over-water Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. My boys took advantage of room service quite a bit and said the chicken fingers were great!

Related: Lesser-known Beach Retreats

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="620"] Villa at Laucala[/caption]

Executive chef Anthony Healy gave us a great farm tour where we were amazed to see how self-sustaining the operations are. On our first night at Plantation restaurant, he invited us into the kitchen for the first course and we never left! We ate the whole meal in there hanging with the chefs and watching them work their magic. On our last day, Chef Healy made us a fantastic platter of sushi sashimi that was served at Rock Lounge (the nocturnal cocktail bar that doesn’t serve food) just for our family.

The spa was incredible and gave our boys 30-minute customized massages. They were in heaven! The staff also loaned us bikes (including training wheels for our youngest!) and we rode around everywhere. I would let the boys go off on their own—what freedom! The Laucala staff is so special and the island is incredibly beautiful. We can’t wait to return.

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