Lindeman Island - Club Med!

The view of the village from near the boat jetty.

Yesterday I got home from an amazing and relaxing week away at Lindeman Island Queensland with my mum.  It was such a lovely week.  It kicked off really well when I ran into KB at the Canberra Airport on her way to a course she was going to in Sydney. It was great to see her and to have a coffee together before I left. She said she reads my blog, so "Hi KB!!"

Sunset over the pool on our first night.  I was in love with the place already, but it was only a small taste of what we were to expect!

Canberra is really such a small place. The day before we left, mum talked to her old boss who's son's sister-in-law works on the island, and her parent's (who we also know), were also there.  It was really lovely knowing some of the people on the island already, it just proves to me that it is such a small world. 

The other wonderful thing was meeting all the other lovely guests - some of which I am sure we will keep in touch with for a long time. I don't know if we were lucky or if people are always so nice and friendly while they are on holidays there.

This was the view from breakfast one morning. It was so stunning I had to take a photo.

The beauty of this Club Med is that it is secluded, so unless you want to take a boat, chopper or plane, you can't go to any outside shops, but that being said, there is no shortage of things to do.  I went kayaking, played golf, archery, water aerobics and the best part was they have these lovely walks... I went on every one of them!

An example of one of the walking tracks.  I was really impressed with all the tracks, they were not too difficult, reasonably easy, but so scenic and very well maintained.  They were a good width too which is helpful when you can hear lizards and other creatures nearby!!!

This is the view from one of the nature walks - Mt Oldfield.

Peeking through to Seaforth Island.  I actually kayaked out to this little island with an armada.

The staff on the island are called GO's (gentil organisers) and GE's (gentil employés).  The GE's clean rooms, cook and maintain the resort, the GO's perform in the shows, work at the bars, help with sporting activities and reception and generally interact with the guests or GM's (gentil members).  I really hand it to all the employees on the island, they work so hard and really long hours.

On Monday night, they took afternoon tea up to the 8th Hole of the golf course, for a spectacular sunset.  It was so lovely, they had volley ball, golf and some of the guys played rugby. They also had a bar and lots of nibblies - fruit, nacho's etc not to mention the crepes that they were making fresh with chocolate sauce!!!  On top of that they also do tie-died t-shirts which was a lot of fun.  Probably the best part was that there is mobile coverage up there so we got to check in with my sister, it was good to hear her voice!

The most spectacular sunset I have ever seen - it had the most amazing warming glow.... Good one God!

Not only is there plenty to do, but there are many opportunities to not do all that much.  I managed to slip in a bit of time each day to find a scenic and relaxing location to sit and read or listen to my iPod while enjoying a drink, sun and view.  I read 4 and a half books all up - I finally got to read Smokin' Seventeen, I also read We Need to Talk About Kevin - a book I had been afraid of reading but ended up really enjoying in a weird way, and two self help books - one I really enjoyed called Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Brue. It is about weight loss/control and physical and spiritual fitness.  I'm looking forward to putting some of her suggestions into practice, but while I was there, the food and drinks were too tempting.... although it was a buffet and I limited myself to one plate per meal.

Before I left I had done some google searches for reviews, and some people hadn't been impressed with the food there. I was extremely satisfied although I did hear that there was a new chef. There was always something delicious every meal. I had grilled fish and salad every day for lunch which I'm really going to miss.

The other thing is that all the drinks (except top shelf alcohol) are free. Cocktails, spirits, beer, wine, coffees, milkshakes, water etc etc all free and no limits.  You don't get that on a cruise!

Jetty

Some of the GO's sending us off at the jetty.  Great job guys... I would definitely go back!

Not the greatest picture, but it's a view of Sydney Harbour as we were flying over at dusk. You can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and the CBD.

It's a bit of a shock to the system being back.... I have to cook, make my own bed, and go back to work soon.  The good news is that I have Monday off too, Floriade starts tomorrow and I get to spend time with the rest of my family again.