I still have two more days of our Fiji trip to share with you. (Sorry its taken me a couple of weeks.. Im almost there now!)
The final day of the trip dawned bright and clear again. The Saturday of the trip is always ours to spend how we like, although the Farewell dinner is held on that last evening. Some of the girls and their guests lazed by the pool, and some went on various daytrips. When Denielle and I went down to a leisurely breakfast we ended up chatting to Shelli and Sage who had just returned from an early morning Hot Air Ballooning adventure... they raved about it! For me, I was just happy to have a day to chill out and do very little!
Our breakfast spot right by the lilypads:
But right AFTER breakfast, Shelli said they were planning to go Sky Diving! Talk about packing in lots of adventure into one day! Me? I had a booking at the Hotel Spa for a pedicure. Well actually they called it a "Foot Ritual"... it was an hour of foot massage and pampering, and was soooo relaxing. I love being able to treat myself to the occasional pampering session!
Here is the spa:
Holiday feet:
Then we had a beautiful lunch with Mango Cocktails at Salt Restaurant.. and ended up sharing a table with Shelli and Sage again!
Here is the table at Salt:
Denielle and myself:
Then the four of us went for ice creams (really really good icecreams by the pool!) before wandering up to the Hospitality suite for some more American "candy" and a wheel spin. I forgot to mention the wheel spins in my earlier posts. I think this year's prizes were even better than previous years. My favourite prize was a gorgeous Baja Breeze cardi, with the SU logo on the sleeve. Just lovely... it's getting lots of wear! Each year I have really enjoyed catching up with the girls in the hospitality suite... lots of chit-chat and lounging around. It's so lovely to be around people whose company you enjoy in such a relaxing atmosphere.
Teresa, myself and Denielle on the balcony overlooking the pool:
In the afternoon, Denielle and I did a bit of souvenir shopping in the local Port village. The Australian dollar works out very well right now in Fiji, so its a good time to be buying a few bits and pieces to take home. I bought some gifts for the kids, and also a couple of souvenirs for me too. Each year I try to bring back something for the house so that I can have reminders around me of the various trips I have been able to take.
That night the dress code was "Smart Casual" and we firstly enjoyed mocktails and nibblies out on the verandah, before being asked to make our way down to the beach for a spectacular "Firedancing" display. My photos of this came out very poorly I'm afraid. Then we headed back to the main hotel to into a beautifully decorated room for dinner. Each table place had an Oyster shell with our name card (the shells were from Broome to encourage us to earn next year's Incentive Trip!). Dinner was of course a wonderful meal, and we were just about to start dessert when a choir of schoolchildren from one of the local schools entered the room to sing to us. They were mesmerizing! I don't think there were many dry eyes in the room by the time the children had finished singing. The last item that they performed was the traditional Fijian "Goodbye Song" and even though I didn't of course understand the words, the emotion in the song is unmistakable. It was completely beautiful, and such an honour. Shelli of course spoke to us all, and each time I listen to her, I am very sure of the message that she has... that as demonstrators we are so valued, and that they are very interested in us, and in how are businesses and growing here in Australia and New Zealand. I find her very inspiring!
Here is dessert:
The funny thing is that I was so enthralled with the children singing that I actually forgot to eat my dessert! When I came back to the table it was gone! Never mind... I had enough food in Fiji to last me a lifetime!(Note that I didn't forget to take a photo of it though!)
Here is Shelli, myself, Denielle and Sage at dinner:
Our final night pillow gift was a wooden Kava bowl and even a packet of "Kava mix"... I haven't actually made it up, but I looooove the bowl:
So ended another wonderful day.
The final morning we needed to be up bright and early to head back to the airport. Our breakfast was served in the hotel lobby and we selected our pastries and fruit to fill our take away boxes with. Coffee was also supplied.. yay for that! We were at the airport in plenty of time, and did some last minute duty-free shopping before boarding our plane. We were seated all quite close to each other so we were able to chat a little about our wonderful trip, and I have to say the trip passed quite quickly for me.
Before we knew it, we were back in Sydney and collecting our bags. There were some sad goodbyes and hugs, and then back to reality!
I have enjoyed each and every Incentive Trip that I have been honoured to earn in my career with Stampin' Up!.. but as unbelievable as it sounds, this was my favourite one so far! Fiji is just a magical place, and I would love to go back again... and I would really love to take the kids because they would just love it. So I just might have to start saving my pennies!
I can't thank SU enough for the way they spoil us and make us feel valued. It makes it all worthwhile, and I feel so very lucky! Thank you for reading about my adventures... I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing about it.
Linda xx
