I have just spent a fantastic week away with the family at Club Med Lindeman Island. To explain a little.. Club Med is an all inclusive holiday - you get food, alcohol, accommodation and most activities included in the price... and Lindeman is an exclusive Club Med island in the amazing and beautiful Whitsundays (near the Great Barrier Reef).
We had Beachfront Rooms - basic and beachy with a huge king sized bed. They were fairly large rooms, nothing too special, but then the only time we were really in them was to sleep or to shower. The only let down was that there were no bed side lights - i know that sounds simple but I didn't realise how much I used them until they weren't there.
The food was absolutely awesome!!! They had a huge buffet serving everything from vegetables and fruit to rice, breads, various meats, hamburgers, chips and every night they had a special themed area as well, such as mexican (tacos and similar food), seafood, and even an Aussie BBQ night.
The resort is on the side of a huge hill, surrounded by coral reef. Its about 80 steps to get from the pool and beach area to reception, and then a walk up hill to get to the golf course, tennis and archery... lucky for us there is also a minibus that drives up and down the island every 5 minutes so you can guess how I got around :P
The only way is up, yeah - only half of the steps to get to reception.
We went snorkelling during one of our days there. It was a bit of extra money but it was worth it. The first spot we went to was murky and not that great, but the last spot we were at - right near the wharf - had the most beautiful coral and you could see and almost touch most of the fish.
We went kayaking which I was completely not a fan of on the way over. I couldn't manage to go straight and i was exhausted by the time we got to the island we were kayaking to. Little did I know I had picked an aweful kayak with no stability so whenever the water moved so did I. I managed to find myself a better kayak on the way back (actually Chuck and I really kicked Jenny and Mum off theirs but anyway)...
My favourite thing while I was there was the Trapeze. I managed to get myself up the enormous ladder a couple of days while we were there. It's so high but so worth it - and its actually fairly easy if you listen to what the instructors are telling you and move when they tell you to. They have a Trapeze performance indoors on a Monday night and outdoors on a Wednesday and the professionals were absolutely fantastic. I wish I was that fit and could manage to get myself up tissues and through hoops and swing as ridiculously high as they do.
Club Med is a lot like a modern day version of the Dirty Dancing resort - there's planned activities and performances (none of which you actually have to participate in). Some of them are very lame, but some of them were a lot of fun. Once again, the Trapeze was my favourite, and they also pulled out some really good songs on there Hit Music night.
We managed to play a hell of a lot of Euka and trivia while we were away.. we watch drunk people and little kids doing karaoke, had fun laughing at the old women doing aqua aerobics, and even joined in on a couple of the pool games such as volleyball and water races.
Unfortunately I had a little trouble with some of the activities... to cut a long story short I managed to snap my swimmers on the first day I was there, so they were tied together with a bobby pin for the rest of my stay (making physical water activity a little tedious). They sell swimmers at the Club Med Boutique but they were ridiculously expensive and not very appealing.
That was probably one of the only disadvantages of the island - the price that you pay for anything at the boutique or for some of the activities. The only other downfall is that it is not a place to go during easter unless you have kids and want to get rid of them, and its not the best place to go if you like to venture around, keep occupied and constantly see new things - your on an island with a few walking tracks and thats about it.
I would love to go back and work there! The GO's work long hours but were always happy and easy to get along with. Fun and games was all part of their job (although I can't say I'd be a fan of working with a hundred spoilt kids during the Easter holiday but anyway). So I've eaten way too much food, had way too many ice creams and chocolate sundaes, and done way too little exercise, but I've had a pretty good time...
Heading back to reality we decided to spend a couple of hours on Hamilton Island before flying back to Sydney. I love this island - especially down near the Marina - there's plenty of little food and coffee shops and boutiques, its relaxed and beautiful. We hired ourselves buggys and rove around the island. There's an absolutely beautiful view from up at one of the lookouts, and the island is divided into two areas - the Marina, and the Beach. The beach side had the more expensive, larger scale hotels and resorts, although I still would have preferred the quieter areas if we stayed there. There was plenty to see and do (although all of it was really expensive) but I'd love to go back there one day if I had the money.
