la la luxury

Bula you Beauties.

My Stoffel turned another year on Saturday and we have been celebrating by doing something we have not done in EIGHT months: sleeping on land! (in fact, I think that deserves at least three more exclamation marks: !!!)

We have not only been sleeping on any land: we have spent three nights of fantabulous luxury at the glorious Navutu Stars Resort. We recommend it highly. Beauty! Romance! Food! Service! Comfort! Activities! General marvellousness!

On Stof’s actual birthday we spent a large part of the day sailing to get to Navutu Stars. We should not have spent such a large part of the day sailing as we were anchored just around the corner from the lodge, but I consulted a guide book and not actual directions from the resort so we sailed around a couple of islands only to return to where we had left… Hmmm.

Finally we arrived and checked into our amazing rooms: complete with enormous bed (and glorious linen) and bathroom (more on the bathroom later). After a celebratory shower and sundowner, we tootled to the restaurant to sup.. where a surprise awaited the Hillratts.

We sat down for dinner and were starting to scan the winelist when a gentleman came up to us with a bottle of bubbles and said “Let me decide what you should drink tonight.” Stof’s respnse: “Nice try!” When he insisted on pouring us a glass and giving us a wink, we realised something special was up. We enjoyed a meal set for royalty (think: obscene amounts of lobster), which was topped off with a crowd of the caring staff singing the Fijian version of happy birthday! Stof was presented with a chocolate cake (YUM) and had a magnificent crown of frangi-pani set on his head and given a scroll with messages from his family. This made him pretty emotional.

We grinned and giggled like little children then retired to our enormous bedroom to roll around on the enormous bed. Literally roll around in the enormous-ness. Don’t get any naughty thoughts.  I did the said rollicking in Stof’s crown as it was too magnificent to not place on my own head for me to imagine that I was a South Pacific princess for a few minutes (ok, maybe it was  a little longer…)

These are the things we have particularly appreciated about sleeping on land in luxury. In no particularly order: all of them are just splendid in themselves.

1. Hot Stand Up Fresh-Water Showers! We’ve had at least two showers a day and we are now (on the suggestion of Stoffel’s Papa) “really really clean”.
2. Flushing Toilets! No pumping a handle to flush and dry the loo and we could toss our bog-roll into the bowl with gay abandon. A small really evil part of us wanted the toilet to block (or something) and then it would not be OUR responsibility to fix it.
3. Not Thinking About Food! Oh the pure holiday it has been to just sit down, look at the menu and order a thing. When every meal on Takalani requires some measure of calculation regarding how much of everything is in store and what needs to be eaten when, I have LOVED being bale to hand the admin over to the chefs at Navutu. Who are exceptional. Woo hoo!
4. Stepping Out Of Bed! In our bunk on Takalani I have to clamber over Stof to get out of bed (or into bed). Most of the time he thinks this is grand and I find it a bit athletic. I’d almost forgotten the luxury of a normal bed when you can simply slip in and out of bed without bothering your husband.

All in all it was a birthday celebration fitting of a wonderful (very quirky) man. Stoffel, I love living life at your side.

We return to Takalani this afternoon. We’re rested and happy, but missing our  friendly little boat: it will be like coming home.