We spent the first week of this sojourn at Castaway Island in the Mamanuca Group off Viti Levu's west coast. It was all very peaceful and relaxing. We spent most of our time lazing on the beach or by the pool, interspersed by the occasional very competitive family table tennis tournament. We still think that this is one of Fiji's very best islands - just rustic enough whilst still being very comfortable, great food, excellent beach and snorkeling, and super friendly and relaxed staff. After a few days Issy and I decided that we'd been overdoing the relaxing just a bit too much, so we made the brave decision to leave our offspring sleeping and head off for a morning hike up to the island's peak. The path was steep and rocky. Would we make it ... read more

We arrived in Fiji late in the evening and spent the night in transit at a small motel type establishment that seemed to be almost at the end of the runway. According to everything we'd read, our ultimate destination was a resort on a palm fringed beach complete with pools, bars and restaurants, so we were keen to leave the diesel fumes of our slightly ramshackle overnight accommodation as soon as possible. Convincing Scott of this however proved to be somewhat difficult. He'd discovered that it had a small playground, and nothing was going to drag him away from it, well at least not without a lot of loud protesting. This did leave us contemplating the rather extreme difference in vacation requirements between us and and least one of our offspring. Our holidays would be a ... read more

Next stop was the coastal village of Palm Cove, just north of Cairns. We stayed at the massive Novotel Palm Cove Resort, which was about as far removed in style and ambience from the laid back peace and quiet of Great Keppel Island as it was possible to get. The tennis courts, large gym, and golf course with its attached pro shop were a bit wasted on us - the parents of three youngsters under eight. Our only prerequisites were a Kids Club and a pool. We didn't think it was compulsory to get around the resort's jogging track at a satisfactory pace every morning and then follow it up with a brisk 18 holes, but given the numbers of our fellow guests who seemed to be doing exactly that it was hard to be sure. ... read more

Most Aussies seemed to have been to Bali so we thought we should probably give it a try. We spent a week at Sanur on the island's relatively quiet and protected east coast. We chose somewhere well away from the surf of west coast Kuta in the hope that our toddlers could enjoy the calmer waters. We'd also heard a lot about the drunken antics of our fellow countrymen over in Kuta, and weren't overly keen on experiencing any of that first hand either. Our resort was called the Segara Village. It did indeed seem to us like a series of small Balinese villages with simple single and double storey accommodation set in gardens filled with traditional statues and fountains. Our room was right next to a small pool and we spent a lot of time ... read more

I was summoned to spend six weeks working in the thriving Sarawakian capital of Kuching in late 1995, and I somehow managed to convince Issy to join me for the last three of those weeks. We had our then two offspring in tow - Scott aged nearly three, and Emma at eleven months. It wasn't still winter in Melbourne, so I'm not sure what Issy was thinking. I'm not too sure what I was thinking either for that matter. We had two interconnecting hotel rooms, but the establishment was an unachievable hike from the city centre. We didn't have access to a car, so Issy was cooped up 24/7 with two restless toddlers whilst I enjoyed the relative luxury of working in an office. I'm not at all sure how she coped. I thought I'd try ... read more