Great escapes | JOURNEYS
Daydreams from a Fiji daybed
There's really no good reason for me to leave my daybed at Likuliku Lagoon Resort. In fact, I'm working out how I can stay forever. I could learn to crack open a coconut, Cast Away-style. But then again the platter of tropical fruit and bottle of Veuve Clicquot waiting for me on arrival in my Deluxe Beachfront Bure should help sustain me. Not to mention the jar of handmade cookies with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, which is replenished daily. Oh, and at a push: the resort's five-star restaurant is just a lazy saunter away through tropical gardens. Its ever-evolving menus crafted by executive chef Gregory Llewellyn – a New Yorker by way of Sydney, where he ran cult Newtown restaurant Hartsyard – let the flavours of Fiji shine in simple yet creative concoctions that I would never tire of eating.
If I really had to work, I could probably conduct all my business from here; I'll just email my boss and say I'm a digital nomad now. In my line of work, I might just get away with it so long as I can keep finding new ways to describe the scene before me: water rhythmically lapping the golden ribbon of sand that might as well be my own private beach and is all that separates me from the calm blue lagoon that lends its name to this slice of Fiji paradise. To my right, I can see the elegant arc of over-water bures that Likuliku is famous for. Offering direct access to the lagoon's vivid fringing reef, their traditional thatched forms rest gently on wooden stilts to create a light impression on this spectacular protected marine sanctuary. To my left, my own private plunge pool: a key stop on the day's itinerary of swimming, snorkelling and lounging at the daybed retreat. Later on, the sky will morph into an orange blaze; Malolo Island is known across Fiji as the island where the sun comes to rest at the end of each day. And come nightfall I could uncurl the bamboo shutters and sleep here, too: if not for the king-sized bed inside my bure proving all-too tempting.
Likuliku Lagoon Resort is the Fiji of daydreams: an adults-only bucket-list destination for couples, honeymooners or anyone in need of a really good holiday. It's no surprise to learn that weddings take place here regularly or that it's something of an A-list hideaway. I watch helicopters come in to land from my daybed and speculate about who their passengers might be.
Activities abound for was filmed and sunset cruises come complete with canapés, sparkling wine and sweet serenades. A gourmet picnic on the tiny, uninhabited Mociu Island, or Honeymoon Island, is the ultimate escape if only for a few hours.
