Go Clubbing

by Sally Hammond


We arrive at Club Med Lindeman by ten-seater plane after a five-minute flight from Hamilton Island, off the Queensland coast. We could have come by boat ('half an hour and sometimes rough', we were told by some other guests later) but you get the feeling that the welcome would have been the same. Rapturous hellos, a swift transfer to the reception area via one of the island's many electric buses, a tropical welcome drink that looks like it should bear fruit of its own any moment, and a bunch of keys and cards and an info pack to help us settle in asap.

There are seventy steps to the dining area – and we breathe a sigh of relief that our accommodation is down here, at water level too. No strenuous post-dinner clamberings to our rooms, it seems, which suits me just fine as my agenda for the next few days includes little more than eating and sleeping.

Our view is of water and islands and yachts and wind surfers, so we do what is expected, and dig out the digital and snap a few pics. This seems to have been the response too of one of the first white people known to sight this jumbled group of wooded islands in 1770. There were no digital cameras in those days, so Sydney Parkinson, an artist on HMS Endeavour, sketched it as part of his official record of the voyage.

But it was a sub-lieutenant on board a much later voyage in 1868 - George Sidney Lindeman - who lent his name to the 600-plus hectare island. He was a nephew of Dr Henry John Lindeman, who founded the Lindeman Wine Company by establishing a vineyard in the Hunter Valley in the mid-1800s close to where Gresford now stands.

In 1990 the Paris-based Club Mediterranee purchased an existing resort on Lindeman Island. Eighty-five million dollars later, in late-1992, it re-opened as the first Australian Club Med.

As I look around at my fellow guests, I can see plenty who are ready for action. There are the Club Med's staff, to begin with - lithe, fit twenty-somethings who organise the races in the pool, the archery, the tennis and help mind the masses of ankle-biters for whom this holiday resort is made to order.

There is a circus school too. We share breakfast with a shy but pretty thirty-year-old from Auckland, travelling alone ("I chose Club Med because it would force me to mix," she confided) and terrified of heights. So she tried the trapeze at the school, and got as far as using the swing. "Did you jump?" we asked. No. But she had faced her fears and felt good about that.

On our flight to the island we'd shared the plane with an elderly woman who told us she had just been to Lindeman, two months earlier. "I came with my daughter and her daughter," she told us. "This time it's for me."

The staff seem to come from everywhere as well. Club Med has policies in place to allow movement between properties. A Mauritian GO (that's Club Med-ese for one of the staff - the guests are GMs) points me to the best, and highest, view on the island, a 360degree view of most of the 700 hectares of national park and six secluded bays and beaches from the 8th tee on the golf course. A GO from Lyons, France, shows me to a table in the dining room, and another from Melbourne takes my drink order in the bar.

The mix of guests here is broad. One day we share lunch at one of the large tables with a couple of Gold Coast professional people and their two preschoolers. They had carefully researched the options, looking for something for both themselves and their children, and felt they'd found the perfect combination.

Beside the pool, a rowdy group of senior execs from a major car brand, dressed in equally loud crimson T-shirts, seemed just as happy with the place.

As I go back for another plate of sushi and salad and spaghetti, I figured that maybe this is what gets people in. In ways it's one-size-fits-all, and it has its detractors for that.  But for others, there is – just like the endless buffet options – enough to keep almost anyone happy for the duration of their stay.

 

Add comment


Security code
Refresh

231_15676799571_5105_n

 

 

Www.Foodandtravel.Com.Au - Australia

Best Food Travel Website 2021

 


foodandtravel.com.au has been awarded

Best Antipodean Culinary Travel Expert, 2019

by the prestigious UK-based magazine...

 

 

 

Planning a visit to Kerala? The old port district of Kochi is well worth seeing, as well.

Our tuk-tuk driver, Shaheer, showed us the secrets of the narrow back streets. To contact Shaheer...

Email Shaheer HERE...

Mobile: 9946129040

More about Kochi...

 


 

LISTEN TO SALLY'S PODCASTS...

...from all around the world

Tune in and hear her talks on     

Radio 2GB 873AM....

 

 

WHO LIKES SWISS CHEESE?

Did you miss seeing the recent story of the Swiss festival of cows coming down from the mountains?

Read about it for yourself...

 


 

Denmark Delivers

Copenhagen's canals, a palace with pomp and cermnony, a kilometre-long shopping street, crayon-cooured canal-front dining...

...what more can a visitor ask for? Find out, because there is much more.

 


 

History and beauty with a dash of fun...

...and that's just the beginning of Armenia!

 


 

Zany Zadar & Croatia's north

Crazy and beautiful, a place everyone should visit.

Read more...

 


 

Lovely Lisbon ~ and beyond. Sardines and secrets!

Find out much more here.... 

 


 

Two virtual visits to Ontario

here....

AND

.....here!

 


 

Where is Tbilisi? 

Once you discover its beauty and history, you will be making plans to visit as soon as you can.

Read more....

 


 

Madrid the marvelous - so much to see in Spain's capital.

See it all here....

 


 

If you missed reading about Thailand's organic produce....

Here is the new link....

 


 

Here's something fun to check out!

The world's most popular surnames ....

...by country

 


 

~ Northern Spain ~

mountains and miracles - and much more!

After this journey, many people will never see the world the same way again.

 

Find out why....

 


 

Visit Portugal's beautiful

hearl....

Gondolas, cathedrals, cakes and a palace thrown in for good measure.

See for yourself!

 


 

And how about these vineyards in Georgia?

See other gardens in strange locations here....

 


 

 

Make your own food and travel videos? YES YOU CAN!

Gordon Hammond gives some insider tips.....

 


 

Travelling to Sydney? The northern beaches are spectacular.

See what we mean...

 


 

Hungary has something for every traveller.

Especially those who love good food...