AN Australian tourist who has visited Castaway Island Resort 44 times since it opened five decades ago, will be a special guest at a party celebrating the property’s golden anniversary.
He will be on Qalito this Friday, along with a number of other regulars who among them, total about 200 visits to the resort.
Ian Braddock’s memories of Castaway date back to the 1970s.
“We would leave Lautoka on the yacht Sea Spray for a very slow, three hour trip, consuming the odd Fiji Bitter and listening to the band,” he reminisced.
“We’d go on fishing trips to Valase Beach and on our return, some of the staff would come around and we would enjoy a great barbecue fish lunch, burying the barbecue plate in the sand for next time — until it was carried away in a cyclone.”
Castaway Island Fiji will mark 50 years of delivering a premier Fijian holiday experience with a five-star celebration.
Dignitaries include Tourism Minister Faiyaz Koya, and he will be joined by Outrigger Enterprises Group president and CEO, David Carey, as well as Matthew Stoeckel, the CEO of Tourism Fiji.
Also present will be former Castaway Island owner Geoff Shaw, who bought the resort in 1992 and transformed it into one of the South Pacific’s leading tourism properties.
Mr Shaw sold Castaway to Outrigger Enterprises Group in 2014.
Mr Shaw also has fond memories of his early days as the owner of the resort.
“It was just wonderful, they were the happiest, funniest and most wonderfully productive times,” he said.
“There were also times of trauma and natural disaster when everyone jumped in and got the job done.
“You create a bond that never breaks.”
The resort’s history can also be traced through its hosts, some of whom have been working on the island for more than 30 years.
Mere Kasaqa, who has now retired, worked at Castaway Island for 32 years.
She joined the resort in 1971 as a dining room waitress and was later promoted to guest relations and duty manager, a position she held until she retired in 2010.
Her tradition of service lives on, her daughter, Aseri Shimo Kasaqa, is now one of Castaway’s duty managers.
While Mr Shaw no longer owns Castaway, he has kept in touch with the property as a consultant to Outrigger Hotels.
Castaway, he says, is the jewel in the crown of Fijian tourism.
“It’s one of the few remaining private island resorts in Fiji and it has the potential to be taken to another level while retaining its charm.
“There are taller palm trees and better white sand beaches in other parts of the world, but they don’t have the Fijians. That’s the thing.”
Resort general manager Steven Andrews said that he was extremely proud to be hosting more than 300 guests on the island on November 18 to mark the milestone event.
“My team has worked tirelessly to bring this event to fruition and I feel honoured to be at the helm of this iconic resort at a significant time in its history,” he said.
