POSTCARD PARADISE

PEACEFUL ISLAND LIFE SPIKED WITH A DASH OF HOLIDAY ADVENTURE MAKE UP YOUR STAY AT THIS MODERN MALDIVIAN RESORT

- Julian Manning

The engine of the seaplane is so loud that thankfully my fellow passengers can’t hear my ceaseless groaning, pleading to a god I only speak to when it’s convenient. My mantra is muttered on repeat: Lord, don’t let me spew my guts out on the well-coiffed head of the Kiwi woman in front of me. The plane bobs like a butterfly being bullied by the wind, and then, as if the pilot magically flipped a switch, we pass out of turbulent, washed out skies, into a world of gentle breezy blues.

There’s nothing quite like a bird’s-eye view of the Maldives, especially of an atoll with such stark beauty as Fairmont’s Sirru Fen Fushi. With lagoons tinted with shades of turquoise and teal so pure they almost make you a little sad: odds are, no other natural colour you’ll see can sparkle with such inviting iridescence. We skim across the water like a well thrown skipping stone and dock the seaplane. With the help of the pilots, clad cool in the Ray Bans, shorts, and flip flops thatmake up their laid-back uniform, I set my feet on the sun-baked jetty.