Lindeman Island: Club Med playground

Parents can laze around at Club Med's pool while the kids are kept busy with a range of exciting activities. Photo / Tourism Queensland

Every now and then, when you're wandering the pathways of Club Med's Lindeman Island resort, you hear a shriek of delight or a peal of hysterical laughter.

You might look around, slightly nervously, wondering if someone is watching you drag yourself inelegantly up the resort's many stairs on a hot Queensland day - but there's no one to be seen.

Wait, there it is again. This time followed by a rush of air, and a blurry swirl of bright colours, like a school of the bright tropical fish that swim in the waters here. Then it's gone again. Another excursion for Club Med's famous Kids Club is under way.

Wandering around the resort on Lindeman Island, towards the southern end of Queensland's famously beautiful Whitsunday group, it's hard to imagine a more fun place for kids to spend their holidays.

For a start there's the all-day icecream bar. Jealous.

Then there's the layout of the resort, which winds its tree-lined way up from the beach, past the pool and restaurant to the far more exciting trapeze, Kids Club centre and archery arena. If you're a child it must all seem one giant adventure playground.

Kids Club here caters for babies right through to teenagers with different activities planned for different age groups. Whether it's nature walks, arts and crafts, multi-media activities, mini-golf, water games or that ever-popular trapeze, the kids are kept as busy as you'd like them to be.

And none of them seem to be complaining - except perhaps when dad suggests the children might like to spend a day with him by the pool instead; or that perhaps 12 icecreams in one day is overdoing it.

Of course, this all means there are several kinds of holidays going on at Club Med Lindeman at one time.

While the kids are off having adventures - snorkelling or searching for turtles in the bay, racing each other in a sailing regatta or kayaking to a neighbouring island, all under the careful, watchful eyes of Club Med staff - mum and dad are more likely to be found tackling the cliff-top nine-hole golf course with its stunning ocean panoramas, or finding respite from the "rigours" of a resort holiday in the spa.

The spa sits right at the top of the resort, next to the golf course, tennis courts and the calming delights of the adults-only "quiet pool".

While the children are off having all those wild, energetic expeditions all over the resort I'd recommend parents try one of the massage packages for couples. Bliss.

And to top off the perfect, relaxing day, head out to the seventh hole of the golf course late in the afternoon (I "couldn't possibly" recommend smuggling a bottle of wine from the dining room to take with you) and sit on the cliff-edge to watch the spectacular sunset over the mainland among the pukeko.

It's all very Zen-like. However, if you're looking for a little more pep in your holiday - particularly if you've succumbed to the delights of that icecream bar - Lindeman is uniquely positioned to provide it.

For a start, getting almost anywhere around the resort is a workout in itself, thanks to its steep location (the exercise-averse need not panic; regular shuttle buses continuously run from one end of the resort to the other) but Club Med also shares the island with almost 700ha of World Heritage National Parkland.

From the resort there are several walking trails that take you through native Australian forest and bush (no, in this instance that's not the kids you can hear squealing but clusters of bats living high in the eucalypts), across rocky shores to secluded beaches or up to the island's highest point for more of those stunning Whitsunday views.

All the walks are suitable for most fitness levels and range in length from half an hour to a couple of hours, return. For the more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Club Med fitness instructors also take daily power-walking sessions along the trails early in the mornings, plus there are plenty of other ways to keep that renowned Club Med buffet from getting the better of your waistline.

You can be as active here as you'd like, with regular exercise classes for yoga, aerobics, aquarobics and pilates, plus tennis lessons, more golf or water polo in the main pool.

And when you tire of all that activity you can always collapse with a cocktail at the pool bar - and watch those endlessly energetic kids romp off on another giddy adventure.

IF YOU GO

* Club Med currently has a 40 per cent-off deal for Lindeman Island, with six-night all-inclusive packages from $2261 an adult and $1801 a child (4-17yrs), departing Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. The deal includes return airfares and transfers, all-day dining and bar, as well as sports and activities, Petit Club (for children aged 2-3 years), Kids Clubs (4-13 years), teens activities during school holidays, and daily and evening entertainment. Visit your travel agent, call Club Med 0800 258 263 or email enquiries@clubmed.co.nz.

* Pacific Blue has daily connecting flights from Auckland to the Whitsunday region (Hamilton Island and Prosperpine). Transfers to Lindeman will be organised as part of your Club Med package.

Kerri Jackson travelled courtesy of Club Med and Pacific Blue.

- DETOURS