A Painted Diary : Nerida de Jong – October 11 – 18, 2025
per person
A fabulous week of sketching and painting.
Create a diary of paintings to illustrate your journey – through the week, through the year, though life.
Early Bird Special Offer:
Book before Feb 1 2025 and receive a $200 discount.
When you make your booking, we will confirm receipt of payment of your deposit and will apply the early bird special to your final balance of payment invoice.
Price includes:
- Daily workshops with Nerida with personal attention
- Accommodation – choose from our bures at the front (Ocean View bures), or at the back (standard rooms) – or ask us about our two bedroom villas.
- Meals : breakfast, lunch and dinner – a mix of local Fijian and Indian food and international recipes
- Excursions: snorkel on the fabulous coral reefs, bathe in glorious waterfall, revel in the abundant nature of the landscape and experience the rich Fijian culture.
You just need to buy your air ticket and art materials, and leave the rest to us.
A Painted Diary - overview of the week's course
During the week, you will be learning to create a diary of paintings to illustrate your journey through life – and this can be woven around writing about your experiences as well.
The paintings are done on water colour paper, preferably hand made and later put into the large book as a diary. Of course, the paintings are works on their own and students may well prefer to use them in other ways like framing and hanging them.
Each morning is spent in a three hour workshop painting and creating, We will do some of this in the comfort of Daku Resort’s Yoga Shala with its breathtaking views over Savusavu Bay, but at other times we will go out on location to various parts of the island to see the Fijian countryside, beach, villages, and people. All of this makes for rich and interesting painting subjects.
Meet Nerida de Jong.
Artist Nerida de Jong captures the essence of her life experiences in the rich, vibrant colors of her acrylic paintings. Her style is very natural with brush strokes flowing organically. Her attention to intricate and beautiful detail brings a reality to her work that draws you into the painting allowing you to share those experiences with her.
Her paintings tell real life stories. “My works are just what they are—explanations of what’s happening around me at a particular time,” de Jong explains.
Remembering the passion for drawing and painting that she felt from the age of three, the Australian Artist Nerida de Jong has spent much of her life in some of the most beautiful corners of the globe, from the exotic Cook Islands and Fiji, to provincial France and now to the breathtaking Greek Islands. These idyllic locations called “home” over the years continue to have a great influence on her artwork today.
De Jong’s work is represented in galleries in a variety of countries and in many private collections throughout the world.
Any questions? Drop us a line.
OR BOOK NOW! Prices per person
Choose from the following options:
REAR BURE Standard room – Twin Share AUD $2650
REAR BURE Standard room, Single AUD $3100
Traveling with non-participating partner (rear bure), AUD $1650 – total for you ($2650) and your friend AUD$4300
FRONT BURE: Twin Share Room , AUD $3050
FRONT BURE: Single Room , AUD $3500
Traveling with non-participating partner (Ocean View bure), AUD $1950 Total for you (A$3050) and your friend: AUD$5000
Please indicate your choice on the booking form in the comments section. We will invoice you for the balance of payments three months before the course.
We ask for a $400 non-refundable deposit to secure your place. If the course does not go ahead and we cancel for any reason, we will refund it in full.
Summary & Pricing
Title: A Painted Diary: watercolours
Dates: October 11 – 18, 2025
Style: Watercolours
Programme: Daily morning workshops; afternoon excursions and free time.
Excursions and extras: All meals, and excursions as listed in the programme.
Food: Mixed menu.
Itinerary: Arrive Savusavu Saturday. Course starts Sunday, ends evening Friday. Depart Savusavu Saturday.
What To Bring
AQUARELLE ( water colours)
Lemon yellow
Chrome yellow
Yellow Ochre
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Cadmium Red
Magenta
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Pthalo Blue
Prussian Blue
Turquoise
White GOUACHE
BRUSHES
Water colour soft brushes sizes
4, 6, 10.
( and any others the artist prefers or uses)
Black permanent ink pen such as
uni P/N Fine line…… 0.5 or 0.8
PAPER
I like a medium gauge hand made paper with the rough edge
This can be bought at any good Art Supply shop . e.g. In Byron Bay
“ Still @ the Centre Arts”
3 Centennial Close
Here there is a good selection and the best come from India
Clip folder or board and clip
A4 size or similar
For extra paper as in A4 Visual diary
The actual large diary does not need to be purchased yet as we will discuss this during the course.
Accommodation
You’ll stay with us at Daku Resort, Fiji.
Accommodation is packaged with your course: we are offering a choice of standard rooms in our rear bures, or ocean view bures at the front .We have a number of two and three bedroom houses and villas so if there are a small group, we can quote you on those.
Additional Adventures
What to do in your free time.
We’ve arranged a number of excursions as part of the course (see Programme tab on the menu bar above). We also offer a range of other activities inside and outside of Daku Resort (please note that unless they are part of the programme, some activities, such as massages and those requiring equipment hire, may have additional costs).
TESTIMONIALS
When my art teacher invited me to join her on another art escape…not to France this time but to Fiji…I was skeptical. No croissants, no baguettes, no rail strikes, no jetlag. What would we draw/paint? Coconut palms?? YES and much much more. Armed with mostly art stuff ,a pareo, a swimsuit and 2 changes of clothing , 9 travel diary enthusiasts arrived at Daku Resort in Savusavu to the widest smiles and a kava ceremony…high tide or low tide referring to the quantity of our drinks… and we were on our way to reliving our youth…..(a couple of us were in our 80’s).
Peggy, George and Masi our NBF’s welcomed us to our traditional BUREs with accompanying drumbeats and the laid back energy we all craved. NOTHING was too much trouble for these guys. If we had wanted a moonlight sonata I am sure JJ could have provided
This was an all inclusive holiday that did not break the bank…3-4 stars in cost and 10 stars in delivery….visits to isolated villages, tapa making, black pearl farms, markets…we felt like anthropologists seeing things for the first time…drawing and painting exquisite fruit, foliage,buildings and people.
NO egos ,wifi when/if you need it, TV if you must, hairdryer if you have time…but seriously….ditch them all…dance barefoot with a brown eyed girl, drink/ scoop out and eat the flesh from a newly fallen coconut, savour locally grown market sourced food, swim amongst colourful fish in a warm ocean, take a cold outdoor shower, to wash away the heat and stare deeply into the eyes of nature….They say “history Ends in Green” It certainly does if you allow it.
Hayley C: 2023
Our location : Savusavu, Fiji
During this week, you’ll enjoy the rich culture and unspoilt nature of Fiji, the place where happiness comes naturally. We’re in Savusavu in Fiji’s North – known as the Hidden Paradise because it really is! We’ll take you out to snorkel on the beautiful coral reefs, to plunge into fresh waterfalls, to visit traditional Fijian villages where you’ll see a deeply hospitable corner of Fiji.
We’ve got a full programme planned – with some spare time to just relax.
Our accommodation: Daku Resort
We’re located at Daku Resort near Savusavu in Fiji. It’s a small and comfortable resort: you can choose from Ocean View bures, or standard room rear bures.
Ocean View bure
Standard room – rear bure
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Included
AccommodationAll Workshop FeesDining & MealsLectures & ExcursionsTransfers from Savusavu Airport -
Not Included
Alcoholic BeveragesEquipment & SuppliesFlights/TravelNon-Course ActivitiesTravel Insurance
Saturday
- Arrive in Savusavu.
- 6.00 pm Traditional Fijian welcome ceremony
- 7.30 pm Dinner
Sunday
- 9am - 12:30pm: Workshop
- 1pm: Lunch
- Afternoon: Free time
- 7:30pm: Dinner
Monday
- 9.00 am – 12.30 pm Workshop
- 1.00pm Lunch
- Visit from local craftswoman and tapa making demonstration followed by trip to Savusavu Town to see local market and shops. We'll take you there in a taxi, and then leave you to wander around and find your own way back (taxis cost approx F$4.60).
- 7.00 pm Dinner
