When unsuspecting competition winner Helen Johnston-Griffin from Dorset commented on a Facebook post, little did she know her life was about to change forever…
To celebrate a record breaking summer for passenger rights in 2016, FlightCompensation.com ran a competition to giveaway an all-inclusive holiday to the idyllic island of Mauritius, worth a whopping £5,000.
Entering the competition was easy. Our Facebook fans were asked to answer a simple question “who would you most like to be delayed with”. We were overwhelmed by the response, receiving over 1,000 entries!
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Helen Johnston-Griffin from Dorset was the lucky winner picked at random. Helen’s answer was that she would most like to be delayed with her partner Jack, who is away on operational deployment with the British army for most of the year.
When Helen received the news that she had won, she was so overwhelmed she cried happy tears!
“I don’t usually enter any competitions so when I received the news, it took a few minutes to sink in and then I burst into tears – I was just so excited.”
The surprises for Helen didn’t stop there…
Shortly after being told about the holiday win, Helen’s partner Jack spontaneously proposed. With Jack working away with the army for most of the year and the couple hardly getting any quality time together, they decided to book a quick wedding and use the holiday as their honeymoon!
“Since winning the competition, everything has fallen into place. We got married in November 2016, but Jack was deployed the very next day, so we waited months to take our honeymoon – and we counted down every single day! It was so amazing to have something to look forward to.”
Honeymoon time!
After waiting for nearly a year and still not quite believing their luck, Helen and Jack arrived at Gatwick airport on 19th June, next stop paradise.
Read Helen’s happy ever after honeymoon diary below.
The adventure begins! – 19th June 2017
After months of clock-watching, our honeymoon is FINALLY here!
Sat on the plane, we felt reassured that the competition was real and that we really had won a £5,000 holiday – couldn’t be happier!
Luxury awaits – 20th June 2017
We were met off the plane by our lovely driver who gave us a quick tour as he drove us to the Troux aux biches resort where we would spend the next eight days.
We were met with cocktails and fresh fruit and were completely blown away, It’s even better than the pictures: beautiful and immaculate.
Waking up in paradise and dreams coming true – 21st June 2017
It’s our first full day and we’re up at 5am, but it will be worth it as we’re going to swim with dolphins in the wild!
For months and months I had waited for this dream to become reality, especially with Jack being deployed in the lead up to the honeymoon, it was going to be even more worth the wait!
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We swam with dolphins (mother and baby) and as if that wasn’t enough, we watched the sun rise over the mountains. The colours made by the sun became more vivid, making the sky more radiant as the blue morning sky come out. Words cannot explain how amazing this experience was.
Into the wild – 23rd June 2017
Day three and another early start – today we were venturing into the wild and going on safari!
We walked through the woods with two lions and got to stroke the belly of the male lion. It felt no different to scratching our pet cat at home until you look back at pictures and you realise he could have eaten you whole!!
…and relax! – 25th June 2017
On Day five we finally got a chance to relax.
We started the day with a seven-course breakfast and finished with a glass-bottomed boat trip to watch the sun set over the beach.
Rum-tastic – 26th June 2017
Today we visited the Hindu Temple Grand Bassin, the Mangal Mahadev sculpture, went to a volcano and ventured along the Black River Gorge.
The highlight for me was having a tour of a rum distillery which included lots of free samples. I was the only one awake on the journey back.
Found our paradise – 27th June 2017
Day seven and we were up and out of the resort before sunrise for a boat trip and diving.
We took a day trip on a speed boat to visit the best areas for sea life, before having a BBQ in a private cove. The whole experience was perfect, even if Jack always insists on a rendition of the Jaws theme tune every time I’m about to get into the sea!
Time for a nap – 28th June 2017
It’s our last day and we’re taking the day to enjoy the resort. After an embarrassingly large breakfast (who would want to waste the six restaurants at this place), we lay on the beach reading before doing some snorkeling before lunch, followed by a little nap.
It’s very surreal for a parent to have the opportunity to take a nap at two o’clock in the afternoon!
We did have to pinch ourselves a couple of times as we just couldn’t get over the fact we’d won the holiday! It seemed too good to be true!
Curled up together, we watched the lagoon before being driven to the airport – absolute luxury from start to finish.
Be sure to keep an eye on our FlightCompensation.com Facebook and Twitter pages and subscribe to our newsletter for future competitions and giveaways.