Trip of a lifetime - part two


Early on Monday morning on the 7th of January I'd flown from Newquay to Gatwick arriving just in time for breakfast. I was on my way to the South African Visa Office to apply for a work visa for my upcoming trip to Cape Town. Directions were in my phone and also printed off along with every other document I could possibly need to cover the three weeks I was away from home. The trip to London was a real whistle-stop affair. At the last minute, just as I landed at Gatwick in fact, my friend Ann invited me to join her at home for breakfast. A couple of hours later she accompanied me across London to the visa office where the deed was done. We had a late lunch nearby after which she shepherded me back across the city to deliver me to Euston Station. By teatime I was on my way to Manchester for my Wardrobe appointment the next day. Newquay to London, apply for visa, then London to Manchester all in one day, check!


I spent the night in central Manchester at the Abode Hotel. The sight of this super king size bed, three pillows wide was heaven. Lay a bit of luxury on me baby, if you must!


And yes, a big echo-y bathroom is fine with me too.


After breakfast the following morning I went to find the venue for the wardrobe appointment which was only a few minutes walk away from the hotel. Next, well of course you know what would be next ... a bit of retail therapy! First a couple of charity shops and then TK Maxx. I was very restrained, but found one or two things that were bargains enough to warrant being squeezed into my bags.



I can always find room for another pair of shoes, or two!


It was great to meet up with Paulina again. We were both equally excited about the forthcoming photo shoot. Like me, Paulina works full time (she runs her own cake making business in London), but she has staff and therefore she too had cover for the trip. 


The wardrobe session over, it was time for the creatives to look at shots of the permutations of outfits on all of the models (there were five of us in total) and make some decisions. The tweaking and pinning are part of this session too, although the fitting of an outfit here doesn't always mean it will be worn by that model on the day. See? I'm gradually learning how very fluid this whole process is. Scripts too, can change right up to rehearsals so you never really know who, which and where never mind what is going to happen. By the time I got to the end of the trip to SA I felt I had learnt a lot more about the business than ever before.


By teatime that evening I was on Manchester station on my way to Scotland.



I arrived in Edinburgh about 10pm to find that my hotel, Motel 1, was only 50 metres away from Waverley station. The crisp white sheets were calling, and I didn't resist for long.


This is Milo, guard dog at my sister's house in St Andrew's my next port of call. Don't be deceived by his size - he's a loud and ferocious little fella. Entering or even approaching her house can be a noisy affair, but I can say that once the barking stops, he's a bit of a softie really. Between Wardrobe and departing for Cape Town, I had 10 days to while away so it was a great opportunity to visit Dianne and also see my other sister, Sandra for a couple of days too. Dog walking, charity shopping and lots of talking was how we spent our time together, plus taking a few blog photos too, of course.



I thought the plan was for my shoes to be the star of the show, but Milo had other ideas.


On the 14th of Jan I had another little train journey to make - back to Edinburgh for the night so that I could catch an early train to London to collect my visa. It was obviously vital to the whole trip that I had a visa otherwise I wouldn't be able to travel. I therefore arrived with sweaty palms and a feeling of dread deep in the pit of my stomach. These kind of things have a habit of going wrong for me and I can't help thinking that the pungent aroma of doom precedes me. Sure enough, on arriving at Reception I was tackled about why I was two hours early. Not only that, but why had I altered my appointment time on my paperwork? My response was that this was done by the Manager who had interviewed me as she agreed to an early collection due to the fact that I would be travelling all the way from Edinburgh. The ensuing phone call to her department announced that the woman at the desk (me) had altered her appointment time and was the manager there to substantiate my claim? No, of course she wasn't. The accusation was repeated to other operatives and my countering followed each time. Increasingly I protested, she objected, I became slightly more forceful, and somehow this resulted in my being allowed into the inner sanctum and directed downstairs to the interview room.

However, things didn't improve much at the next stage. I was called forward to the desk and asked for my receipt. This was a photocopy of my passport, plus a printed receipt with my appointment details attached. Why had I altered my collection time? Not me, your Manager did it. Have you had a text to say it's ready for collection? No. The passports don't come in untiI 4pm. Then why was I told to come at 2? I don't know. Neither do I. Much muttering to operative in the next booth. I was then asked for proof of identity.  You have my passport - that's my ID I chirruped. No, she responded, I need your ID, something else, your driving license. I don't drive, I don't have a driving license. You must have ID to collect this. But you have my only ID - you have my passport. I need something else with your photo on it. This wasn't going well. My passport has my photo on it - the receipt has my photo on it - and here's my face. You must show me photo ID. I proffered various other cards (senior rail card, Scilly Travel Club card) and in the midst of this heated exchange a mumbled voice came from the next booth. The interviewer's attitude changed from full on battle-mode to resignation to acceptance.  At last common sense had prevailed - my face did in fact match the photocopy of my passport and I was allowed to receive said passport with visa which somehow had magically appeared. Hurrah! I had defeated the idiocy of bureaucracy and Cinderella was indeed going to the ball!

I virtually skipped around the corner to the Montcalm Hotel where I had arranged to meet up with my blogging friend Jacqui aka Mummabstylish


We spent a lovely couple of hours together, chatting about all things blogging of course and then about my forthcoming trip. We've met before and it was great to catch up with Jacqui in person on her latest news - she's a grandma, being one of the most amazing things, as she looks so blooming young! Or is that just a sign of me getting old? We got the waiter to take some shots of us, but he missed my fab new shoes!


And there was the obligatory selfie of course!


I'd arrived early in Edinburgh the day before and what a super surprise it was to find a huge branch of TK Maxx only minutes away from my hotel. Somehow I got bit carried away and bought a whole new outfit to wear to my lunch date with Jacqui! 



Yes, these were too much of a bargain to be left on the shelf. So very me, I can hear you cry!


The next evening I was back in St Andrews for a couple of nights before it was time for me to make my final journey south. The day prior to leaving,Thursday the 17th, was a busy day for me as I had received a message from the client to say that they wanted me to have my hair cut and it took until the very last day for the instructions to come through. I had done my homework in advance though, and found a swish hairdresser in the town where I'd made an appointment with the salon owner Sophie Butler to style me up, ready for the shoot. 


Sophie did a great job, giving me a very sleek do which she assured me could be roughed up for a wilder look. I had to send some shots through to the client for approval before I left the salon. The cut really enhanced the colour too - no rinses or filters required, hahaha!


I'll be honest with you. I had deep reservations about this haircut. The fringe left me with nowhere to hide and felt very severe for my strong features. I think the style looked fabulous on the model in the proposal, but she was the right side of 30 with a heart shaped face with a button nose and cheekbones you could hang your coat on. Anyway, the deed was done with no time to think about it as I was due to catch a train to Edinburgh within the hour.


I spent the evening of the 17th of January in Edinburgh once more, this time out at the airport. 


Friday the 18th of January had at last arrived! I had an early start for the 8.30am flight to catch from Edinburgh to Gatwick and then a later flight from Heathrow to Cape Town. OMG, my adventure truly was about to begin!

Anna x


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18 comments

  1. Oh, wow, I feel like I'm living this right alongside you, Anna! What swanky hotels, funny Milo photobombing you, the new haircut (which I love, but hmmm, I see what you mean about it - looks hard to maintain with your hair's natural texture). You can ship all those shoes to me, please, along with your ketchup and mustard plaid pants.

    I felt for you with the f*&^ing bureaucratic bullsh*te there. Gah!

    Wonderful and exciting posts, and I know how much work it is to do these huge posts. Love them, and thank you!

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    1. Hey Sheila! Yes these mammoth posts are why I'm not managing to catch up on all my blogging friends yet - they're so time consuming, especially as half of the images are on my phone and half of them on my camera! Anyway, thanks for the feedback, that makes it all worthwhile sweetie x

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  2. wow, what a lot of adventures, trains, hotels (some cool ones!) and fabulousness!. And your purchases look great too!, glad that you could enjoy some retail therapy, and have some meetings with blogging friends!
    Lovely shoes!, all of them!! And Milo is a star!
    Having to deal with bureaucracy is always stressful and sometimes absurd and maddening! ugh!
    I'm looking forward to read more about your trip!
    besos

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    1. Hi there Monica, lovely to hear from you. The trip was a wonderful mix of travel, shopping and hanging out with friends. I can't wait to show you the sights from South Africa next!

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  3. I've enjoyed reading about your adventures, even though the visa story did make my blood boil. Isn't all that bureaucracy just maddening? Love your new haircut, although I do understand your reservations. But that's the thing with hair: it will grow again! xxx

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    1. My sister's agreed with you about the visa story - doesn't it just drive you mad? But also, I felt so scared that I wouldn't get my passport back at all if I couldn't show them this other non-existent ID. The good news is that the hair is growing back fine, and the fringe is almost all grown out already x

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  4. Like Sheila I'm feeling like I've been swept up on your journey and am very much emotionally invested in each twist and turn as it happens. That's because A)your writing is wonderfully descriptive and B) I'm heartily pulling for you every inch of the way!!
    Cute new crop. Your hair looks shimmeringly healthy.
    Your looking svelte and vibrant!
    Can't wait for the next installment in the adventure my friend!!

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    1. I'm so pleased that you're enjoying this Judy. I wrote a diary while I was away, but just seeing each image again helps to bring all of the details back to me. The hairdresser did an amazing job and yes, wasn't that a brilliant shine - best off all the fringe is growing in now and I love it. Am working on the next feature now x

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  5. I love how you take us with you on this unbelievable fantastic trip! I enjoyed reading every word of it!

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    1. Thank-you! My blog is all about the sharing Nancy and these are the best stories to share x

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  6. Urgh, rotten jobsworths at the Visa place! Did you have to get a work visa to go to SA? I presume so as I just rocked up to SA and got my tourist visa upon entry. I was very worried for you! Haha, TK Maxx is too much to resist! Love your zigzaggy jumper by the way! Yoru hair looks really nice- I can understand feeling a bit daunted by a new style!x

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    1. I think it was because I was on a film shoot, Kezzie, otherwise, no I wouldn't have needed a visa. I too was very worried and massively relieved when I finally got my passport back! I do find TK Maxx irrestible, so thank goodness I can't get there very often. And thank goodness, my hair has grown back quite a bit already, especially the fringe which was the most scary part! x

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  7. Anna you are so lucky. Whast an experience. i am so glad you did not let the people where you collected your visa from upset you too much but it couldn't have been nice as they were making you out to be a liar. Anyway that is now in the past. Looking forward to reading the next part of your adventure. Love - Jill stylishatsixty x
    www.stylishatsixty.wordpress.com

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    1. Jill, I felt I was over a barrel with my position of needing this visa and therefore couldn't allow it to become too much of a battle otherwise it might have gone terribly wrong. The relief was enormous when it finally worked though! I hope to publish the final part of the trip soon x

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  8. Oh I feel like I just did all this with you and not just met up! What a busy time, and your look amazing so it obviously suits you. Love the shoes and your hair is gorgeous - very Mary Quant! Will fast forward to your next post Hun. xx Have a super 'relaxed' weekend! Jacqui Mummabstylish

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    1. What a long time ago this seems already Jacqui, but wasn't it great to snatch those few hours together? I really did enjoy catching up with you. The hair was very sleek wasn't it? Now, maybe not so much! x

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  9. I'm waiting for more! Don't keep us in suspense too long Anna! xx

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    1. I'm delighted that you see this as a good read Laurie. The next part is published now x

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