So, here we are on the morning of Friday 18th of January as the sun was rising over Edinburgh Airport. The journey today was a flight from Scotland to Gatwick, the underground and then train across to Heathrow and finally the flight at 6.15pm from there to Cape Town arriving at breakfast time on Saturday morning.
Another day, another flight, another bag full of supplies for my journey, although excitement not hunger was bubbling in my tummy. This was it! All the waiting was over, at last it was time to fly to South Africa!!!! The flight to Gatwick was merely a hop, skip and a jump away.
I'll be honest with you, my new hairstyle was a bit of a shock. I've never had a fringe this short before and did feel very exposed - how can I hide my frown lines and wrinkles now? Steve and I had chatted about this beforehand and it seemed the only thing to do was "Own it!" and so that was what I did.
When I was strolling around Duty Free shopping at Heathrow, I espied the MAC counter and it dawned on me that my new haircut might as well be a springboard to upgrading my make-up too. The assistant helped me try out lots of new colours of lipstick and much to my surprise I decided to go with this purple, called (fittingly enough) Model Behaviour. I managed not to blurt out my story to the girl which was quite restrained of me. From there I decided to have some new eyeshadow too and chose the complimentary shade called "Can't stop, Don't stop" Dazzle eyeshadow. I applied some there and then, adopting this new image before I was due to meet up with the other models. A new blusher, and I was feeling miles better with my new look. Photo shoot here I come!
After an 11 hour flight we landed smoothly at Cape Town to a beautiful day.
Cape Town airport was clean and cool - welcome to the land of wall to wall air conditioning. We were collected from the airport and taken into the harbour area of the city to our hotel.
We all were clicking away as the scenery flew past us. The light was dazzling and bright after the overnight flight.
Located bang on the waterfront is the Table Bay Hotel, our 5 star base for the duration.
Decorated in the old colonial style, this hotel is all you could wish for as far as luxury goes. It was opened in 1997 by Nelson Mandela and has a plaque proudly displayed at Reception to this effect. Situated on the Victoria and Albert Waterfront the hotel is placed in one of the most prestigious locations in the city and sits in the shadow of Table Mountain.
Five travel weary models in the lift on the way up to our rooms. Some of us (me) looking more washed out than the others!
What can I say about my bedroom - not too shabby!
The view from my bedroom sealed the deal - yes, I must, absolutely must, visit Table Mountain! It was with a sense of almost disbelief that I took in the sights from my expanse of window. How on earth have I pulled this off? What have I done to deserve this? I really can't believe my luck - talk about #pinchme #Imustbedreaming
We arrived in time for breakfast which was a huge array of every type of food you could conjure up for the start of a day. The plan was to eat and at lunchtime we were to be taken off for our wardrobe fitting and to meet our new choreographer. All was going really well, but by mid-afternoon I suddenly had a downturn health-wise. I think over the 24 hour period I hadn't eaten or drunk enough and had to have some re-hydration salts to get me out of the slump. The team were great and also contacted the hotel to get me an appointment with the Head Chef to discuss my dietary requirements. Once my outfits were all checked and fitted, I was driven back to the hotel to get things underway. For the rest of the stay, I had my own chef at the end of the phone as well as the chefs on set being made aware of my needs. Food and drink sorted, I was soon back on form.
Sunday was a day off for the models and production crew. We all had different plans as to how best to spend the day, but had agreed to have breakfast together. After a very long breakfast (4 hours in fact) where I'd spent time with each of the models from the early-birds to the sleepy-heads I gathered my things together and caught my lift out to the base of Table Mountain to catch the cable car to the summit.
The circular cable car was cleverly designed to have an outer shell that rotated as it ascended, and dotted around the shell were several unglazed windows which afforded everyone the perfect photo opportunity as it passed in front of you.
I fancy that this will be the only one of the seven I will ever see, and somehow that made it even more special for me. What is also remarkable is that while I was visiting one of the Seven Wonders of Nature, so was my daughter. Sasha was spending her 30th birthday in Halong Bay in Vietnam - what globe trotters we are!
It was from this vantage point that I first saw the idyllic beach of Camp's Bay glistening tantalisingly in the far distance below. Little did I know, that the tiny little pool in the corner of the photo would be where I would get my one and only sea swim in South Africa.
Camps Bay has a glorious stretch of beach, but the waters can be quite treacherous with mighty Atlantic rollers and riptides too. It's patrolled by lifeguards who display flags on the days it's safe to swim there.
It's difficult to explain the significance of this view and what it meant to me to be here, like this, particularly on my own. I know for most visitors this breathtaking sight is photo-worthy, but I had to stop to gather my thoughts and yes, even congratulate myself on being here. I felt such a sense of achievement at being not just so far away from home, but at having come so far, health-wise. Six years ago I was trapped at home, literally crawling from sofa to toilet, held hostage by bowel disease. My journey from illness to full health (documented here) was a huge learning curve, one which found me removing myself from conventional medicine after several steroid induced psychotic episodes. Modern day medicine didn't agree with my sensitive system, leaving me for a while high and dry without any way to get well or treat my symptoms. Determination to turn my life around fuelled my motivation to find a way forward, which I did. I make no apologies for the graphic details of my illness as sharing my story may help others to get well through diet and exercise too - the method is simple and the results are life-changing. So life-changing in fact, that I was a bit choked to realise I had come away from the hotel without doing any research on Table Mountain and it's facilities. Who'd had thought that six years down the line I'd be an ordinary traveller who didn't even need to know where the nearest loo was before leaving her hotel? I do believe that my life is all the sweeter for having been through this journey. Poor health is not to be wished upon anyone, but the upside of illness is that it gives one a different perspective on life compared to someone who has always been well. I savour my everyday life much more because of having lived with bowel disease since I was 18. Over 40 years of yo-yoing back and forth from doctor's to hospitals has taught me to be grateful for the simple things such as eating good food without any repercussions or being able to go for a walk without worrying about loos on the way. My life is a joy, and I'm so grateful for my journey.
I spent a couple of hours following the path around the top of the mountain and taking snaps of the surrounding peaks of the Twelve Apostles range. The top of the mountain often sits shrouded in clouds, but I was lucky to have a clear view in scorching sunshine - hat and long sleeves were the order as I was told not to get sun burnt for the photo shoot next day.
Once I came back to the hotel I met up with Evon and we went for a mooch around the harbour area at the back of the hotel. The choice of eating venues was huge and there was lots of touristy things to do, such as shopping and listening to music.
We stopped and sat for a while to listen to these talented youngsters play and sing. Evon and I both bought a copy of their CD - they call themselves the IThemba Ensemble.
After an hour or so we wandered back to our hotel, stopping for some more shots along the way.
It had been a long day. I hadn't slept on the overnight flight so after dinner in my room I took one final look at the view and had an early night. My pick-up with Evon was 4.25am the next morning, so I needed all the beauty sleep I could get!
Anna x
