When I left Cape Town in September last year, I left under a dark cloud of sadness. I climbed on my plane, not glancing back and very much determined to keep facing forward. It was a cognitive choice for my wellbeing to leave Cape Town but it was still a tough call. Leaving my beautiful girl behind holds a deep pain point for me. Even now, it’s the thing I struggle with the most. I’m still not sure how to navigate each day without her by my side.
We are so utterly beautiful together.
I know I am blessed to have such incredible relationships with both my girls. It has not been without it’s challenges and exceptionally hard work but it has been intentional work and their closeness to me is my whole heart!
So returning to Cape Town wasn’t without some anxiety, also I had just finally got my routine back into flow state. The thought of returning to my place of sadness was a little daunting. Ultimately, I was there to see my girl and I was arriving with a specific agenda. I had to stay focussed. I won’t lie, some days I felt the sadness chase me down and I had to keep moving. Dalebrook Tidal Pool was close enough for me to pop down to almost daily, to down regulate my nervous system and it did not disappoint. Swimming with Corksi again was a gift, we used to swim together often and it reminded me how long I’ve been cold water sea swimming for, almost 5 years now and at last, I am reaping the beautiful gifts of this practice.
I love how similar the Cape Town Tidal pools are to the ones I’ve been exploring here in Portugal. There are actually a lot of similarities between both these worlds. The distance between Dalebrook Tidal Pool in KalkBay (South Atlantic) and Piscina Oceânica Alberto Romano Tidal Pool in Cascais (North Atlantic) is around 12000kms. Both spaces hold my heart for different reasons and I felt so spoilt to have been able to swim in both pools in one week.
I also came to close out my storage unit and sell the last of our furniture and belongings and sort out the last of the boxes, also sorting out telephone contracts, banking admin and old policies. I gave myself a year to close things out and I was right on target. Everything got wrapped up quickly as I cut the last threads tying me to my past.
Cape Town is magnificent in summer and I arrived as it started. We rose early everyday not to waste a single moment together. I was also working during this time which meant I got to be onset while they were filming our latest commercial and also be in the production office the whole time.
I did my best to slot into Courteney and Marc’s life and not disturb their schedules too much. Courteney gave me full access to her car for the duration of my visit and I squeezed in what I could… yoga, tai chi and seeing some of my dearest friends and family. I managed to do some dry needling with my amazing physio, I miss her terribly and got two face to face sessions with my therapist. I am so grateful for everything I got to squeeze in but most of all, every moment I got with my girl!
All in all my time in Cape Town - pure magic.
Thank you to all of you who made time for me to swoop in and steal moments!
On my first day back in the forest, we were greeted by this incredible bird of prey. This is a magical and rare treat. If you know me and my love for birds of prey, this was a good omen.
Thank you my beautiful girl for our precious time together, every moment tucked away until we can be together again. I miss you every moment of everyday.
True love first kiss - always and forever.
