The training schedule falls apart!

The week in SA continued in the same vein, with food and wine being consumed at an alarming rate! My training schedule was not doing well - I had to do two 4.5 mile runs plus cross-training on the days I wasn't running. I'm not sure strolling around an apple orchard or sauntering amongst the grapevines carrying a camera could really be classed as cross-training? If you think travelling to a warm country will be good for training think again - the great thing about being in Britain at this time of year is that you have to go out running to stay warm!

And how could I possibly not eat the amazing food that was put infront of me? Even the typical South African braai (that is normally a complete meat-fest), was impossible to resist, with large flat mushrooms stuffed with cheese, chargrilled nectarines with feta cheese, and a wonderful home-made cheesecake that our host Johan insisted we ate the South African way, with a little red wine poured over the top - it was unusual, but delicious.

But the whole purpose of this trip was to learn about great South African fruit, so we did spend time wandering the vast apple, pear and plum orchards, and learnt about the varieties that are sent over to us in the UK. Interestingly the research showed that a lot of people don't buy South African fruit because they think it is grown artificially. Having visited at least three farms I can assure you there is nothing artificial about the glorious orchards that spread out for miles, with the fruit ripening naturally under the intense African sun.

We did manage to fit in a quick visit to Aquila Private Game Reserve near Touws River, with time for a safari to see the wildlife of Africa - they have giraffe, zebra, elephants, rhino, leapoard, cheetah and lions - and you will get to see them all - the reserve is not that large and there are fences to ensure they don't leave! The highlight of the safari was the stop for fizzy wine as the sun went down - we couldn't escape the alcohol even there!

On our final day we visited Langa Township, something I would highly recommend if you visit Cape Town. It's hard to say how it made me feel so I will leave it up to you to visit and judge for yourself. After this the plan was to drive up the West Coast Road towards Langebaan for a ten course lunch at Die Strandloper Seafood Restaurant. This was the final straw and we all voted against it! There really is only so much food that can be eaten, and for me, with no exercise taking place, my body was starting to rebel! The thought of returning to cold, grey England was a depressing one, but if I am to make the Paris half-marathon I need to get myself back in shape pretty quickly - only two weeks to go!

A fruity South African experience

Life is always full of such extremes, and this certainly is one of those - from the freezing sand dunes of the Kent coast I have travelled to the Western Cape in South Africa, and it is HOT!

I have been invited by South African fruit growers, to find out why their fruit is good and to help promote it back home in the UK. but not only do they want to promote their fruit, they are also very keen to show us how proud they are of their beautiful country, and they have every reason to be - it is stunning.

We arrived this morning, slightly tired after an all-night flight, but were revived by lunch at The Mount Nelson Hotel, the most iconic luxury hotel in Cape Town. It is famed for it's afternoon tea, but after the huge buffet lunch we were served there was no room left, plus we had lots more to fit into the day.

A quick trip to the top of Table Mountain by cable car and then we are driven out to Stellenbosch, one of the Western Cape's wineland areas, set at the head of the Eerste River Valley. Not only do they make great wine here, but the area also contains finely preserved examples of the Cape-Dutch style of architecture. We are lucky enough to be staying in the Lanzerac Hotel, a distinguished Cape-Dutch house on a 300-year old country estate over-looking lush vineyards and the Helderburg Mountains.

So on to dinner, and again I find there is no shortage of food! This week is going to be tough if I intend to keep up my training schedule for the Paris half-marathon in only 3 weeks - I am not just carbo-loading here, I will be over-loading pretty much every nutrient available to man if today is anything to go by! We eat at Moyo, an African Themed restaurant on the Spier Wine Estate and the buffet is vast! Even our group of nine carnivores, two vegetarians and one serious nut allergy sufferer did not struggle to over-eat.

Summer picnics in Kent

Most of you will know that when I'm not talking about healthy food, I'm styling it for photography for magazines and newspapers. And if you think the life of a food stylist is glamorous, think again!

The last two days were spent in the beautiful Kent countryside, we had rented a beach house to shoot a summer catalogue of kitchen and house-ware with the idea of showing picnic baskets in sand dunes, and tea parties in the garden.

Great plan........................until it snowed.............and

snowed.......and snowed! How to make summer in one foot of snow??!! Pretty impossible but luckily the house was very pretty inside so we got some great shots and you would never know the difference - I challenge you to find the shots!