Behind The Scenes On The Myer Fashion Shoot In South Africa!

When the Myer Spring Summer 2012/2013 catalogue is revealed this week in Sydney and you're enjoying the beautiful images, the stunning designs and the flawless models, just keep in mind that dozens of people travelled halfway around the world to deliver this to you.

At the end of May this year, the Myer crew packed a ridiculous amount of luggage, camera crew and gluten free bread, and headed to Sun City in South Africa. This gorgeous resort and the surrounding National Park was the base for this year's Spring Summer fashion shoot, and the diversity of landscapes and locations meant that you will have visually spectacular backdrops accompanying some incredible clothing this season.

Check out my behind the scenes video below (apologies for the footage but the professional film crew was stuck back here in Adelaide) and some photos to get you in the mood.

The full reveal will be happening this Thursday in Sydney and I'll be there to bring you all the updates! Follow me on Twitter at @KellyNoble.



Related articles

• On Trend In South Africa This Season With Myer (glamadelaide.com.au)
• First Glimpse of Myer Spring Summer Campaign Shoot in South Africa With Jen Hawkins & Jess Hart! (kellynoble.blogspot.com)
• Off To South Africa! #SA2SA (kellynoble.blogspot.com)

First Glimpse of Myer Spring Summer Campaign Shoot in South Africa With Jen Hawkins & Jess Hart!

After weeks of patiently waiting, I'm excited to reveal some of the amazing photos taken by Alex Coppel on my visit to South Africa! The images were shot for the upcoming Myer Spring Summer catalogue and truly capture the beauty of the amazing landscape of the country, as well as the stunning designs we can look forward to wearing next season! The models and the crew enjoyed the trip as much as we did behind the scenes, and to show you what went on I'll be uploading some behind the scenes photos and video shortly. In the meantime, enjoy the photos that were taken at our hotel, The Palace of the Lost City (in Sun City) and at the national park that surrounds it... 

SA2SA: Discovering Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the world's largest urban forest, with over 10 million trees!

As a first time visitor to Johannesburg, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd heard mixed options about the city before my trip to South Africa (mainly from people who had never been there) and as a result, had decided not to make any judgement calls before experiencing it for myself.

I'm glad I waited.

It was a beautiful, vibrant city and we enjoyed a SAFE experience. We drove around with our car unlocked. Our driver did not carry a gun. We did not get car jacked. Or pick-pocketed. Or scammed. Since the World Cup was held there, safety in the city has vastly improved and additional security cameras, increased police presence, citizen patrols and military support has meant that crime has substantially decreased.

Like any big city, there are still areas to be more vigilant in, but overall, the public perception of Joburg being dangerous is incorrect, and I'm glad I was able to have a positive experience there to share with everyone else.

The drive from Sun City to Johannesburg took about 2 hours and allowed us to see a different side to life in South Africa. Plots of land farmed with unknown crops sprung up regularly among wilder, overgrown areas. Locals selling wire whisks, fresh fruit and beaded animals stood at traffic lights. Crowded, lively townships crammed with tiny houses lined sections of the road. People were walking everywhere, travelling to and from work, and sometimes their most direct route seemed to include strolling along the freeway. We certainly weren't short of sights to soak in!

We were lucky to have an incredible guide called Joe to drive us around during our time in the city. Joe had grown up in Soweto in Joburg and was a passionate advocate for the city and South Africa. His stories about the past and present in Johannesburg were amazing, and he had been an active participant in creating the way of life he is now proud to share with his children and grandchildren. Joe was part of the 1976 student protests in Soweto, which helped to shape the course of history for South Africa. If you don't know much about them, it's an important and turbulent part of history and worth spending some time researching.

As we headed further into Johannesburg, a more familiar cityscape greeted us, with busy streets, skyscrapers and traffic, and hidden gems like our first destination, 44 Stanley, Millpark. 44 (as it's known) is a small complex, hidden behind a double gate and high walls that opened into a beautiful little group of courtyards framed with trees. 44 has a mix of boutique shops and cafes, including a great little bakery/cafe called Vovo Telo where we had AMAZING gourmet pizzas. I'd definitely recommend it!

Inside 44

Our lunch destination, Vovo Telo

Inside Vovo Telo

Our itinerary was insane so I won't pack all my stories in to one post. Will post more shortly!

Follow my adventures on Twitter @KellyNoble or by searching #SA2SA
For South African Holiday deals, please visit www.southafricanholidays.com.au
For more information on South Africa , please visit www.southafrica.net
For more information on Sun City, please visit www.suninternational.com
For more information on SAA flights and reservations please call 1300 435 972 or www.flysaa.com

SA2SA: My Breathtaking Hot Air Balloon Safari

The guys getting the balloon prepared right before dawn.

You haven't lived until you've seen dawn breaking over the beautiful South African landscape from the peaceful basket of a hot air balloon.

With so much happening at the Palace of the Lost City, it was tempting to stay out the night before and live it up, but a 4:30am wake up call forced some common sense in to our group.

After being picked up in an open air Safari truck at 5am from the hotel, we were driven to the Pilannesburg National Park in the dark. Our guide kept his spotlight scanning both sides of the scrubby hills surrounding our truck, either to help us see animals or to protect us from them. Regardless of the intention, his trusty shotgun made us feel a little safer from roaming lions.

All rugged up with my Liza Emanuele cape on and a woolen blanket across my knees, I managed to spot a white rhino and its baby in the low light of pre-dawn!

Me standing in front of our group right before we jumped in.

The balloon itself was from Air Trak Adventures, and was being filled alongside a massive lake when we arrived. It has a whopping 250,000 cubic feet of volume and more than 47kms of stitching. What I'm saying is that it was huge. A comforting factor when you're about to sail up and over some of the most dangerous animals on earth.

This is the lake we took off over. So beautiful.

The serene peace of the morning was soul restoring, and teamed with the breaking dawn, there was a beautiful calm among those of us adventuring in to the sky.

The actual take off and journey in the balloon was wonderful. It was incredibly gentle and didn't actually feel like you were moving. We moved between 4.5 - 9kms/hr but because you are moving with the breeze, you don't actually feel the wind on your face. Those in the group with height fears had absolutely no trouble and loved it just as much as the rest of us.

South African sunsets are simply amazing.

From the sky we spotted more white rhinos, impalas, warthogs, antelopes, zebra, and wildebeest to name a few. We even heard a lion roar echo through the sky!

Our reflection in the lake we took off over.

Our balloon pilot was quite a character as well - Tony Corrie - an ex-ad man from the UK who moved over for a change of pace many years ago. Full of great stories and certainly a great person to make you feel like you're in safe hands.

Some of the beautiful landscape in the National Park.

It's quite cool seeing this shadow following you around.

We landed so gently we weren't sure we were on the ground!

Our guide protecting us as we landed.

Some of the white rhinos we spotted!

Our post-ballooning champagne breakfast at the lodge!

After we had landed and were safely escorted back to our Safari truck (which had driven around to where we set down), we were taken back through the national park in daylight so we were able to spot many more animals who were all up & about in the sunshine!

The final hurrah was a champagne breakfast to celebrate at a lodge on the other side of the big security fences that surround the national park. Nothing like some bubbles to help ease you in to a day you started at 4:30am!

I can't recommend this experience enough. It's a little pricier than other activities on offer, but it's also a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you'll never forget it. They even give you a little certificate as proof at the end of the breakfast!


Follow my adventures on Twitter @KellyNoble or by searching #SA2SA
For South African Holiday deals, please visit www.southafricanholidays.com.au
For more information on South Africa , please visit www.southafrica.net
For more information on Sun City, please visit www.suninternational.com
For more information on SAA flights and reservations please call 1300 435 972 or www.flysaa.com

SA2SA: Day Spas & Quad Biking. The Perfect First Day.

I've been in South Africa since Wednesday night and I am absolutely loving it.

The fact that I'm staying in The Palace Of The Lost City certainly helps, as it's SUCH a magnificent location, but we've seen and done so much already that it's really giving me a wonderful sense of this great country.

In the foyer of the Palace of the Lost City

On Monday we're back on the road to explore more places around SA, but for now I'm happy soaking up the amazing adventures on offer here at Sun City.

The tag line for the resort is 'A Million Thrills, One Destination' and they're not wrong.

On Thursday morning, after waking up with some horrendous jet lag, we decided that checking out the Gatsby International Health and Beauty Care Day Spa was definitely something we could handle.

The girls and I pre-massage!

A hot stone massage later, and we were all feeling on top of the world. I highly recommend it. The day spa was a beautiful experience and the facilities there were fantastic. Certainly felt like a celebrity with all the pampering. It cost around $100 for an hour and then add 10% tipping on top.

Feeling all relaxed we decided there was nothing more appropriate to do than heading out to a game park for some quad biking... (I'm not sure why we thought that was good timing but anyway...!)

The sign outside of the quad biking hut

It was a great way to see some of the landscape near the hotel and gave us our first glimpse at the wildlife - a Warthog and an Impala.

About to go quad biking

There was even a guy on his own quad bike that kept popping up & taking photos of our group - which we were then able to purchase for about $30 afterwards. Considering our hands were full trying to stay upright on the rutted roads, taking photos wasn't really an option - so this worked out perfectly.

There was a clay pigeon shooting range right next to the quad bike trail, so if you're keen to do both, schedule them back to back to save yourself the extra travel time. It's all so close to the hotel though, it's not that much of a drive.

I'd love to stay and tell you more about the trip but my 4:30am alarm is going off - we're about to head out on a hot air balloon safari! I'll pop on later and write about some more amazing things that I've done so far.

Follow my adventures on Twitter @KellyNoble or by searching #SA2SA
For South African Holiday deals, please visit www.southafricanholidays.com.au
For more information on South Africa , please visit www.southafrica.net
For more information on Sun City, please visit www.suninternational.com
For more information on SAA flights and reservations please call 1300 435 972 or www.flysaa.com

Off To South Africa! #SA2SA

The last week has been an absolute whirlwind, and this has been the first chance I’ve had to sit down and write something. Namely, because I’m on a 14-hour flight to South Africa and time is something I’ve now got.

I left Sydney about 12 hours ago, and am only a couple of hours away from Johannesburg – my first South African destination.

I’m loving that it’s a direct flight (thanks South African Airways & Qantas!).

To get to Sydney on time though, I had to fly in from Adelaide the night before (ie yesterday afternoon) and encountered a domestic vs international luggage issue.

I had packed my suitcases according to international baggage limits, and was caught out when checking in my baggage for the Adelaide-Sydney leg. Beware! Despite my trip being booked at the same time, I had to comply with domestic limits as I was travelling on separate days (so not technically a connecting flight). I managed to move some weight around and avoided excess baggage but it’s certainly something I’ll keep in mind going forward!

After arriving in Sydney I stayed at the Stamford Airport Hotel. Not bad. Not bad at all. The hotel was actually really nice (and only 5 minutes away from the airport), and although the prices for the room service were quite steep, their Asian-inspired menu was reasonable and yummy. I managed to use the airport shuttle to and from the hotel, which only set me back $6 each way.

Fast forward to Duty Free. I think I should win some sort of award for not shopping. It took all of my willpower but I managed to board the flight with only a MAC lip gloss to show for my 3 hours of window shopping. That’s got to be a new record for me.

Now it’s just a matter of refraining from buying too many things while overseas so I can fit some presents in my bags for my gorgeous little baby girl. She celebrated her first birthday on Sunday so she’s certainly due some special presents upon my return.

Not long till we land now… exciting times!

Follow my adventures on Twitter @KellyNoble or by searching #SA2SA

For South African Holiday deals, please visit www.southafricanholidays.com.au
For more information on South Africa , please visit www.southafrica.net
For more information on Sun City, please visit www.suninternational.com
For more information on SAA flights and reservations please call 1300 435 972 or www.flysaa.com

So this is what it feels like to win the lottery!

Last week I received the call of a lifetime.

No, I didn't win the lottery, but this has got to come close.

I've been invited to go on an overseas adventure. To explore a country I've always wanted to visit. Ten days in an amazing foreign land, and it's all part of my job!

I love Glam Adelaide.

To give you a hint, here is the spiel from the country's tourism site:

You will be enchanted by giant, orange full moons; crystal-clear mountain streams; smiling hosts for whom nothing is ever too much trouble; the roar of a lion at midnight outside your safari camp; entertaining evenings out at the theatre, cinema or nightclub; learning to say ‘hello’ in 11 different languages; walking barefoot on endless stretches of pristine beach sand and finding yourself in the midst of an expanse that stretches as far as your binoculars can see.

Intrigued? Interested? I certainly am! I'm off to South Africa (thanks to South African Tourism) in 17 sleeps. 


Here's a sneak peak at where I'll be staying for the first leg of the trip...

Seems perfect doesn't it? I'll be going from SA to SA. That place that pops up every time I try and register a twitter hashtag! Haha. I love it.


I'll post more details on here as soon as I can, plus I'll obviously be covering the whole exciting adventure via www.glamadelaide.com.au.

(Good thing I've started Hypoxi & the 28 Day Baby Weight Loss Diet! Seems I now have a reason to stick to it!)