We have been looking forward to this weekend for some time and it didn’t disappoint in any way. Even the ordinary weather didn’t go anywhere near spoiling it and there were a couple of really unexpected high points for me thrown in for good measure.
Almost seven months ago Denise received a lovely Christmas present from one of her employers, Empire Spa Retreat at Yallingup. It has taken us quite a while to get round to using it but it was for a two night stay in one of their top rooms and it didn’t disappoint in any way. We arrived late afternoon on Friday and were shown to our room. I am fairly familiar with the rooms as I have done work of some sort in most of them and this was one of my favourites, split level with wood fire, huge comfy four poster bed and everything you could wish for. We had also ordered the gourmet platter and some bubbles which were ready waiting for us. We got settled in, selected some movies to watch and made a start on the platter, it was huge, there was everything you could wish for and more, beautifully presented and great quality. We opened a bottle of the bubbles and were set for the night. We had the company of the retreat manager Kirsty for a short visit which was lovely after which we selected a movie to watch and settled in for the night.
I was especially looking forward to the following day as we had some treatments booked in the spa. Now I have never had a full massage before. Shannon, the Spa manager, the lady tasked with doing it said I looked nervous (and I was a little). She said she would be gentle with me and it was perfect. I was lost in a wonderful world of relaxation which I didn’t want to end but it was followed by a petit facial which was also lovely. We both felt thoroughly relaxed when we walked out of the spa to head back to our room. On the way back we bumped into another employee of the retreat whom Denise introduced me to, we stood and talked for a while and somehow it came out that I was transgender, she looked really surprised and said she wouldn’t have known, I can’t tell you how much that means to me, we spoke for a while longer and I gave her my card which has my blog details on it and said if she was interested in my story it’s a good place to start.
We returned to our room to freshen up for our afternoon trip to a winery. I chose the venue, Knotting Hill, it’s one I have visited lots of times before but haven’t been since I transitioned, in fact I got married there in 2008 to a Julia Roberts which was very fitting. We walked over the foot bridge to the cellar door and went inside. Due to the Julia Roberts/Knotting hill thing our wedding photos are still in the display cabinet, it felt really weird looking at them after all this time and now that I am a completely different person. We made our way to the bar and I spoke to a lady who I knew but she didn’t recognise me at first so I gave her a clue and said my photo is in the display cabinet to which she said “I know who you are now but don’t know your new name” I told her and she said I looked really well. She said that her father in law had told her about my journey but she didn’t know any details so I gave her a very very short version. She said she was happy for me and I asked if her husband was around (they are the owners of the winery) and she went off to find him while we were sampling some of their wines. She returned accompanied by her husband and he said he knew who I was because his father who we bumped into in the Chinese restaurant a couple of months ago had shown him a photo of me. They were really pleased to see me and genuinely happy for me which is all I ask for and this was a perfect reunion for me. I’m sure we will be visiting again soon.
We returned to the Retreat and got stuck into the rest of the platter, watched a couple of movies and settled in for the night. Now I am not a good sleeper by any standard and didn’t have a great night the first night, I think a combination of strange place, different surroundings, no evening walk and not my usual pillow. However the second night, after a visit home for my regular pillow on the way back from the winery, was much more successful and we didn’t wake till about 8.30 so it was a case of quick coffee, quick shower and to the main building for breakfast. As was the first morning, breakfast was excellent, perfect scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with some fruit toast. We thought we might go back to our room for our coats and go for a walk round the grounds but it was spitting with rain so just headed back to the room. On our way back we bumped into Erin whom I had met the day before and given my card to, to my surprise she said she had read some of the posts on my blog. What she said then blew me away, she said that what she had seen the day before was a beautiful woman leaving the spa and I should be proud of what I’ve achieved! I just can’t tell you how much that meant to me, thank you so much Erin xx