18 The Australian Women’s Weekly | OCTOBER 2019
→can only assume that when
Charles Dickens wrote the
sentence, “It was the best of
times, it was the worst of times,”
he was also attempting to do a
magazine cover shoot in India
during the hottest week on
record. A small team of us
have descended upon Rajasthan,
the colourful, soulful heart of the
country, to celebrate the release
of Rachel Hunter’s debut book
- part travel diary, part wellness
manual, based on her life-altering
experience shooting the first series
of her TV show Tour of Beauty.
It was a job that not only changed
Rachel’s direction in life, but also
introduced her to India – a country
only shoot from 5am to 8am, or late in
the evening, or we risk heatstroke.
As we set up to do the very first shot
with Rachel, a quick succession of
unexpected yet hilarious events begins,
each of which makes it clear that this
will be shoot unlike any other.
Our team of five are in a turret
perched on the far corner of an old
Indian fort, with Rachel – in full halo-
hair glory – in front of the camera.
It is 7pm and approaching magic hour,
the sudden burst of golden light that
makes everything look like, well,
magic. But while the light is slowly
fading, the temperature is not; even at
dusk, it’s still a stifling 39°C. It’s so hot,
in fact, that our photographer’s camera
shuts itself down and needs to be rested
onanair-
conditioning
unit.A warm
windbuffers
theturretas
alleyestrack
Rachelmoving
gracefullyin
frontofthe
camera,agathering up phones, sunglasses, spare
camera parts without a) alerting the
monkey that we’re onto him or b)
disturbing the shoot going on behind
us. We go to shift everything inside only
to realise that we’ve been accidentally
locked out and are now stuck in the
turret. Then, with perfect only-in-a-
movie timing, there’s a power cut.
“India beats the ego right out of you,”
Rachel says later on, sitting on a hotel
bed. “There’s a beautiful way that
plays out in India. We all take things so
seriously but there’s this great play that
happens. That’s India – there are cows
standing in the middle of the street. You
turn the corner and you see something
totally heart-wrenching and then you
turn another corner and see something
beautiful – and within both of those
moments, there’s a kindness of the heart.
You come here, you have arrived at your
destination, the process that unfolds is
your path. That’s the beauty of India.”
There are more moments that verify
this than can be counted during our
week-long shoot, one of the most
memorable being on the streets of Jaipur
one day at 5.30am. We are up early to
beat the crowds and Rachel is standing
in front of the famous city gates, dusky
pink in the early morning sun, when a
young cow comes up and starts nuzzling
her. It’s a delightful moment, and Rachel
leans in close for a cuddle – the rule,
‘Don’t touch the animals in case of
rabies,’ is something she breaks about
12 times an hour. Then, just as our
photographer snaps a postcard-perfect
shot, the cow head-butts Rachel, hard,
right in the crotch. She starts laughing.Life lessons
It may seem surprising, considering the
impact the country has made on her, but
it was only four years ago that Rachel
first visited India, for the debut season of
Tour of Beauty. At that stage, the show
had become something of a life raft in
a time of flux – Rachel’s two children,
Renee and Liam, had left home, her
engagement to ice hockey player Jarret
Stoll had suddenly ended and, after a
successful couple of years as a judge on
New Zealand’s Got Talent, her career
had stalled. Throw in a couple of serious
health problems that left herCover story
RIGHT AND
BELOW RIGHT:
Rachel adores
spending time
with children
Renee and
Liam. BELOW:
A treasured
snap with her
beloved late
mum, Janeen.that has held a special place in her
heart ever since. So of course, where
else could we shoot our cover for this
very special issue?
Our week in India turns into the one
that breaks all previous temperature
records. So hot that mandatory curfews
are enforced in parts of Delhi. So hot
that water starts to run out. So hot that
every local we chat to chastises us for
picking the worst week possible to visit
Rajasthan. So hot, in fact, that we can
supermodel at work. And then, out of
the corner of my eye, I see it. A large
monkey is making its way towards us
along the very edge of the palace’s roof.
We have been warned of the monkeys- well-trained around tourists, they
like to steal your stuff. Slowly, quietly,
the non-supermodels among us start