We were Melbourne girls

I haven't told you about the weekend escape my friend Kym and I had to Melbourne, courtesy of arinex. After a rocky start, where we were left hanging around Canberra airport for over four hours, we finally got to Melbourne and checked into our room at the Crown Metropol, the newest and funkiest in the Crown stable.

This was the view from our room. The sloping shot I actually took in bed.

Dinner Saturday night was at the hotel, in the swish 28 lounge on the 28th floor. Spectacular views over Melbourne, lovely food and of course, the best part.

Jersey Boys at the Princess Theatre was fabulous - a great show with really clever production. Then back to the hotel for a dry martini before heading off to bed.

Sunday was a beautiful day and we had a lovely walk up the river to the Southbank Markets. They have now installed hubs along the river where you can rent a bike.

Did a bit of shopping, sprinted back down the river to the Convention Centre for a look at the International Applied Psychology Congress, then off to Nobu for lunch. This was really delicious, interesting Japanese food. And they have amazing toilets!

Having not quite finished the shopping, we walked back up the river to the markets, Federation Square and Collins street, then back down again to the hotel, where we had a swim in the pool, which is on the 27th floor. The pool goes right up to floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city - simply magnificent.

Dinner on Sunday night was at Maze, which is part of the Gordon Ramsay stable. Here is the poussin (baby chicken) which was cooked sous vide (this is when they cook the meat at a low temperature by poaching it in water, then marinating, then chargrilling to finish it off).

Yum, yum, yum.

Monday morning 5am came quite quickly. But we had a great time and would go back in a flash!