Black, flat and exciting

In May 2004 I spent an almost perfect week in Melbourne. It was the longest I'd been away from my boys since becoming a mother eight years earlier and the knack of being alone with no responsibilities came back surprisingly quickly.

I stayed in a wonderful hotel and got to sleep all night. I went to an inspiring conference during the day, and in the evening I swam in the hotel's stunning Infinity Pool, went to a show with my half-sister, saw another show by myself and revelled in walking along the South Bank late at night in mild weather with life going on all around me.

It was during the conference that my two colleagues introduced me to the Lunchtime Shoe-Dash. The catering for the conference was substantial and if one was honest, it wasn't strictly necessary to eat morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea (I certainly didn't bother with dinner once the sessions finished).

My colleagues turned out to be seasoned shoe-shoppers and felt we could skip lunch, pop into Peter Sheppard's shoe shop in the city and be back in time for the afternoon session. So we booked a taxi which was waiting for us as soon as the morning session finished and hit the town. I didn't buy anything but it was a lot of fun.

But at the end of the conference I had a couple of hours to myself and did some very productive shopping. I bought these shoes in Flinders Lane, and they are flat, comfortable and completely irreplaceable. The soles have been replaced, the inner soles have scrunched up under my toes, and the laces have broken but despite several abortive attempts I haven't been able to find anything else that combines comfort and flair.

By the time I came home of course I was missing my boys terribly. I took one look at my younger son and asked "How long has he had those spots?". Turned out he'd developed chicken pox at some stage during my absence, but no one had noticed.

So not the perfect week, but pretty close.