Rob Cox spends a weekend soaking up the atmosphere at luxurious Kauri Cliffs.

My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to fly to Melbourne alone, pick up a rental car, drive north out of the city for an hour-and-a-half, then find several places off the beaten track where I would be buffed and pampered to my heart's content.

It's a tough business being a billionaire during a credit crunch...