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The Unofficial Warwick Todd Homepage
Day 1: Friday, February 1999
Damo and myself are just your average Sydney-siders.  We're easy going about most things, but take our cricket pretty seriously.  We believe that if you want to call yourself a true cricket fan, you have to put in for your team.  That means; buy the merchandise, don the old green and gold zinc, harass team members for autographs and follow them to locations around the globe to support them. 
So we packed our luggage and headed down to Melbourne for the Carlton & United series where Australia will be taking on Sri Lanka in an intensely competitive one-dayer.  That is, if they haven't bribed the umpires already. 
The trip got off to a pretty shaky start.  Disappointingly, traffic on route to the airport left us with little time at the airport bar. Before long, our names where being read out over the PA system to board the plane or be left behind.  Being a first time flyer, Damo wanted to soothe the nerves with a few relaxing pre-flight ales.  And mid-flight ales.  And post-flight ales come to think of it.  As I've had a bit more 'air-time' experience, I felt it was my duty to calm Damo down and tell him a few myths associated with flying.  While enjoying a cleansing bourbon, I explained to him that no Qantas plane has ever crashed before.  Sure, we were travelling Ansett, but I think he bought it.
You have to put in for your team.
Damo, last man in the bar again.
We made it onto the plane after a quick dash (and dirty looks from the ticket lady) and I must admit, Damo handled the flight without incident.  He was probably too focussed on the air hostess, as was I.
I'm not much of a fan of airline food.  Neither is Damo apparently.  When the air hostess offered him dinner during the flight he said, "No thanks, just beer".  Somehow he scammed two free cans because she didn't have change of a $20 note! 
Getting a taxi to our luxurious motel was our next challenge.  Luckily, our turban-headed taxi driver could actually speak English.  We loaded up our bags and were on our way. Naturally, the driver took us via the longest possible route and robbed us of $35.  We like to make 'small-talk' with taxi drivers.  It makes them feel important.  Plus, we learned he used to be a terrorist back in Iraq and didn't want to get on his bad side.
The motel was quite good.  I was particularly impressed with the lobby bar.  The room was also too good for us.  After a mandatory inspection of the mini-bar (which we vowed to leave untouched) and summersault contest on the double bed, it was decided we should get out on the town.  The Crown Casino was the obvious selection, and the night was still young.
I must say, we kicked on fairly well at the casino.  It's a great place.  The sports bar kept us busy for a while, as it had a lot of memorabilia and photos of the stars who had previously visited.  I was suprised not to see any Warwick Todd artifacts lining the walls.
We strolled back to the motel at some ungodly hour of the night, or morning should I say.  Before crashing out, the usual task of pushing the beds as far apart as possible was done. We're not homophobic, but the day I sleep with another man is the day Tubs scores a triple century*.  After a couple of my legendary vodka cocktails....  (sorry I can't really recall what happened next). 

 *or has that already happened?
Which room were we in again?
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