Mad Melbourne Tour of '98
In January 1998 the TTT conducted a three day tour of Melbourne for six of its number. The lucky participants were The Warrior, The Prince, The MP, The DJ, HHH and Hobo Joe. We departed on a Thursday evening for our hotel, The All Seasons Welcome in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne.Being a TTT event it wasn't long until we hit the town. On the first night we visited Crown Casino, Jeff Kennett's shrine to the almighty dollar.
We checked out the place, taking a look at the nightclubs, most of which thought themselves too classy to let yobs in jeans such as us in. So we headed back to the hotel for some shut eye
The following day we played the tourist to the max. We headed for Melbourne's premier tourist attraction - The Carlton Brewery. What better place to spend a hot summer's day than in the opressive atmosphere of Australia's largest and best brewery. The tour was conducted by a guide who looked as though he had sampled quite a few of the company's product in his time, but his knowledge of the brewing process was impeccable. Best of all, at the end of the tour we were given three complimentary "pots" of beer (Melbournites are too soft to drink schooners). The perfect way to end the tour, as long as you stayed away from the Carlton Draught (ever wondered where Melbourne's sewage goes??). While enjoying our cleansing lagers we watched videos of VB ads throughout the ages. What a perfect day!!
But we still had more ground to cover....so we headed for the Madame Tussaud's exhibition in the city. It was a trip through the famous and infamous faces of history. Who knows, one day when we rule the world we might be there ourselves??? Take a look at the pics below to see some of the characters we met
Hobo Joe and The MP meet their personal role model
The TTT meets the Fab Four
The DJ and HHH, wishing it was the real thing
The Shiek of Tweak meets his match
That night we hit the town, visiting a few city pubs, notably Bridie O'Rielly's. Some members also made a trip to the Metro - a well-known nightclub.
The next day was a stinker - 42 degrees in the shade!! What better thing to do than climb aboard a crowded, stuffy tram and head for St.Kilda - Melbourne's 'beach'. Once we got there, The Warrior, HHH and The DJ hit the lukewarm water whilst the others went in search of shade. Once we got out there was no need for towels as we were already dry by the time we got back to sand. It was that hot!
After wandering around for a while, we decided it was just too stinking, and headed back to the hotel. After all we had to rest up for our final night in Melbourne.
And what a night it was!! We began by eating an Italian meal in Lygon St., Carlton, Melbourne's premier eating district. While we ate a cool change came through, making the weather very pleasant. We headed for Bridie O'Reilly's to pick up where we left off the night before.
The place didn't know what had hit it when we arrived, Melbourne just wasn't prepared for the TTT. The band that night were very talented and congratulations were definitly in order. One of the best efforts came from Hobo Joe, who climbed over about 4 tables and crushed a few locals all in an effort to get up on stage to sing a Green Day song that he didn't even know the words to.
By the end of the night plenty of pints had been consumed and we had annoyed the management no end by our constant loud singing. By the time last drinks were called the pub was minus a few glasses and the TTT was minus a lot more brain cells. We headed back out onto the street and back to the hotel.....JUST KIDDING!! We kicked on!!
Well, at least most of us did. The Warrior walked halfway across Melbourne, fell over narrowly escaping serious injury (there was glass in his pocket) and somehow managed to stumble upon the hotel by chance. The others ended up at the Casino til all hours. It was one of the most memorable meetings in TTT hisTTTory. Total, absolute chaos!!
Being Melbourne as sure as one day is hot, the next will be cold, and this time was no exception. It was quite chilly on our final day as we again played the tourist exploring the city. In the afternoon we visited the MCG only to find the museum was closed.
We then moved on to the Tennis Centre and watched part of a charity match.
Soon enough it was time to head home and we travelled to Tullamarine for our return flight. Safely back in Sydney we parted ways and headed for bed.