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Have you been wondering if the Festival might be over? Or the Tour, especially The Wild American Tour (TWAT)? Well it isn’t. What better way to reboot than with a quick visit to Vegas where what goes on tour stays on tour. Except when it doesn’t.
It’s a great day when your friend says: I’ve got a spare ticket to the NRL in Vegas. For you northerners, NRL is a type of football played in Australia/NZ, the UK and France (mainly). NRL means National Rugby League. Rugby League is different to Rugby, which is also called Rugby Union.
All I can say is if you don’t know what it is, check out these highlights. Imagine NFL with no padding. Just crazy people running at each other.
Anyway, the NRL negotiated a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders home ground, Allegiant Stadium, where the Super Bowl was held last year, to play a few games of the first round of our season there.
Last season was the first time they did this and it was a success, so they came back with more teams this year. 45,000 people piled in to the stadium to watch four games including two from the Australian competition, one from the UK and one between the Australian women and UK women. Australia won this game 90 to 4. (Note to the UK team management, I can come over there and do a motivational speech, like I do at frisbee. Break their spirit. Stuff like that.)
Like everything in Vegas, it was super fun, well run and totally over the top.
My team won. Karen’s team lost. That’s enough about the footy.
The main thing was that the TWATs made their return to Vegas, with more bling than ever before.
Note: It would have been better if I didn’t get hit in the face with a frisbee the day before I left. Less than hot-TWAT. Second note. TWAT stands for The Wild American Tour. In case you weren’t sure.
It would have been un-Australian not to support The Thunder From Down Under while we were in town. The boys were kind enough to appear on the Footy Show in Old Vegas. We are true patriots so we took one for the team and went to their show.
Unfortunately, I can’t reveal anything else that took place due to the What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas rule. That rule also includes the things we think may have happened but can’t remember or would prefer to forget.
It was touch and go right to the end though. I had a flight at 5.20am to Florida. At 3.45am my alarm went off. I was not asleep however. I was still in a casino, that was in fact not the one I was staying in. Big shout out to the lads for the assist in piling me into the uber. I made it with minutes to spare.
Next stop was Destin Florida. Yes it was a long way and I had not been to sleep for many hours. But the Harrises were there. And it was Sherry’s birthday.
The Emerald Coast is beautiful. This body of water has been renamed lately by some bloke we won’t mention. But Sherry decided on the Gulf of Christine. I’m good with that. What a stunning place.
And seeing as I’d flown all the way to Florida it seemed churlish not to go on to NYC to check the mail. Work trip.
I had plans to go to a piano bar, but hurricane-y weather in Florida and rain in NYC meant I got there late and could only be bothered to go next door to Connellys. I sat down at the bar and who should I find? Four Penrith Panthers supporters, one of whom went to my high school. It is actually true that everyone in Australia knows each other.
