The colourful sportsman and Liz Hurley's ex, known simply as 'Warnie', flew into Christchurch last night.
It's believed the cricketer, who has a reputation for being a ladies' man, was at a city night spot last night and arrived 20 minutes late to his press conference at Addington this morning.
But once he showed up, the great Test bowler was in fine form.
"I love coming to New Zealand - always have. We've got a love/hate relationship - they generally hate me and I love them," he said.
Warne, who has 1.76 million followers on Twitter, expects loads of selfies today.
"I think there's 20,000 [people] here so if I can do 10,000 I reckon I'll be pretty good," he said.
"I'm sure there will be a few fun selfies and I'm sure I'm probably dating about 10 people by the end of the day as well..."
Warne will be "strolling" down the home straight twice throughout the day and, at 3.45pm, will be doing a big screen interview for the crowd, which is expected to top 20,000.
Asked if any Canterbury fillies had yet caught his eye, he said: "Hopefully there'll be a few attractive ladies here. I'm looking forward to meeting a few."
TVNZ Breakfast host Rawdon Christie said Warne was looking at his co-host Ali Pugh when he said that.
"Ali and I are now dating," Warne replied, getting a chuckle from the assembled media.
He then spoke at length on his great love of professional poker, before going on to give his tips for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
Australia and South Africa, as the top two teams in the world, are favourites for the tournament, he said.
But yesterday his co-commentator Bill Lawrie told Warne that he believed New Zealand could win it.
It got Warne thinking, and he now believes the Kiwis have the firepower to win it all, and has them as his dark horses.
"They've got a good young side, some dangerous players, some match-winners, and Baz McCullum is a dangerous player, and playing in their home conditions I think New Zealand are a real good chance."
He also believed that Dan Vettori's experience will help them greatly, while the underedogs tag will suit them if they manage the home country expectations.
While he spoke freely on his cricket tips, he was coy about today's punts.
"I've got lots of tips so far, but I'm not allowed to say apparently because a few guys are loading up on them," he said.
Warne said he was over from Australia with four other mates and planned plenty of golf during his stay.
Tomorrow he could be playing with former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming in Queenstown at the Hills and Jack's Point, before heading up to Auckland to play Kauri Cliffs, and business meetings with his Moa who make his beer, 99 Not Out.
By Kurt Bayer of NZME. News Service
