Australia Adventure pt 3

When the UNC women’s soccer team was not quite as rowdy as they pulled into the parking lot at Finley Field a little after midnight on Tuesday as they were when they left it 12 days earlier, but they were pretty close. Twenty-five hours after they arrived at the airport in Auckland, New Zealand and after they finally put a 40-plus hour Monday to rest, the Heels were home at last.

For many of the players, the stint in Auckland was the highlight of the trip. New Zealand greeted the team in style by producing two brilliant rainbows for the team to take in as they waited for their rental vans at the airport, nearly as spectacular as the sunset that awaited them as they disembarked in the Gold Coast. The Tar Heels’ fortunes would prove much better in New Zealand, though.

On their first full day on the North Island, the team piled into their vans, which were just barely big enough to fit the entire group and their luggage, and made the three hour trip north to Paihia and the Bay of Islands. The area was the first in the country visited by Europeans, but it appealed to the Tar Heels more for its beauty than its history. After a picnic lunch, most of the group took a boat ride around the islands and, escorted by a phalanx of dolphins, even zipped through the “Hole in the Rock,” an iconic natural rock formation on Piercy Island.

Their second full day in New Zealand brought the World Cup qualifying New Zealand national team, ranked 23^rd by FIFA. The match marked the first home game against international competition for the Kiwis since October 1998, so the home crowd bristled with excitement as they filled Bill McKinlay Park to capacity. The quality of the game would not disappoint them, but the outcome probably did. The Tar Heels put on a show, exhibiting high quality tackling and passing with a little bit of flair added for good measure. Despite earning six corner kicks in the first half, the Heels did not get on the board until the second, when in the 75^th minute Jaime Gilbert redirected a Casey Nogueira blast from a few yards out. Sterling Smith almost added another goal a few minutes later, but her shot banged of the post. New Zealand had a few good counter attacks, once driving a shot off the cross bar and another time forcing keeper Ashlyn Harris to make a spectacular diving save. In the end, though, the Heels withstood the pressure and exhaustion and prevailed, bringing their record for the trip to 1-2.

The team spent their final day in the Southern Hemisphere relaxing and wandering around downtown Auckland before battling traffic and arriving at the airport just in time to make their flight.

Australia Adventure pt 2

The most exciting part of the Tar Heels' fifth day in Australia was the impromptu game of soccer keep away that broke out in the baggage claim area of Coolangatta Airport. The Tar Heel women were releasing some pent up energy that had festered during the two plane flights they needed to get them from Canberra, the Australian capital city, to the famous Gold Coast in Queensland.

The journey to Canberra from Sydney, however, was much more remarkable. The Heels made the six-hour trip by charter bus, which was fortunate because they needed the largest windows they could get to take in the scenery. Soon after leaving Sydney, the bus pulled up to Sublime Point Lookout, a cliff that stands 415 meters above the city of Wollongong and its broad, white beaches. When the crew had taken all of the pictures imaginable, they pressed on farther south before stopping for lunch in the charming seaside town of Kiama.

The next stop for the Carolina party was Fitzroy Falls, an 81-meter waterfall in the northern section of Morton National Park. The waterfall stands at the head of a deep, expansive gorge, but the scenery did not mute the players' true nature. They frequently tried to scare each other by jumping up and down on the disconcertingly shaky viewing platform, eliciting yelps of alarm. The remainder of the drive was just as spectacular, with rugged mountains jutting up from lush valleys. Even though the scenic route took longer to complete, all agreed it was well worth it.

The Tar Heels arrived at the Australian Institute of Sport in time for a short training session and dinner, where they were invited to a special Pink concert on campus. The women especially appreciated this pleasant surprise because there were few other diversions in the compound which is totally devoted to training Australia's best athletes.

On the fourth day Down Under, the Heels took on the World Cup qualifying Australian National Team. Despite missing five starters and only using four subs, the Tar Heels played the Australians very well. The Aussies scored first off a wide open rebound only minutes into the game, but the Heels answered back a few minutes later. Tobin Heath slashed through the Aussie defense but was taken down in the penalty box, which led to a penalty kick that Yael Averbuch buried in the top of the net. Fatigue proved to be UNC's downfall, however, and they went on to fall 3-1. The match was the Australians' final game before trimming their roster for Olympic qualifying, so their fresh legs eventually wore the Heels down. With only a few minutes left, the Australians tallied the final two goals to put the game out of reach.

Once the two teams had warmed down and applied their ice bags, the Australians treated the UNC travel party to an enormous barbecue lunch. Afterward, most of the team headed into downtown Canberra to explore the capital city, but Whitney Engen, Ashlyn Harris and Ashley Moore made a trip to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve to go for a hike and check out the local wildlife. They encountered dozens of wild kangaroos and a pair of emus before they had to head back to AIS.

Carolina's stay at AIS complete, the team headed to the Australian Gold Coast, which seemed like paradise to the Tar Heels after the spartan accommodations and less than ideal weather they experienced in Canberra. The players were very excited to discover that their hotel sat only a hundred yards or so from the beach, but they did not make it down to the shore until their second day in "Surfer's Paradise." On their first full day there, day six in Australia, the players spent the morning at Currumbin Wildlife Reserve, where they took turns posing for pictures with kangaroos, wallabies and koalas and ogled an enormous crocodile.

That evening the Heels made the 45-minute drive (which, not altogether inconsistent with UNC women's soccer tradition, turned into an hour-and-45 minute drive) to the Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre to take on the Queensland Regional Select Team. Even though the Queensland team included five players from the full national team, the Tar Heels controlled the run of play for much of the contest. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels could not capitalize on their numerous chances and lost 2-1. Yael Averbuch scored on a breakaway about 10 minutes into the first half and Jaime Gilbert narrowly missed a golden opportunity toward the end, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Aussie side. Caroline Boneparth had to leave the game after knocking heads with a Queensland player. She demonstrated the Tar Heel toughness, though, and showed that multiple stitches couldn't stop her from hitting the beach with the rest of the team on day seven.

Many of the players woke up before dawn to catch the sunrise over the water and spent the rest of the day relaxing: laying out on the beach, playing in the waves, and shopping in Surfer's Paradise. Casey Nogueira even put her juggling skills to use yet again, entertaining a crowd at an open air mall alongside an Elvis impersonator.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a trip to Auckland, New Zealand and a game against the New Zealand national team. That is, of course, if they resist the temptation to miss their flight and spend a few more days on the famed Australian Gold Coast.

Australia Adventure pt 1

The players of the UNC women's soccer team showed none of the subdued serenity that usually abounds at 5:02 a.m. as their van pulled away from Finley practice field this past Wednesday. The reigning national champs, minus a few superstars and virtually their entire defense, would not finish the first leg of their journey for 36 hours and would lose an entire calendar day in the process. Still, they were bound for Australia and they could not contain their excitement.

After a layover in Chicago and a four hour flight that at that point seemed incredibly long, the Tar Heels arrived in Palo Alto, Calif. to conduct a clinic for Union FC. They ran the girls through a variety of technical drills, from shooting to heading to passing, before Tobin Heath and Casey Nogueira wowed the girls with their world famous juggling skills and bicycle kicks. Despite the grueling journey, the Heels maintained the charm and charisma that has so endeared them to all of their supporters, including the large number of girls who wore UNC shirts to the clinic. The Heels then enjoyed a wonderful dinner near the Stanford campus and headed back to the San Francisco airport.

Uncharacteristically for the UNC Women's Soccer team that is notorious for mad dashes through airports, potentially forgotten players at the gates and nearly misplaced national championship trophies, the trip had gone incredibly smoothly up to that point. The travel Gods tried to the trip off track with a missing uniform bag and the prospect of facing the Australian National Team in practice gear. But the bag reappeared in the knick of time and the team boarded their flight to Sydney with no other problems.

Fifteen hours and only a tiny bit of turbulence later, the Tar Heels were thrilled to find themselves in the Land Down Under. "I can't believe we're actually in Australia," was the common refrain on the short trip to their hotel, which is situated in the heart of the Rocks district of Old Sydney. While they waited to check into their rooms, the players broke off into groups to explore their surroundings, unfazed by the clouds and drizzle. The highlights included the surrounding shops and a book of Australian slang (Ali Hawkins proclaimed that after nearly a full day in the air the players looked positively "daggy", or not cool), as well as strolls down George Street and a fantastic view of the famous Sydney Opera House from their hotel's roof.

The clouds broke during lunch, but the Tar Heels headed straight for the Sydney Aquarium, where the seals, sharks and platypus were the overwhelming favorites. The day did not last much longer, though. after a pizza dinner on the roof, the players collapsed into their beds for a slumber that was a longtime coming.

Day two in Sydney greeted the rejuvenated Tar Heels with a perfected temperature and a sky that matched the NC logos on their practice gear. Some of the ladies started the day by climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and taking in the spectacular view while the rest were treated to an impromptu didgeridoo performance at a nearby Aboriginal art shop.

Before reconvening for practice, some of the Heels also wandered through the weekend market that unexpectedly popped up on George Street overnight. Their purchases included paintings and bracelets and wine racks, but Yael Averbuch and Mandy Moraca won the award for most eccentric trinket with their authentic kangaroo testicle keychains. (They did not, however, plop down 30 Australian dollars for a vintage North Carolina license plate, which could be found in a box full of U.S. tags).

The Tar Heels had a brief training session in a park nestled between the Royal Botanical Gardens and a wall of massive skyscrapers and then scattered to all corners of the city. Whitney Engen, Ali Hawkins and Ashlyn Harris saw the New Romantics ballet at the Sydney Opera House while a number of the women and the staff had lunch at the G'Day Cafe. From there some took a 30-minute ferry ride to check out the shops at Manly Beach and others perused the market or relaxed in the rooftop hot tub.

On Sunday, the Tar Heels travel to Canberra, Australia's capital city, to take on the Australian National Team, and from there on to Brisbane and Auckland.