August 19th, 2013- Emily Tapio

Apologies for the tardy posting, but the team's late game last night and 5 AM wake up call this morning means it's been tough to get a solid Internet connection.  For the fourth installment of the blog, junior Emily Tapio chronicles the team's final day in Australia.

Another day in sunny Australia down under in the books for Fordham women's basketball. However facing the record breaking cold and blustering weather, we always find ways to enjoy ourselves and live in the moment. The day was filled with touring the beautiful scenic city of Melbourne, massive amounts of 'flat white' (coffee), and even a trip to an ice lounge. 

        

 

Acquiring the right amount of souvenirs was the start of my day as Abigail and I took ourselves on a walking tour of the city streets. Don't worry, we did find a bevy of shirts, boomerangs and digerydoos to satisfy us.  Later on, we took a trip to the river and decided to drop in on a very interesting experience; the ice lounge. Again, don't worry, the term 'it's five o'clock somewhere' doesn't apply to these athletes. However, for thirty minutes we got to don heavy winter jackets and enjoy a beverage in a below zeo room made of ice. It was very cool. Get it?

      

After an Italian team lunch at a quaint restaurant on one of the side streets, it was time to pack up once again and prepare for a second game in two days. Not an easy task. 

       

The experience for us turned out to be tougher than expected. Even though after the playing the Australian national anthem, the DJ decided to drop the beat with a rather classy remix of 'move get out the way' which gave us a good laugh, losing by 30 points took that away just as quickly. Our defensive efforts didn't match up to the Aussies, who never stopped coming at us. That being said, it was ultimately a valuable experience for us as a team. How many other A10 teams can say they've been on the floor with professionals? It shed some light on what we need to work on, and the meal afterwards provided by the team set us in the right direction. 

        

Now, sitting on the bus and looking back on today, I am nothing but grateful. We are blessed to be having the amazing experiences on this tour. I can't say I'm too excited for an early morning flight out of here, but on to the next adventure in New Zealand and Erin's house!!