Bag battles after a day on the town
THE Matildas finally had a day of leisure in Edmonton where they could ditch the team tracksuit to just be themselves after five weeks of living out of a suitcase in Canada.
Experienced travellers captain Lisa de Vanna, Melissa Barbieri, Lydia Williams, Kyah Simon and Laura Alleway all had their own ways of coping with being on the road for such a long stint.
With a historic FIFA Women’s World Cup final berth beckoning in Vancouver next weekend – first they must get past Japan in Edmonton tomorrow – the Matildas enjoyed a day out on the town.
Most of the squad spent time in the West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest shopping centre in North America and 10th biggest in the world.
Williams said the secret to enjoying her journey was to ensure suitcases were close to empty on the way out of Australia given they have a 23kg allowance.
But that didn’t happen to Alleway, who landed in Canada with 22.9kg – just 100g off the allowed baggage limit.
“You get used to it. It’s the same old each day but you see new places, new people,’’ said Williams, who revealed Vegemite and Nutella were a definite must-have item when packing a suitcase from Australia.
Alleway, who is planning a surfing trip in Indonesia’s Mentawais once World Cup duties are over, says a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, a shirt and her own pillow is all she needs on away trips.
But Barbieri said she always left plenty of room in her suitcase so she could top it up with favourite shopping items.
The keeper is on the luggage weight limit, declaring she sent Victoria Secrets lingerie back home in a package.
“Technically when you leave the country you have to leave space in your suitcase,’’ Barbieri said. “In case of shopping, we’re excellent packers.”