Men's Basketball Heads to Brisbane, Wildlife Grounds
August 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Two cities down, one more remains.
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No more than 12 hours after playing their second of three games while in Australia, the Bruins packed up and flew from Melbourne to Brisbane on Sunday morning, en route to the Gold Coast for the final leg of the team's 10-day trip. UCLA's journey in Australia began in Sydney on Sunday, Aug. 21.
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After an early morning wake-up call and breakfast, the Bruins departed from Melbourne via Qantas Airways to Brisbane. The 90-minute flight north to the coastal city landed shortly after 11:30 am local time.
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From there, UCLA boarded its bus and spent over two hours at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, a 67-acre sprawling ground of Currumbin rainforest. The wildlife sanctuary includes open animal enclosures where visitors can feed kangaroos and cuddle koalas.
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Sunday's adventure at the wildlife park was similar to the Bruins' first-day visit to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Among the highlights at Currumbin included multiple opportunities for up-close interaction with animals.
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"It's definitely a different experience because you're able to walk right up to them," said freshman TJ Leaf, who hails from El Cajon, Calif. "I'm more used to places San Diego Zoo, where more often than not the animals are farther away and behind a fence. But here, you can just walk right up, pet them and take pictures. It was a pretty cool experience."
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Leaf and his teammates particularly enjoyed hanging out in the kangaroo grounds.
ยOur guys enjoyed a spirited trip to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary today! #BruinsDownUnder pic.twitter.com/MDRZl1kblV
— UCLA Basketball (@UCLAMBB) August 28, 2016
Other key features of the wildlife park include a wild lorikeet feeding, free-flight bird shows and planned outdoor themed playgrounds such as Wild Island. UCLA's players and coaches had the opportunity to view or interact with Australian Merino rams, dingoes, koalas, kangaroos, emus and Tasmanian devils. Other popular animal locations included quokkas, a cockatoo aviary and crocodile ponds.
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Eight days through the team's 10-day trip in Australia, UCLA will spend its final three nights and two full days at the Gold Coast, roughly 55 miles south from Brisbane, along the coast. The Gold Coast is most well-known for its long and sandy beaches as well as premier surfing spots.
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The Bruins will be back on the basketball court Monday, Aug. 29. UCLA will face the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL) at the Logan Metro Indoor Sports Center in Brisbane. Game time is 7 p.m. (local time), or 2 a.m. Pacific time.
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The Brisbane Bullets will provide a live video stream, available here.
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For the latest updates about Monday evening's game and more, follow the team's official social media accounts in addition to uclabruins.com. Updates are being provided on Twitter (@UCLAMBB), Instagram (UCLAMBB), Facebook (facebook.com/uclamensbasketball) and Snapchat (uclambb).
