University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels in Hawaii: Megan Buckland Updates Fans On The Trip
November 29, 2014 | Women's Basketball
The UNC women's basketball team is in Hawaii this week for the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, which begins Friday at the University of Hawaii. The Tar Heels (4-0) will take on Stanford, Prairie View A&M and the host Rainbow Wahine before beginning the journey home on Sunday evening.
The latest GoHeels.com recap comes from junior Megan Buckland.
Aloha Tar Heel fans!
Thanksgiving for us was an amazing, relaxing day filled with scenic places and good food. To start off our morning, we ate at the restaurant in the hotel which has some of the freshest fruit I've ever had. After breakfast, some of the team went on the island tour they had planned for us. While those of us who decided to go toured the island, the rest of the team opted to stay at the hotel and relax by the ocean for the day.
During the island tour, I got to see some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen in my life. Our first stop on the tour was Hanauma Bay, which was absolutely spectacular. For those who may not know, this beach was actually once a volcano that erupted and is now a beach with just a small outlet into the ocean. The water was so clear and yet so blue and had beautiful scenery around it. They told us this is an extremely popular spot for snorkeling and it was very obvious why. Our next couple of stops consisted of a couple more beaches – one in particular was Sunset Beach which is on the North Shore. This beach is one that is used for the World Cup of Surfing competition. The waves we saw were only about 10-15 feet high, but we were told they would reach up to around 30! During this stop, a few of us wandered over to a man and woman who were chopping hard at some coconuts out of the back of their truck. They told us they had gotten the coconuts off the tree that morning, so I decided to buy one. The lady then cut open the coconut, I stuck my straw in and had the freshest coconut water I've ever had!
Our last stop on the tour was the Dole Plantation. This was a very neat place, full of attractions and even a country store. This place was the full pineapple experience. I was told to try their pineapple cream, which is most like a frozen yogurt and it was delicious! I also tried some of their pineapple juice and now I feel so spoiled – I will never want to drink the juice from the can again!
Last night for our Thanksgiving dinner, we went over to another hotel where we had a formal dinner with the three other teams in the tournament – Stanford, Prairie View and Hawaii. The food was a mix of Hawaiian and the traditional Thanksgiving food. While I was lucky enough to have my parents join me for Thanksgiving dinner, it's still not the same as sitting around the table with my full family eating home-cooked food and watching football all day.
After dinner, most of the team went back to our hotel to get some rest and prepare for our game. This morning, we watched our film on Stanford, had team breakfast and now we are getting ready to head to the gym for our game! Our coaches have an excellent game plan for us and everyone is ready to play! Make sure you tune in to listen to us take on the Cardinal this afternoon!
