It has been an odd experience for the Perth Lynx throughout their time in Ballarat, for the most part bound to a hotel, Selkirk Stadium or take-away coffee walks to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks within their squad.
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"It's a bit unusual for us coming from Perth where we are kind of locked away from the rest of Australia and we have had the freedom to do whatever we want because our boarders have been closed," captain Darcee Garbin said.
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"It's been a little bit of a shock to the system to just be like 'right, what are we going to do to make sure that we are being COVID-safe?'
"It was a bit of a conversation amongst us... it's a lot of common sense things, but we just want to make sure that we are doing the right thing and we're not sitting indoors for too long or just walking around shopping centres when we don't really need to."
It has not affected their performance come game time, the side able to win two games from three appearances in Ballarat, their only loss a three-point defeat to Melbourne.
Sovereign Hill was the source of the Lynx's first major trip in the city.
"We've been around to the cafes, we get coffee and takeaway food and stuff but in terms of actually exploring Ballarat, this has been our first kind of touristy experience," guard Sami Whitcomb said.
"I think we've been craving some kind of activity outside of just our regular routine of training and going home, so this has been nice."
The facilities available to the Lynx have made life easier, Selkirk Stadium, the RAD Centre and Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre helping with training and recovery.
"The facilities are amazing, we have access kind of unlimited, they've been really, really helpful in facilitating that for us, so that's been nice," Whitcomb said.
"It's nice that when we need that, it's there for us no matter what time of day."
The Lynx had their third win of the season in Ballarat on Wednesday night.
For the second time they easily accounted for UC Capitals, 102-73.
Ash Isenbarger had a stand-out game for Perth with five three-pointers, finishing with 19 points, while Garbin finished with 24 points and had nine rebounds.
They now travel to Sydney to play Sydney Uni Flames on Sunday.
Perth plays its last game in Ballarat against Bendigo Spirit on January 29.
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