A brief visit Down Under

Let me start by saying that I flew Business Class to Sydney (thanks Accenture!) and the HKG - SYD leg was amazing. The seats had individual walls to give you a lot of privacy and they fully reclined to 180 degrees. Here's a photo to make you jealous.

I arrived in Sydney a day before my training class, so I was able to catch up on some sleep and catch up with Yomi, and old friend and colleague. Actually, Yomi was once my boss when I was still an Analyst many years ago. We've been on parallel paths for the past few years - we both went to foreign countries for a project and ended up falling in love, getting married and transferring offices. Only she's in Sydney and I'm in Delhi. Lucky her.

Sydney welcomed me with a lot of rain, which put a damper on my planned afternoon of sightseeing. But Yomi and her husband, Dave, were rock stars and drove me around past many of the major sites, with stops at the Botanic Gardens and the infamous Bondi Beach. In the evening, we watched a movie at the open air cinema in the gardens and fortunately for us, the rain held off for *most* of the show.

If you look through the clouds and rain, you will see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Me and Yomi at Bondi Beach. She swears that it is never this empty.

On my second night, I had the chance to taste an Australian favorite: kangaroo. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not order the kangaroo. Instead I went for mussels in a Thai curry sauce - something I love and cannot get in India. But I did have a couple of bites of Dave's kangaroo dish so I could say that I tried it. Verdict: It tasted a lot like beef, but more gamy.

On the last day of class, we finished early and I had the afternoon to myself. Well, sort of. I was free from lunchtime until 4:30pm when I had to facilitate a call with my team back in India. To make the most of my time, I hopped on the Sydney Hop-On Hop-Off bus, but never hopped off. I did the full two hour circuit around Sydney so I could take in the sights and figures out where I wanted to spend my limited time the following day. The only negative point was that I was watching the time for the last hour, crossing my fingers that I would make it make to the hotel in time to run to my room and start the calls. Here are a few photos from my tour, all taken from the inside of the bus!

On my last day in Sydney, I first headed to Paddy's Market to pick up lots of Sydney souvenirs. From there, I walked through Chinatown and over to the Chinese Gardens, which were lovely.

Eventually, I made my way around Darling Harbour and back to the hotel/Accenture office. After a quick fresh-up (it was 100 degrees that day!), I headed back out and to the Sydney Opera House. I decided to take the Essentials Tour, which lasted an hour and lets you view the main theaters, as well as several smaller theaters located below. It also offers amazing views of North Sydney across the harbour.

And what's the best way to relax after all of this sightseeing? Happy Hour at the Opera Bar with Yomi and Dave. Later on we headed over to Wolfie's in the Rocks with a few of their friends, so I could get in my last bite of beef for awhile. Dinner was absolutely wonderful and was capped off with a massive downpour that left us sitting under a harbour-side canopy getting wet.

And so, I leave you with this lovely (but slightly blurry) nighttime shot of the Opera House...until next time.