Last month I visited Sydney, Australia on assignment for Qualtrics. I will state the obvious here - visiting an entirely new, stunningly beautiful, and very expensive continent for work is simply fantastic.
Here's the view from the Qualtrics Sydney Office. I kid you not - that's the office view.
I decided I needed to do something special on my first evening in Australia to keep myself awake and try and get on local time, so I went big with
Bridge Climb Sydney. See that bridge in the upper left-hand corner of the photo above? Well, you can pay (a lot of) money to put on a very fancy jumpsuit, and climb up the arch! It's an amazing experience and definitely kept me awake!
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| Sydney at night from the top of the bridge. |
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| Morning reading at the harbor |
Of course, I was there to work, and work I did!I came to Australia to help out with the X4 conference in Sydney. We do 3 conferences worldwide - the main conference in Salt Lake (
my reminiscences here), and then one in London and one in Sydney. I helped with setup, client relationships, and presentations including representing the iQ product line that I manage.
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| Reppin' the iQ |
And I made time to check many Australia must dos off of the list, including:
- The obligatory koala photo
- Eating kangaroo
- Touring the Opera House
- Checking out the beaches
- And getting everything on my kids' souvenir list (namely licorice and a boomerang)
Australia was fantastic - the weather was perfect, the people were so friendly, public transportation was easy to navigate. I was particularly proud of completing 10 days of corporate travel with only a carry-on bag (wahoo!).
My favorite thing about Australia, however, was their deep and public love for breakfast as a nation. It's even generally referred to as "brekkie" - how great is that?!? I have a soft spot for any culture that has a pet name for the greatest meal of the day.
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| Sunset reflected off of the Opera House |
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| Heading to the beach for brunch |
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| Stand-up paddleboarding in Manly Harbor |
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| Meat Pie at an Australian Rules Football game |
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| The cricket/AFL pitch (distinctly quiddich-like if you ask me) |
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| Church at Hillsong |
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| The Bondi to Coogee walk |
My trip was not without its cultural missteps. For example, in Australia apparently "black tea" means tea without sugar or cream (like black coffee) rather than the kind of tea.
Also, there were no paper towels in any public restroom that I saw. I get it, they're wasteful, but I still prefer paper towels to those scary loud hand dryers.
But, never you fear, I persevered through these hurdles. And, yes, folks from Sydney really do love their Opera House, say "no worries" a lot, and live in a simply wonderful city. I'll gladly go back any time I can do so on somebody else's dime!
