Sydney

About three months ago the company that I work for acquired the R&D operations of another company located in Sydney, Australia.  Last week I got the amazing opportunity to travel down to Sydney to train our new accountants on our ERP system.  Did I mention this was all at the expense of the company?!!

After enduring a very long plane ride (I left Boise at 5:30 pm on Saturday night and arrived in Sydney at 7:00 am on Monday morning) I checked in at the Four Seasons and was greeted with this view:

 Rough, I know.  There were many times during this trip that I had to remind myself that I was there to work and not sight-see.  I had a lot of training to do before I left on Saturday.  I was able to get away from work early on Wednesday night and walk down to the Sydney tower to take in some night views of the city:

I would have loved to do some shopping on my walk back to the hotel from the tower, but two things got in my way: (1) Everything is so darn expensive in Sydney.  It's ridiculous.  I was talking to the employees I was training and they actually shop online for their goods at US stores and pay $50 to $60 shipping and it is still less expensive than shopping at their local stores.  Crazy. (2) All of the stores closed at 6:30 at night. Seriously?

Saturday came before I knew it and since my flight wasn't until 2 pm I decided to get in as much sight-seeing as I could.  I woke up early to catch the 7:30 am ferry out to Manly beach.  I left from Circular Quay (pronounced Key - don't know why, but that really bugs me) and went right past the Harbor Bridge and Opera House:

Manly beach did not disappoint.  I could have stayed there all day.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back:

I took the ferry back into town and walked around the market they had at The Rocks.  Soon it was time for me take the loooong plane ride back home.  As much as I loved Sydney I was ready to get home to my family!  Here was my last view of Sydney before I boarded the train: