Journey to the West, Part 3: Sydney

My journey around the world continued in Sydney, where the home office for Atlassian is located. This was my first trip to the mothership, and it was a blast. I got to meet a lot of amazing people, put faces to names, and have a lot of face to face conversations that would ordinarily take place over blogs and email.

Although I worked most of the time I was there, I was lucky enough to take a little time to check out the Sydney Biennale and a great exhibit at the White Rabbit Gallery. My favorite pieces were the video installation at the Biennale in which a couple walk naked through a waterfall, and the installation at White Rabbit in which a van was reskinned with a carefully painted canvas, and hooked up to a pump so that it appeared to breathe in and out.

I also enjoyed visiting Manly Beach, where I read Walter Tevis' "Mockingbird" from cover to cover (review coming soon). I mistakenly referred to Manly Beach as "Manly Island" when purchasing my ferry ticket, and the ticket vendor corrected me. After a few seconds, I thought it over and said "I guess no Manly is an island". The ticket vendor thought it over for a second, and then made a little eye movement as the pun sank in.

Before, during, and after work I managed to have some great meals in Sydney. The highlights were the Vegemite and toast at the coffee shop just south of the office, the Laksa on Hunter Street, the pies at Central Baking Depot, the pulled pork sandwich at Four Ate Five, the Pho at the place under Wyndham Station and the Roti Canai at Mamak.


Here are a few photos from the trip:

Here's a video of the ferry trip to Manly Beach: