Wednesday dawned grey and wet, but not as wet as I'd expected. So I went out for a run down by Circular Quay (the nice part of Sydney Harbour), the Opera House, and through the Royal Botanical Gardens, and managed to get back to the hotel without getting particularly drenched. But I didn't get any photos, either.
I didn't have to be at IBM until 2pm, so I spent most of the morning wandering up and down George Street, looking around and trying to stay dry -- the predicted "showers" were pretty much continuous. Fortunately, I had an umbrella, and even better, there were arcades over much of the street, so it wasn't too unpleasant to wander around, though I do hope the weather improves before I leave!
Ian Miller picked me up at about 1:20 to go to IBM so I could give my talk; we drove there via the waterfront road, and passed one of the locations where the waterfront union is encamped during their strike against the company that operates the wharves (see the picture above). Things were peaceful -- perhaps because of the rain, perhaps because the battle has moved to a courtroom (see coverage in The Sydney Morning Herald) -- but the media was there just in case something did happen after all.
I gave my talk, then Ian drove back to the hotel and we stopped at a nearby pub. I've been trying various Australian beers to compare them, and so far, I prefer British Real Ales to anything I've had here. Tonight, I had Coopers Sparkling Ale, which was pretty good, and Toohey's Old, a dark beer with some serious taste. Victoria Bitter is the other decent beer I've had; on the other hand, XXXX (from Queensland) tastes an awful lot like American beer -- in other words, it doesn't have much taste at all.
Tomorrow, I have an early session at a different IBM location; then, if the weather's nice, I hope to go do something more interesting with my afternoon -- and if the weather's not nice, I might tour the Opera House. And I sure hope I get some decent pictures!
Tomorrow: Another Rainy Day in Old Sydney
| Getting There is Much Less than Half the Fun | Saturday/Monday, April 11/13 | Airplanes and Airports |
| Brisbane, as seen through a haze of jetlag | Monday, April 13 | Brisbane |
| The Conference Begins | Tuesday, April 14 | Brisbane |
| An Opening Ceremony | Wednesday, April 15 | Brisbane |
| A Brief Escape | Thursday, April 16 | Brisbane |
| The Conference Ends | Friday, April 17 | Brisbane |
| Koalas and Kangaroos and Wallabies, Oh My! | Saturday, April 18 | Brisbane |
| To Melbourne | Sunday, April 19 | Brisbane/Melbourne |
| A Day of Meetings | Monday, April 20 | Melbourne |
| DOM, Day 2 | Tuesday, April 21 | Melbourne/Sydney |
| A Rainy Day in Old Sydney | Wednesday, April 22 | Sydney |
| Another Rainy Day in Old Sydney | Thursday, April 23 | Sydney |
| It can't be Sydney -- it's not raining! | Friday, April 24 | Sydney |
| The Longest Day | Saturday, April 25 | Sydney/Los Gatos |