Round Table Pizza at 7921 S. Hosmer St A1, Tacoma, WA was our lunch stop. They have a lunch buffet which is really pretty good, though dear husband and I are not huge eaters so perhaps it is wasted on us. Round Table is 100% employee owned.
There is a statue of John Rankin Rogers in Sylvester Park in Olympia, WA. Mr. Rogers was Washington State’s third governor serving between 1896 and 1901. He died towards the beginning of his second term. He is best know for supporting the “Barefoot Schoolboy Act” which he had first sponsored while in the state legislature. The Act provided a mechanism of state funding to equalize support for free public education between counties which had a large tax base and those without. (thanks Wikipedia!)
A stop at the downtown Tacoma Farmer’s Market lead to a chat with this representative of ufppc. I admire people that work for their beliefs.
We had several glorious days in Sydney. Activities included exploring the amazing Sydney Opera House, taking a Captain Cook Tour, a walking tour through The Rocks, repelling down a cliff in the Blue Mountains, surfing Bondi Beach, practicing at the Sydney Cricket Grounds and learning about opals.
We didn’t have much time to spend in Brisbane, really just lunch and some look around time. But what little I saw of Australia’s third largest city was very nice. There were plenty of flowers and a lovely man made beach, which was under construction. There were plenty of these birds walking around much like pigeons in the US, only much bigger!
Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort is a magical island place. The resort is situated on Moreton Island, about 70 minutes by boat from Brisbane. The majority of the island (98%) is National Park, though it had been a whaling station between 1952 and 1962. The resort is well known for its wild dolphins which come in every evening to be feed by visitors. Another major feature is the Tangalooma wrecks, 15 vessels that were deliberately sunk to create a dive and snorkel site. For some great photos of those, go here. Oh, and how could I forget sand tobogganing!? A long walk up and a few very fast seconds coming down. Note to self…wear the goggles when they offer them next time!
The Capricorn Caves near Rockhampton were formed from limestone. There was singing in the Cathedral Cave which has excellent acoustics. A few, small bats were spotted. 🙂
The Mercure Capricorn Resort Yeppoon is just lovely. Amenities include several glorious swimming pools, a hot tub, laundry facilities, frontage on the Coral Sea (pictured above) and a multitude of kangaroos.
The Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville is the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium. It is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. We visited this aquarium and had a behind the scenes look at a sea turtle hospital as well as all of the wonderful conservation work being done. We spent the night here and I didn’t think that I’d be able to sleep on the air mattress, but really it was no problem!