The sun came out and it was off for the cruise around  Gladstone bay  .............

now you will probably notice that there is a slight difference from the vista of cruising around most bays and harbours, but somehow it's still interesting,, especially when the dolphins are swimming around. From every angle it sort of looks the same, just different terminal and wharf.

Standing guard at the entrance to the Marina is a relic from our fighting forces, strange how it looks very much like something out of McHales navy LOL.

and then this town totally surprises you.

The Botanical gardens are wonderful, amongst the best country gardens we've seen. They have recreated a great "Daintree" rain forest and wonderful grevilla gardens. When we arrived at the carpark we were greeted with a sign pointing to the Japanese Tea House, that means we can go on the 3 klm walk/climb and check out the lookouts and drop in for a cuppa afterward.

The tea house is the center piece of the new Japanese Garden, which when properly grown in will be very very pretty, not on the scale of Cowra but great considering its size. However when you promote a tea house it would be really great to have a working tea house instead of a prop. No tea here.

Lunch was at a downtown restarunt called "Rocksalt". Now our recent experiences at a light lunch - Tappas style has been anything but pleasent. Rocky was the second worst meal ever, just ahead of the chinese at Bourke. Rocksalt was an absolute treat, forget the slow service, the food is wonderful. We had a goats cheese tart (slice of and freshly baked), Prawn dumplings (home made) and Chicken in filo topped with spices and mint yoghurt, going back asap LOL.

Gladstone is a town/city of major contrasts, worth a stop for a day or so and has one of the best parks at Barney Beach that we have stayed in. Tomorrow we are off to the Smelter on an industry tour, sorry no pics allowed.