DAY 6 - A DAY EXPLORING MARYBOROUGH.....

Ian and Kathy were leaving this morning....
I was kind of hoping they might have been able to stay an extra day but Kathy's sister Lyn needed to be back in Maroochydore for appointments on Friday...

In the end we all left the Bay around the same time.  John and Barb were heading into Maryborough with us, so we all ended up going in our car...

Our mission today was to explore the Maryborough Cultural Historical Precinct down near the river and hopefully ride the steam train....

We couldn't have picked a better day to check Maryborough out as the Model T Fords were in town, and were down in the Historical Precinct area.  The owners were also dressed in period costumes so it really added to the charm of the old world era around these beautiful old buildings...

We were fortunate enough to get a park just down the road from here and we had two hours of free parking...

 We were very fascinated with the Maryborough Matchmaking Machine....

Love all the period costumes worn by the Model T Ford owners..

The town crier rang his bell and called upon a canon lighter to step forward.....

 As Barb and I were wandering down the road, we saw some amazing murals on a side wall, so deviated and wandered down the lane to check them out.. We found Artspace and the Military Museum...

 Checking out Artspace....

 and just across from here is the  Military Museum.  It looked really interesting and is probably a good place to come back and visit on a future visit to Maryborough..

 As we walked back out into the main street where all the Model T Fords were, we heard the Town Crier notifying everyone that the canon was about to be shot so we headed over to watch this happen...

The lighting of the Canon...

 After the firing of the canon we wandered down the street a little further until we came to the Mary River Parklands...
Even back at the turn of the century, they had a primitive sort of RV.  Even had a bed in the back of it... It was kind of fun checking it out... 

Inside the RV Model T Ford....

 There were plenty more Model T Fords as we made our way further down the street...

 

 This next Model T Ford was immaculately restored and was very impressive to see..

 At the end of this street, the Mary River Parklands start and this was where we were heading to check out the Mary Ann Steam Engine Train which operated around Queen's Park each Thursday morning...

Mary River Parklands....

 The train was operating and seemed to be very popular with quite a queue of people waiting to board..  It was pretty reasonable and only cost $5 to ride it... (no senior discount)..

off to catch the Mary Ann Steam train.

Queen's Park in Maryborough

 Once the train ride was over, we wander back through some more of the Model T Fords to go and check out the painted bollards..

Maryborough's Bollards are seven colourful bollards overlooking the Mary River. They represent a sea captain welcoming a family of immigrants landing at the Port of Maryborough in the 1860s. In 1855 approximately 18,000 square metres of decking and warehouses were constructed creating the new wharves that would later become the Port of Maryborough.

 By now it was also lunch time and we were feeling a little hungry... it was also getting close to the time we would need to shift our car so we started making our way back towards the car looking for somewhere to grab a bit to eat....
We did see a place but it appeared that a function was being held there so we figured that we would just need to shift the car and drive into town and find somewhere else to eat...

We also wanted to check out some of the Mural Trail around Maryborough and also go and visit the Story Bank....

 Whilst we were walking past the Court House we had a chat to one of the guards standing outside.  He was very interesting to talk to, giving us information about the Court House and also told us about the buried tunnels in the area.... All very interesting...and the boys stayed chatting to him for quite a while.  Meanwhile Barb and I took a few more photos of some of the lovely buildings in the area...

  We got back to the car with about 10 minutes to spare before our time was up.  We had planned just to drive into the city a bit more and try and find somewhere to eat.   As it turned out we didn't have to go too far,  just around the corner we found a car park right near a lovely little cafe that sold amazing sandwiches and wraps so this was where we had our lunch....

going in to order us some lunch

My lunch

 Whilst we were eating our lunch we worked out that "Story Bank" our destination for the afternoon was only around the block, so as we had a two hour car park again, we decided to just walk around the corner to see it rather than try and drive and find another car park....

It was whilst we were walking to Story Bank that we came across some of the incredible artwork around the city of Maryborough.  There is a specific Mural Trail within the city with over 30 works of art.  Unfortunately we would not have enough time to do this walk, on this trip, but we will definitely be back to explore this further down the track...

What we did see though was very impressive...

 We saw all this amazing artwork in the short walk around the block heading to here.....

 "Story Bank" is a new attraction in Maryborough honouring the heritage-listed building's orifinal purpose as the Australian Joint Stock Bank and it's new role in housing the community's stories.   It is a place where visitors are able to discover the magic of Mary Poppins through displays, activities and exhibitions. 

The heritage city already commemorates its link to the renowned storyteller through a bronze statue of Mary Poppins, unique pedestrian lights featuring red and green silhouettes of the nanny and a nine-day Mary Poppins Festival each year in June-July.

Story Bank is actually the birth place of Helen Lyndon Goff also known to the world as P.L. Travers, the author of the Mary Poppins stories.  She was born in the upstairs bedroom of the Australian Joint Stock Bank on the corner of Kent and Richmond Streets in Maryborough, Queensland.

Her heritage-listed birthplace which has been transformed into The Story Bank – a bank that trades in stories.
Once you cross the threshold, you enter a world where fantasy and fact intertwine.  Tales and yarns, myths and legends, memories and stories – share in their retelling and their creation.

 As you enter the hallway you are greeted with a generous amount of whimsical playfulness.  A sprinkle of Mary Poppins magic to inspire your adventure.  You can put yourself in the story with a picture of Jane and Michael sliding down the bannister.  Of course Steve had already put himself into the picture and joined them on the bannister rail....
Right here The Story Bank puts you in the picture and  takes you on a delightful journey through the story telling process and it bought back lots of happy memories of a favourite movie when we were kids...

The first room we entered was the study.  It asks you to consider your own memories and the objects you treasure and then use them as inspiration to begin a story telling adventure yourself....

 The second room we visited was "The Character Room" where we got to esplore the amazing "Cupboard of Curiosities".  In this room we were able to discover the relationship between the author and illustrator and read letters between the two as they created the Poppins world.   There was so much to see and take in, in this room....  Lots of little things and big things like old singer sewing machines,  dolls furniture, old typewriters,  pictures,  you could have spent hours taking it all in...

We actually spent the bulk of our time in this room..
From here we ventured into "The Library" which was a beautiful old fashioned reading room.  In this room you were able to hunt for clues about the literary figures who had significant influence on P.L. Travers.  It was beautiful decked out with velvet drapes and again beautiful timber fittings...

 The great thing about visiting "The Story Bank" is that nothing is off limits, it is all very interactive and you can touch and sit anywhere, open any drawer, go into any room.  It is a great experience.
We then walked down the Cherry Tree Lane Hallway to enter "The Yarning Circle" room

Barb in the "Cherry Tree Lane" Hallway

Visiting "The Yarning Circle"

 "The Vault" leads off from "The Yarning Circle" and in here there is plenty of pencils and and deposit slips for you to start writing your own story and add it to the Bank...

 From here we doubled back and checked out "The Shadow Theatre" where you were able to bring back to life some of your favourite fairy tales in the shadows...

The last room we went to downstairs, well it wasn't actually a room but more "The Portico" which allowed you to put yourself into the scene with the Bird Woman...

 The story doesn't finish down here,  there is a whole new level above to explore.  To get up to the top level you had to come back outside and climb the stairs...
It was when we came out that I discovered this gorgeous rocking horse, and just had to take of photo of it... It was it's name that called me...

We took the stairs up to the top floor, although there is a lift for those who have trouble with stairs....
The stairs lead to the "Quarterdeck" which where the canon is housed...

As you enter the top story, there is a bit more whimsical playfulness with Mary Poppins herself sliding down the bannister rail..

 The first room we checked out upstairs was "The Bedroom" where P.L. Travers was actually born.  It was beautifully decorated with the most exquisite patchwork bedspread depicting the life of P.L. Travers.  It also included a beautiful dolls house...

Beautiful patchwork quilt depicting the life of P.L. Travers

"The Bedroom" led into "The Gallery".  In here there was a dress up corner, probably more for children where you could dress up in the Mary Poppins character costumes.   In here you could also see the current exhibition titled "Becoming Mary" and it showcases how the residents of Maryborough celebrate their link with Mary Poppins.  There was also a corner where you could take your selfies and share your best nanny moments...

 From here we wandered into the upstairs "Hallway" where there was a display of all things Mary Poppins".  There was various memorabilia from the different retellings of Mary Poppins from on page, screen and stage...

 The Hallway lead us out to "The Balcony" and then into "The Proud Mary's Room..

 This room was beautiful decorated with some very interesting bits and pieces in it, especially the tea making machine...  In here you could also be measured up and sign the register...

 We absolutely loved the lighting in this room with all the different tea cups and saucers...

The tea making machine...

 One of the last rooms we visited was "The Workshop"
There was a lovely display of a big board with bits of yarn being strung across to represent story writing.... threads of life story.  I also loved P.L. Travers quote in this room...

" I make a point of writing every day... If only to please myself"

 There was a little more dressing up around here also, with lots of different hats on display... Steve had a bit of fun with them more so to amuse me...

 The last area to visit was "The Theatrette"  In here you were able to see and listen to P.L. Travers discussing life - with herself.  Unfortunately we did not have time to sit and watch it all as our parking time was almost up.

As we left, we had a quick walk around the lovely gardens at "Story Bank" before Steve took off to get the car and drive back and pick us up.

There is also a book exchange library housed at "Story Bank" in their front garden.

 Whilst Steve walked back to get the car,  Barb, John and I waited at "Story Bank" and took the opportunity to take a few more photos... They have done this whole area up so well, even with a street sign called "Cherry Tree Lane" and the traffic lights were awesome...

Her umbrella was down for the "don't walk" sign..

and it was up for when you could cross the road...

 All in all it was a great place to visit and admission charges were very reasonable with it being $10 per adult or $8 for a senior concession and children cost $5.  You could easily spend a whole afternoon in here exploring...

By now it was after 3.30pm and we were all feeling a little tired, so decided to head back to the Bay and leave the other couple of things we would have liked to check out for another day and another visit to Maryborough.

I think we all ended up having a bit of a Nanna Nap and dinner was pretty crushy this evening as we just had a lot of left overs plus the steak and sausages that Steve and Toni left for us when they visited for dinner on Tuesday night... John did cook us his famous potatoes though... Bless him... He spoils us rotten....

cooking some snags for us for dinner...

this steak was amazing... love to know where they got it from as it was as tender as you would get from Hog's Breath....

Cheers to a great day had by all

 Time to clean up.... no games outdoors tonight,  the weather hasn't been that kind to us this holiday with the evenings being quite cool.  We were probably not really prepared for it either as it was quite hot before we left home and so therefore didn't really pack any warm clothes other than a lightweight three quarter sleeve cardigan...

 In fact it got that cool, that we ended up bringing our knee rugs out and rugging up in them to try and keep us warm...

Our last full day on the coast coming up tomorrow....  where has this week gone... we are not ready to go home yet...