After Lucinda did some washing and Bryon repaired the nylon cord on one of the van's blinds, we took the 40km drive to Maryborough. This is the birthplace of Helen Lyndon Goff, known to the world as P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins stories.

In 1899 she was born in the upstairs bedroom at the Australian Joint Stock Bank where her father, Travers Goff, was the manager of the bank.

Now the heritage-listed building has been transformed into The Story Bank, which is said to be "a bank that trades in stories". Having only opened earlier this year, it's now a two-storey interactive museum telling the story of "P.L. Travers" life, her writings and generally the art of storytelling.

We were both surprised to learn that Travers' Mary Poppins was a series of eight books over more than 50 years (1934 - 1988). Unfortunately we didn't get a Mary Poppins stamp at the conclusion of our visit because we could only find 15 of the 20 mice hidden around the museum!

Last time we were in Maryborough the statue of Duncan Chapman (Maryborough's most famous son, who was the first Allied soldier to step ashore at Gallipoli) stood alone on a paved area, but the free walking tour guide told us that there were plans to further develop the area, including a structure to represent the landscape of Anzac Cove and the cliffs. Today we saw the completed Gallipoli to Armistice Memorial.

 

As part of the interactive memorial, the sound of marching feet lead the way down the Western Front Walk. One of a few sculptures along the Walk, the Mary Pozieres sculpture represents mothers, sisters and wives waiting for news from a distant shore.

The Maryborough Mural Trail, launched in 2015, now has 30 murals and installations. Walking back to where we'd parked near the river, we passed a couple of the murals. The "Our World" mural symbolises the link between Lady Mary, wife of Governor Sir Charles Fitzroy and the naming of the river and city directed by him in honour of his wife.

 

Where we parked the car were 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.

We'd had several pleasant hours in Maryborough and as we began to head back towards Hervey Bay we saw a sign to Lookout Point and couldn't resist investigating. From this vantage point high on one of the banks, you could see quite some distance up and down the Mary River. The historical marker said that it got its name as it was the place where locals would be on the lookout for ships arriving with supplies so they could alert others. 

For dinner we baked chicken wrapped in bacon in a BBQ sauce in the Weber and had rice cooked in the microwave as an accompaniment. Peaches, ice cream, slice and a cup of tea rounded out dinner. 

Hopefully the Boomers win over the Czech Republic in the FIBA World Cup tonight is a good omen that we'll have good weather and see plenty of whales tomorrow on our cruise.