Visit this charming colonial city along the Mary River to enter the magical world of Mary Poppins, jump aboard an old steam train and browse local art exhibits.
Whether you come here to walk through its heritage streets, browse its art galleries or attend its markets and festivals, Maryborough is worth a little detour if you are exploring the Fraser Coast.
Discover the city's past as a major port city at Maryborough’s Bollards, seven colourful statues beside the Mary River that represent a captain welcoming a family of immigrants in the 1860s. Thousands of new arrivals from the U.K. took their first steps on Australian soil at the Port of Maryborough.
Maryborough was the birthplace of Helen Lyndon Goff. This local dancer and actress became a famous author in England, where she created the extraordinary nanny called Mary Poppins under the pen name of P.L. Travers. Pose with the Mary Poppins Statue outside her place of birth on central Kent Street. Other artworks and plaques in town also refer to her early life and her popular children’s books written between 1934 and 1988, which inspired Disney movies and a Broadway musical.
The nearby Maryborough Town Hall Green was home to the original Maryborough court house, police station and gaol. As you walk along Adelaide Street, look for the Five O'clock Whistle, four large etchings depicting factory workers cycling home after work.
On Thursdays or the last Sunday of the month, jump aboard the Mary Ann, a full-sized replica of the first steam locomotive ever built in Queensland.
Join a free morning walk from City Hall with a local guide dressed in a period costume. Explore the museums, vintage restaurants and art galleries in the former wharf district. Don’t miss the town’s oldest surviving commercial buildings, the Gatakers Building and the warehouse behind it which is now the Gatakers Artspace.
To get to Maryborough, you can drive, take the special Tilt Train or fly to nearby Hervey Bay from Brisbane. Time your visit so that you can take in one of Maryborough’s many community events, including the City Heart Markets on Thursdays in Adelaide and Ellena streets and Sunday in the Park, a festival heldduring the final weekend of each month. The most magical event of all is the Mary Poppins Festival, a 10-day celebration with music and storytelling held in winter.
