At eight in the morning there was still a slight chill in the air as I was dropped off in Maryborough. There not being a lot open at that time I made my way to Queens Park. It was a beautifully kept area on the Mary River. At the front of the park a large war memorial area which was quite extensive and unique. There was a life sized statue of a lone soldier standing in a vast arena. The soldier was Lieutenant Duncan Chapman who was born in Maryborough in 1888 and was the first Anzac ashore at Gallipoli. He died a Major in 1916 at Pozieres France.

Behind the lone soldier is the story of the first world war on a walkway along a sheltered footpath. It winds its way down past a woman reading a letter from her son who is fighting on the western front, we pass another soldier the history of Charles Bean and the reason he instigated the National War Memorial in Canberra then on down to the original monument.

The Queens garden is extensive. Continuing on I walked around a 120 year old Banyan tree

Past the replica headstone of Charles Bidwell a botanist who lived at Tinana which is now a suburb of Maryborough from 1847 until his death in 1953. He discovered many new species of plant and as a result had several named after him. He died as a result of being lost in the bush while surveying a road from Wide Bay to Morten Bay.

At the back of the park a lily pond with a waterfall

Walking above the Mary River in the Queens Gardens. The Mary River has the traditional name of Moocooboola and was originally called the Wide Bay River. It was renamed the Mary River in 1847 by governor FitzRoy after his wife Lady Mary Lennox. Marlborough’s name came from the river when it was founded in 1847. During the second half of the 19th-century, the city was a major port of entry for immigrants arriving in Queensland from all parts of the world.

At nine I walked into the information Center in the old town hall. Luckily I had arrived just as a free walking tour was about to begin. The tours are held daily at 9 except for Sunday’s. For an hour and a half Carmen led us on a fascinating voyage through Maryborough’s past.

Carmen led us through flood levels – the bottom of the 32 being my head height

With stories of old cannons being fired at 1 every day to let workers know it was time to stop for lunch

and past old buildings. Thank you Carmen you are a real treasure.

After the tour I crossed at the lights to the Mary Poppins statue outside the renovated Australian Joint Stock Bank . The living quarters above the bank is where Helen Lyndon Goff aka Pamela Lyndon Travers was born.

The bank is a recently opened P L Travers / Mary Poppins museum.. I paid my $10 and spent a fascinating hour there.

It was simple but entertaining. P L. Travers sitting in a corner reading.

The bird lady

And the Captain.

After lunch with Jarrod I walked around town trying to find the 36 murals. I found several but that was it. This beautiful one is one of them

and this is another. It led me to finding out some fascinating information about the benefactor of the Archibald prize. He wasn’t a native of Maryborough but he spent some time working here and for a Maryborough company. His real name was John Feltham Archibald. He was the cofounder of the Bulletin Newspaper.

Now that’s a job with a difference