Maryborough Hopes to Ride Mary Poppins Wave

PHOTO: Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in a scenes from Saving Mr. Banks. (courtesy Walt Disney Pictures)

On Jan. 3, "Saving Mr. Banks," the new Disney film on the making of Mary Poppins, starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, premiered in the town of Maryborough on the Fraser Coast.

As the film was shown for the first time ever at the home of "Mary Poppins" creator P.L. Travers, Marybourough was in full Poppins regalia. Mary Poppins themed characters, vintage cars, music and street theatre performances parade outside the heritage listed home.

Travers was born in 1899 in the top floor of a Maryborough bank building where her father was the manager - just like Mr. Banks, the father in the original Disney movie, and the inspiration for the latest Disney offering. The old bank building where Travers was born and the old park near her home remain virtually unchanged from her childhood days.

Tourism officials on the Fraser Coast are hoping the film will attract international visitors to Maryborough, a well preserved Edwardian era coastal town.

A "Mary Poppins" Festival is held annually in June and July complete with nanny races, steam trains, kite flying and sidewalk art. The Magical Mary Trail explores parallels between the novel and the author’s birthplace.

A “Tea with Mary” tour offers visitors the chance to have a Mary Poppins themed character as their guide as they unlock Mary Poppins connections and participate in a tea party in a heritage-listed cafe.  

And in case you can’t find your way to Travers’ home, the statue of Mary Poppins in front offers a clue.

The Fraser Coast is not new to tourism. Situated on the Australian mainland running parallel to the ecotourism magnet, Fraser Island, it’s something of a gateway to the most prominent island on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, is famous for seafood, the 354 bird species that can be spotted there and offshore coral gardens that are as popular with manta rays and sea turtles as they are with divers.

In May, Fraser Island’s Kingfisher Bay hosts its annual Bird Week Festival. 'Bird Week features hikes and 4wd tours through the island’s coastal, wetland and rainforest habitats as well as workshops on bird identification and other topical issues.

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