Monday 10th July The Wharf, Maryborough

Prior to leaving Kingaroy, we visited the Tourist Information Centre which house a museum and a beautiful craft gallery and shop. Our main reason for visiting the centre was to learn more about the history of the peanut industry and we certainly did. Many historical artefacts were housed in the large museum along with huge pieces of machinery once used in the early days of peanut farming. We watched several informative videos and learnt much about this fascinating industry.  A volunteer in the museum was also very helpful, explaining things. All this was for free! I loved the Art Gallery. During June and July a special textile display was being exhibited by local artists and some of the pieces were stunning. On the same site there were several old historical, wooden buildings all with their own stories.  We finally departed from Kingaroy and started our drive to Maryborough stopping at a great bakery in the town of Goomeri which just happened to sell “giant” sausage rolls. Coffee with a giant sausage roll was had for morning tea. Arriving in Maryborough we quickly set up on our site. “The Wharf” is what you would call a boutique caravan park. There are only 8 sites, all with frontage to the Mary River. The complex is actually a marina for boats with the small caravan park as an add on. We have magnificent views and great facilities. We visited the information centre and sorted out what we were going to do for the next couple of days before visiting Queens Park. I could have spent hours here as this beautiful park located on the banks of the Mary River. It had a magnificent war memorial “Gallipoli to Armistice”, botanic gardens, acknowledgement of past pioneers of Maryborough and a large historical wharf area with a bond stores, custom house etc. Apparently, Maryborough was once a thriving port and over 31 boats were built here and launched in the Mary River for the navy.