Urangan to Bundaberg - A visit to Maryborough

The wind kept blowing hard for 4 days, we were happy with the decision to come to the marina. The weather started improving on Thursday and we decided to rent a car for the day and visit the historical town of Maryborough. It is a pleasant and interesting tour and is good to go there on Thursdays when the outdoor City Markets are open because the opening times coincide with the historical Mary Ann Steam train running and the "town crier" firing the time canon at 1:00 PM, which is all very interesting once you find the story behind it. There are several museums that open every day but I imagine any other day the atmosphere in town wouldn't be the same.

At the markets we bought some local produce and then went for a ride in the Mary Ann steam train replica that is maintained and run by a team of volunteers crew that are happy to tell you anything you like to know about the town. The original train was the first Queensland's steam engine and was built in 1873. The Mary Ann was used to saw the rails and sleepers for her own track. It runs among pretty gardens and alongside the Mary River shore for a little ride. After that it was lunch time and we had quite nice food at the open market while watching and learning about the time canon.  A little ceremony and we learn that the canon was fired everyday at 1:00 PM in the 1800's to let all workers in the vicinity know it was lunch time and let people reset their watches if needed.

The Mary Ann steam train

The 'Town Crier' used to read the news for the community before
firing the cannon exactly at 1:00 PM everyday.

Just a short walk from the markets is the heritage building where Mary Poppins' writer, Pamela Lyndon Travers, was born, the nanny's bronze statue is outside, just standing there .....  

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious kind of day

Next day we leave Urangan. It' s Friday June 13 and is the Soccer World Cup opening so we leave after watching the first game in our brand new TV and Antenna. As if it wasn't complicated enough to plan our route according to weather windows, places to stop and distances to cover, now the soccer world cup games schedule has entered in our plans as well and of course, the anchorage option has to has good TV coverage. After all, soccer world cup is only once every 4 years. With that in mind, our next stop is Bundaberg where we arrive late afternoon after a calm motoring day.

Leaving Urangan in the chilly morning

The Burnett River, Port Bundaberg, more bad weather on the horizon

A weak low will bring westerlies and rain during the weekend, so we are planning to stay here at least until Monday.

G.