Huntsville Caravan Park

Maryborough is the birthplace of author PL Travers, so to call it the home of Mary Poppins would only be a slight stretch. Time your stay right and you’ll be having a jolly holiday at the annual Mary Poppins festival, with parades, storytelling and chimney-sweep challenges. Make time too to seek out the lifesize Mary Poppins statue outside the former bank building where Travers was born (it’s practically perfect in every way). Take a jaunt outside the city with a trip to Hervey Bay, one of the best humpback whale watching spots in Queensland. You can have your pick of boating trips or nab a berth on the ferry to the fab Fraser Island instead – it’s the largest sand island in the world, and well worth an explore by four-wheel drive. Don’t forget your camera either: the wrecked ocean liner SS Maheno and the white sandy beaches of Lake McKenzie are particularly snapworthy. For nature-filled days, add Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary (kangaroos, dingoes, kookaburras… check, check, check), Fraser Coast Discovery Sphere and the spectacular 10-acre Bamboo Land to the list. If you’re in need of something bigger and more outdoorsy, hit the trails at Great Sandy National Park (50 minutes) or make tracks for the stunning coastline at Noosa National Park, just under two hours away.