bubbanoble: Mary Poppins Museum

I am so grateful to Nana J for suggesting we head to the Mary Poppins Museum in Maryborough. Pamela Lyndon Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, was born here in 1899 and the place has been transformed into a museum. I didn't really know what to expect but I sure was impressed by it.

We started by watching the movie with the kids so that they had an idea of what the Museum was about. It was so lovely to watch it again and to see the joy through the kids faces with some of my favourite scenes (like the penguins dancing, the chimney step in time dance).

The next day we headed to the Museum and it was brilliant. The whole area around the Museum pays respect to Mary Poppins. The crossing lights are Mary Poppins, not the normal crossing man. There is a statue of Mary Poppins outside the Museum too and and information board. It was cool hearing about Pamela Travers' life and the changes to the bank building over the years. The street is even called Cherry Tree Lane.

We headed down Cherry Tree Lane and got our tickets to enter the bank/museum. So cool that it is still the original building. We then entered into the bank. There was a challenge to try and find all the little mice on the walls around the building and identify which rooms they were in. The kids went into the writing room first. It was cool looking at the information around the walls, hearing about the books that Pamela Travers wrote. It was also fun showing the kids what a typewriter was and how it worked.

The next room had some more information in it, some cool old writing desks, many spaces to peek into to try and find the mice. It also had a wall that the kids could colour in and a desk to write a letter to Mary Poppins. Eliza wrote one to her and ticked to get a reply. I wonder if she will reply...

Mary Poppins' umbrella

Eliza's letter to Mary Poppins.
'I like you because you are lovely.'

Posting her letter

There was a little library section that had many books, ones that inspired Pamela in her writing and developing her imagination. There was then an outside area where it was the steps of St Paul's with the bird lady. The art was great! It's the closest we will get to London. I took a photo and sent it to Jens to say that I was thinking of her while at her favourite place.

I loved this quote.

There was a little shadow puppet room which the kids really enjoyed (but didn't quite get used to).

We returned to the steps of St Paul's

and enjoyed the kids sliding down the banister.

We then headed upstairs to admiral's verandah, and looked through their telescope and cannon.

Daniel shooting the canon at Alexander

We entered the upstairs area and said hi to Mary Poppins.

The first room to enter is the room where Pamela Travers was born, the upstairs room of the bank. There was a lovely little bassinet in there, like what she would have been asleep in. Alexander was exploring the draws in the dresser and found the spoons full of sugar to help the medicine go down!

Looking at the dolls house moving shadows

There was the room that had some bank information. Maddie loved dressing up in the top hats. I think in non-covid times there are more dress ups but that's ok. The kids had fun with the hats.

Alexander was super excited to see the kite in the hallway. Let's go fly a kite...

We found a room that had Mary Poppins' measuring tape in it. It was fun to measure everyone against it.

There was a cool wall for you to make your own life journey. It is made with string being pulled to different labels that are important to you.

This place was Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious!

We headed back downstairs to try and find some mice that we had missed, but really the kids were more distracted by the cool interactive displays. Eliza loved the cherry blossoms and Alexander had another play in the shadow puppet room.