A hot night in our airbnb (we didn't want to open the window fully because of a large and yellow striped spider hanging out in its web just outside...). Coffee and breakfast on the Esplanade, followed by a wander around Torquay market and a splash in the sea! This beach has a very steep sand bank, a medium swell and a strong drag. It would be a super place to belly board but, alas, we must move on.

We drive 35 mins to Maryborough, the birthplace of PJ Travers, the author of Mary Poppins. Here we take some precisely arranged photos with the Mary Poppins statue! We also find an Alice Street, which is very pleasing.

Next we try to do some culture, only to find out that their museums all shut at 12:30 on Saturdays! Madness. As it is currently 12.25, the woman running the Customs House museum lets us in for free for 10 mins, as she's closing up. A real shame that it wasn't open longer, as it's been renovated recently and looked really interesting!

As it is, we stop briefly for a coffee before driving to the Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary, 15 mins out of Maryborough. They have a large group of kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos (some rescued, some raised in captivity) all of whom are very human friendly, and we got to wander around freely with a bag of "roo food" and feed them. This was a tripadvisor find, and doesn't appear in the guide books, so it was just the two of us in the sanctuary for feeding time! An incredible experience to mingle so close to these beautiful animals.

After we'd had our fill of the wallaroos, we had a salad picnic lunch outside the sanctuary, then drove down to our Airbnb near Mt Coolum. We've decided to skip Noosa for the time being, as we'll be back next week for our Fraser Island expedition!

Just as we arrive at our Airbnb, the lightning starts flashing. Our host tells us we're in for a storm, so we hide inside with a dinner feast of toast and tomatoes to watch the storm. Supper of champions!

AB