In December Flat Stanley has a new home, a new name and new clothes.Flat Stanley arrives in Sydney, Australia - the land downunder, the world's largest island and the smallest continent. Sydney is Australia's largest city and the New South Wales capital, but not Australia's capital, which of course is Canberra.
As Australians like to give their friends a nickname, often shortened and ending with "O", Tom and Kerrie name Flat Stanley Stano.
And as Australians are encouraged to "slip, slop, slap" - slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat - as protection against the sun and skin cancer, Stano now has a new shirt, shorts and sunhat.Stano is staying with Tom and Kerrie at Lugarno, an oasis in the south-west of Sydney's sprawling suburbs of 4.5 mil. Stano rides the inclinator from the street down the steep hill to the house overlooking the Georges River and the national park populated with Australian gum (eucalypt) trees.
See http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=google+map+lugarno&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Lugarno+New+South+Wales&gl=au&ei=NFstTY6PAYe4vgOV1oi-CQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA
Stano goes cyclingTom and Kerrie often go cycling with friends so Stano tags along - it's compulsory to wear a helmet when cycling so we made him a small helmet.
Stano goes flyingCaptain Tom is a pilot for Qantas so Stano puts on his uniform and goes to work with Tom. Stano prepares his flight plan to calculate how much fuel he needs for the flight to Shanghai in China.
Stano and the First Officer continue their preparations for the flight. The First Officer is the co-pilot and helps Captain Tom fly the plane.
Stano sits on the flight deck of the "mini-bus". Qantas has various aircraft types, Boeing 737, 767 and 747 and also Airbus A380 (the big bus) and the A330 (the mini bus).
Stano looks out from his hotel in Shanghai to the high rise buildings and smog. Shanghai, on the east coast of China on the Yangtze River, is China's largest city with 19 mil people, but not its capital, which is Beijing.
Stano goes visitingTom and Kerrie are flying to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, to visit Tom's family for Christmas, so Stano goes with them. Stano takes the bus to the airport.
Stano waits at the airport terminal for his plane.
Stano flies over beautiful Sydney Harbour, looking out over the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Stano decorates the Christmas tree at Tom's sister's house in Brisbane. Stano is very lucky to be in Brisbane before the city is struck by severe floods in January - the floods are Brisbane's and Queensland's worst natural disaster ever and many people are left homeless like after Katrina in New Orleans.
Stano plays with Tom's niece Charlotte Rose who is also visiting for Christmas.
Stano celebrates New Year Tom, Kerrie, Kerrie's Mum and Stano go out early to find a good spot to watch the New Year's eve fireworks - they arrive in time to see a stunning sunset over Sydney Harbour.
Because Sydney is just to the west of the international date line, it is one of the first cities of the world (after Auckland in New Zealand) to welcome in the new year - and the fireworks on Sydney Harbour are famous for their spectacular display.
Stano goes glidingTom and Kerrie are glider (sailplane) pilots and need to do an annual inspection on their gliders. Stano helps out and has a seat in the cockpit.
Kerrie is flying the club class nationals at Benalla in Victoria in january. However the rain which has been flooding Queensland has now spread to Victoria so there has been no flying since practice day last monday.
You can follow the competition and see results on ... http://www.soaringspot.com/ausclub2011/results/
Once the rain stops and we start flying, there'll be more photos of Stano's adventures.
