Day 5 Where are we going?

After getting an early night, Flat Stanley noticed Fairy had packed a suitcase when he wasn't looking. We were going in a plane, she told him....



After checking in their luggage, they went to the departure gate, where finally Flat Stanley could see the plane they were to travel on. It was a Qantas plane, Flat Stanley didn't know what that word meant. Fairy said it was initials and stood for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services".


Flat Stanley was so excited he nearly forgot to ask where they were going. Fairy said they were going to see Tony and Great Aunty Erica in New Zealand.


When you travel on a plane you need a boarding pass which is like a ticket, has your name and the flight details and your seat number. When you travel overseas you also need your passport.

Flat Stanley had a good look at Fairy's, luckily as he could fit in an envelope he didn't need a passport and he could share Fairy's seat.


You have to do a lot of waiting when you travel, but Flat Stanley wasn't bored as he got to see planes taking off and landing.

















Some planes were much larger then the plane were were catching.


You could see the bags being loaded onto the plane, Flat Stanley noticed Fairy's blue bag on the trolley.

The plane trip took nearly 3 hours, we watched a movie and were served a meal, but it was too dark to take photos.




The most exciting thing was when Flat Stanley met the Pilots and got a tour of the cabin. The Cabin is where the plane is flown from.














Flat Stanley had a big day, he had arrived in Auckland, and as he was falling asleep he wondered what sights he would see tomorrow.

Day 4 Sightseeing and Lunch with Uncle Bill

At last the rain has stopped and Fairy took Flat Stanley to see some of the famous sights around Sydney.

But first look how close someone has parked Nicola's car?



















Flat Stanley was surprised at how many cars, buses and people were out and about on a Sunday morning.


















Wow he even saw a horse float, and Fairy told Flat Stanley about Heath's 3 time great grandfather, Reuben Uther who lived just where this photo was taken in a house that was built a very long time ago and was replaced long before Fairy was born. Reuben lived there before there were any cars, and it is said he had the finest set of bay's in town! What a conicidence that the horse float went by just as Fairy was showing Flat Stanley the part of the street where Grandma Otton's Grandmother was born.



So off they went, past Chinatown, where Heath and Daisy had played on the rotunda just a few weeks ago.


















On to Darling Harbour,


then towards the bridge - Fairy told Flat Stanley that the granite that was used to build the pylons came from Moruya, not too far from Bega. Flat Stanley liked the art in the round about of the crushed car.




























Look through under the bridge it is the Opera House!


















Finally we drove over the bridge and on to the Northern Beaches. After seeing so many traffic lights, cars buses and tall buildings, Flat Stanley was surprised to see bush in the city. He almost felt homesick, but going to meet Uncle Bill was too exciting a thought to get homesick.


Uncle Bill gave Flat Stanley a big hug,



later they met Hans and Marg for lunch. Uncle Bill said look Fairy is having a flat fish for Flat Stanley. Do you know what sort of fish it is? Lemon Sole.



















On the way home we went over the bridge again and saw the Opera House again.

























Everyone was so tired when they got home, Fairy told Flat Stanley to have a rest as tomorrow was going to be a really big day.

Day 3 in the City

Today Fairy took Flat Stanley along to a lecture she was going to at the Society of Australian Genealogists.











They are in a very old building from 1849 called Richmond Villa in Kent St right near the Bridge in the City.

















Some buildings nearby were so very tall Flat Stanley could hardly see the top, Fairy told Flat Stanley this building used to be where IBM had its head office, but when she and Tony used to work in the City they watched it get changed into apartments with the lovely golden top.

Fairy told Flat Stanley that Family History Week was coming up soon. This is when lots of people share their family stories and treasures, at local libraries and museums as well as schools and around the dinner table at night. She wondered what would be happening in Bega?

When they went inside lots of things were so interesting he hardly knew where to look. Paintings and silver cups and furniture from when the Richmond Villa was built. On the fireplace was this small firescreen made from needlework, one of Fairy's favorite things, the stitches are so small only Flat Stanley could see them.

















She took him upstairs to hear the talk about Newspapers, Books and Journals that can be checked out on the Internet, why they are useful and how to search them, to find interesting things about your family history.

Later Fairy and Nicola took Flat Stanley to their friend Pauline's for dinner and he learnt about making Rhubarb Crumble and home made Risotto. He thought the special wooden spoon which helped make the rice go creamy (rubbing it through the hole in the middle) was cool. The food tasted YUM. Strangely enough, despite eating a bit too much Stanley was till very flat...

Day 2 Visit to Woolooware

Fairy was visiting her distant cousin David to share some books on Family History. David is writing a book on Lancelot IREDALE. Lancelot is Heath's 4 times Great Grand Father. So it was good to take Flat Stanley along to meet David and see how the book is coming along.

Lancelot set up one of the first companies in the colony of NSW in 1820 called IREDALE & Company. The shop was known as an Ironmongers, and was something like a hardware shop crossed with a department store.

Later during the early gold rush times, when the colony was short of coins, businesses like IREDALE's made their own pennies and halfpennies, so that their customers could keep buying the things they needed. Such tokens can be seen in the Museum of Victoria's online collection. Fairy has a number of these too and has promised to get them out for Flat Stanley to show him later in the visit.

If you are curious to see what Lancelot looked like, you can see a painting of Lancelot from 1830 at the NSW State Library.

Fairy's mother has a pen and ink drawing of him also, which can be seen on this site about early Australian Blacksmiths.

David showed Flat Stanley another family history book started in 1947. It is about another branch of David's family.

Flat Stanley liked pen and ink drawings of the maps showing Australia and New Zealand and hearing the stories of some of the other IREDALE family members who live in these countries.

A good thing to be doing on such a very wet day.

Day 1 Surry Hills, Sydney

We have been excitedly waiting for Flat Stanley to arrive since Heath called on Tuesday. Flat Stanley had his first trip courtesy of Australia Post. Here he is popping out of his envelope to come in our front door.




















Being flat our friend Rob didn't need to open the door very far.















Fairy had a session of hydrotherapy at RPA and Flat Stanley came along to see what it was all about. They even let him have a turn on the zippy board, just like the one Fairy and Heath's Daddy had when they were 7. The physiotherapist uses them to do exercises in the water.

When Flat Stanley got out he had to shake himself dry,














Lissa the Physio was giving him a hand,

Then Flat Stanley decided to play Where's Wally, can you see him in the exercise equipment in the photo below?





We went sight-seeing on the way home, but it was very wet and hard to see the sights. Flat Stanley was very excited seeing so many cars and trains and buses, despite the rain. Can you see the fire engine poking it's nose out?

















This is Central Railway station, where Heath, Fairy and Tony - along with the rest of the family, had got off the Train and onto the light rail during the school holidays.

As Fairy had made him a rain coat, he could just see Centrepoint tower through the rain.
















Finally back in Surry Hills, too wet to visit the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge today, so Flat Stanley is tucked up warm and dry chatting to Ted and relaxing on one of the cushions Fairy had made.