When you’re best and closest friend of 18+ years asks if you will take her granddaughter’s “flat Stanley” on a tour, you can’t disappoint her or her grand daughter. These are the adventures of Miss Zoey’s “Flat Flowers”. Enjoy.

Dear Zoey,
I arrived safely in Australia on Wednesday, May 10th. It was a long trip and I was very tired, but I rested up for my big Sydney, Australia adventure. Australia is 9484 miles away from Gastonia, NC and is 14 hours ahead in time. Zoey, did you know that Australia has 6 states and not 50 like the US? The 6 states are New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. Even though it only has 6 states, it’s the same size as the US! Sydney is the capital of New South Wales and is home to the 2 of Australia’s best known landmarks: Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House!

Zoey, I started my day in the markets of Fitzroy Gardens in Kings Cross and then I got a photo with the fire truck. You can see it’s not the red as it is in the US. There is a really pretty water fountain in the park and I stopped at the first starting line of the Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade. The parade today gets over 20,000 people watching it and it celebrates that people are different.

I also took my first train ever Zoey! It’s a modern version of “choo choo train” you might see. It wasn’t very crowded but it was very fast. I got off at Martin Place and it is in the “central business district” of Sydney. They call it the CBD too. There’s a large shopping mall there. You would love all the stores there.

I then walked to Circular Quay. Quay looks weird but you say it like key. Circular Quay is where the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House is. I was able to see both and I also got to play the didgeridoo. It was very hard and takes a lot of breath. Zoey, a didgeridoo is a wind instrument that was invented by the Indigenous people of Northern Australia. Watch the video at the bottom of the page. This is what it sounds like. The very nice Aboriginal had body painting on him too, just like the video. The paint is very specific in design and is used by the Aboriginals to tell other Aboriginals their relationships to their family group, ancestors, and where they are from. Imagine your Gigi if she had a drawing on her that would say she was from Gastonia, a grandmother, mother, and owned a cat and that your dad had a drawing on him that said he too was from Gastonia, son of your Gigi, and father to you. Your drawings would include that Gigi was your grandmother and your dad was your dad and that you owned a cat! It’s like a secret code to only those who understand the drawing. I didn’t understand the body paint so I don’t know where my Aboriginal friend was from but I’m thankful he let me play the didgeridoo.