The theme I chose for my Portfolio Final is based on the fictional character, Flat Stanley. For those who do not know, Flat Stanley is the title character from a children’s book by Jeff Brown. The basis of the story is about a little boy called Stanley who was flattened when a bulletin board fell on him. He survived and one special advantage was that he could now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope. You can find more about the Flat Stanley Project via my Top Links Menu.

In late 2006 I learnt about the Flat Stanley project when I received an email from a close online friend in the USA. Following is an excerpt from that email.

Casey is doing a school project that is called "Flat Stanley". It is a project that elementary school kids do where a paper cut-out of "Stanley" is mailed to someone in another state or country for an "adventure" or, sometimes, "Flat Stanley" will travel with a companion on a vacation.

I immediately thought of you as someone that Casey could send his Flat Stanley to for a holiday. The project would involve collecting some maps, or perhaps brochures about attractions in your country, and/or taking some pictures of Flat Stanley in Australia. You may like to send some postcards of local attractions or a letter with information about an "adventure" that Flat Stanley had while visiting with you, even a CD with some local music on it. Sometimes Stanley gets a "new outfit" (this can all be made from paper) with clothing worn in your climate. You would receive a package in the mail with Casey's "Flat Stanley" and all of the information and instructions about the project. Any of the writing you could do on the computer and just print it out.

With much trepidation I agreed. I'm not into the social scene or travelling so wondered what on earth I would do for Stanley's experiences. A few weeks later Stanley arrived. He was dressed in a fine outfit by Casey with a note thanking me for having him on a visit. I mulled over what to do for a few days and decided I would put my computer skills to the test and take Stanley on a digital adventure on the Central East Coast of NSW, Australia.

Come along and read about Stanley’s adventures through his emails to Casey, and learn a bit more about this wonderful area in 'The Land Down Under'. Due to the nature of the project the following pages are graphic intensive so please be patient while they load and keep in mind that they are best viewed with IE as some coding will not work in other browsers as listed on the previous page. The header image on each page includes a clickable Itinerary to take you to the various adventures or you may follow the back and forward links at the base of the page. On most pages there are cursor mouseovers for little surprises. All outside links will be in the Top Menu Bar on this page and on the Final Day page. If you would like to leave me a message my Guest Book is on the Portfolio Home Page.

Let the adventure begin...