Continue reading The ocean is calling #nofilter #linneaandgustav
Category: Australia
Super cozy breakfast with a cat and a view #brekkie #toasties #linneaandgustav
Tried to get my ducks in a row this weekend #badpun Sorry, but they were literally lined up! #nofilter #portstephens #linneaandgustav
Chalk boards always speak the truth #linneaandgustav
When your shoulder is inflamed and you have to go to a physiotherapist and have it taped. Official diagnosis: Sub-acromial impingement ?
When your shoulder is inflamed and you have to go to a physiotherapist and have it taped. Official diagnosis: Sub-acromial impingement ? #idontliftanymore #inpainment #linneaandgustav (http://ift.tt/2bFQMpC)
Enjoying our weekend in the Blue Mountains! #LinneaAndGustav #nofilter
Enjoying our weekend in the Blue Mountains! #LinneaAndGustav #nofilter
Making presentation pics of my furniture concept ?✍
Making presentation pics of my furniture concept ?✍
#sketchingftw #futuredesigner
#linneaandgustav (http://ift.tt/2bRhqKm)
Our First Live Rugby Game (Sunday, 14 August)
Our Sunday was eventful as well. We were going to our first live rugby game! We had gotten a really nice deal through the university that included the tickets, a hat, and a scarf. The game we were going to watch was a National Rugby League (NRL) game between Newcastle Knights and Penrith Panthers.
We went to Hunter Stadium together with a bunch of other international students. Outside the arena, we got our tickets and our accessories.
Inside, we bought an ice cream and got to our seats and waited for the game to start. There were a lot of sponsors that needed to get their names out there. When each player was presented, they were also sponsored by a specific company each.
Another interesting thing concerning the sponsors is that the ads shown on the field on television are added live during the broadcast while the field itself only has the Newcastle Knights logo printed in one place. For more about this technology, watch Vox’s video about it:
The game got started, it started off in a good way. Both teams were very active, and the score was close. As we’ve seen some games on the television, we have started to get a hang of the rules in rugby league, but still, it was hard sometimes to understand why the game progressed in the manner it did.
At halftime, the score was 6-6, and the other international students and we were escorted away for something special. So, we got to go down onto the field and stand at the entrance of the field to greet/cheer/high-five the players as they exited for the second half, which was very cool. A VIP event apparently, and it was very exciting!
As we were getting back to our seats, we went to buy some coffee. The queue was very long and when we got back to our seats, half of the second half had elapsed and Knights had managed to keep their 6 points fixed while Panthers were in the lead at 26 points. The game progressed in the same manner and ended 42-6 to the Panthers.
Although the crushing defeat, it was interesting to watch and the weather was lovely. So, it was a good way to spend the Sunday.
(PS. The roads were jammed after the game. Cars everywhere.)
– Gustav & Linnea
Wine Tour in Hunter Valley (Saturday, 13 August)
On Saturday, 13 August, we went on a wine tour in Hunter Valley. The wine tour was arranged by the student association Newcastle University Affordable Wine Appreciation Society (aka. The Goonion), and we went by bus from campus at 9 am.
After about 50 minutes on the bus, we arrived at our first destination, Tamburlaine Organic Wines. We were ushered into a warehouse where stacks of wine-filled oak barrels were stored. In the warehouse, we were greeted by a man called Tumbleweed from the vineyard who were going to guide us through the wine tasting. He was an alumni from UoN and was one of the founders of The Goonion, so some of the other participants knew him from before.
We tasted eight wines at Tamburlaine, a sparkling white, a sparkling rosé, three white, and three red wines. One of the white wines was a fruity but sweet, late harvest Riesling wine, which we really liked so we bought a bottle. We bought the wine from Tumbleweed, and it turned out he was going to Sweden in two weeks. He asked for some advice for good places to eat in Stockholm or Gothenburg, so Gustav suggested two places nearby Klarna’s office in Stockholm.
Next stop was at Hunter Distillery, which (yes, I know) is not a vineyard. They produce and sell flavoured spirits, and that was what we got to taste. So you might ask, “After drinking eight kinds of wine, how were you able to drink eight kinds of spirits without getting drunk?” First of all, I didn’t tell you there were eight kinds of spirits; we tasted ten. But to answer that question, we got a 1-millilitre sample of each spirit, and they were served in a chemistry style test tubes, see the above picture. Out of the different flavours, Linnea liked the Chocolate Vodka the most, while Gustav preferred the Blackberry Schnapps.
The third and last stop was at Kevin Sobels Wines, but we arrived a bit early so we walked around in Pokolbin Village and browsed in the stores there before the tasting. The tasting was quite similar to the other wine tasting. They started with a sparkling white wine and continued with two white wines followed by three red wines. They ended, however, with two fortified wines; a white and a red port wine. The red port wine was really nice.
After the tasting, we browsed some market stalls before we ate. At one of the stalls, we found a dog that we played with for a bit. For lunch, we had some BBQ. Still, the definition of BBQ seems to be sausage or veggie burger on a slice of toast bread. But it was nice and tasty.
When we got back from the wine tour, we ended our evening by watching the sixth and final film in the Maria Lang series that we’ve been watching. It was good; a nice film to watch after an eventful day.
Love,
Gustav and Linnea
Exploring the City – or Gustav Has His Head in the Clouds (Sunday, 7 August)
We started our Sunday by finally getting our running habits brought back to life on the other side of the planet. We went on a 5K run on the sidewalks in our neighbourhood up to a nearby park, which turned out to consist of mostly a baseball and softball field. Although we rather would have liked to run in a forest or a park, the mere feeling of finally running again was joyful!
In the afternoon, we decided to go into town and have a look around. We ended up walking up this huge hill in the neighbourhood “The Hill” (shocking, right). At the top of the hill, we found the ruins of a lighthouse and the monument The Obelisk. The Obelisk is very similar to Washington Monument, although the first mentioned is smaller. It was actually built before its bigger sibling in the U.S.
The reason for the construction of the obelisk is also interesting. Where it stands, a windmill was ordered to be built in 1819. After the mill had become succeeded by other mills, it was demolished to the distress of the shipping companies, which had navigated by the landmark. So, therefore, the obelisk was built.
As it was starting to get late, we went down to Darby St where we looked for a place to eat. We settled on a restaurant called Zinc on Darby. Linnea ordered a nachos plate and Gustav ordered chicken schnitzel. We shared a pear cider from the New Zealand brewery, Monteith’s. It was really nice.
After dinner, we walked to the bus and went home to have our usual Sunday night skype date with our parents.
/ Gustav & Linnea