Linköping

Hi everyone, well we have been in Linköping for 3 nights. We have had a wonderful reception from our hosts here which has included vocational vistis, a trip to the SAAB aerotech factory (top secret stuff) where they develop both civil and military equiptment.
One evening to another Swedish smorgasboard Rotoract style (young members of Rotary the same age as the girls, obviously younger than Timmy! pictured)
Linköping has a magnificent ice cream shop, a tiny bit of sun came out and everyone in town was lining up outside the shop

We are sad to leave this vibrant town, and a long road trip to Stockholm awaits us today. We are there until Monday and then begin the second leg of this journey in Latvia (which we have heard is quite cold!)

Love to all - the team.

Forests & touring Vadstena.

Yesterday Tim headed off to Boxholm to the forest and the girls went to the council office and also had an interview with a journalist from the local paper. We had a walking tour of Vadstena and went to the nursing home, schools and had a look at the institution for criminals with mental health problems (only from the outside!) At the school Jackie was in her element as we took a class of 13 year olds and taught them all about Australia, it was great fun and the students were really interested and asked all sorts of curly questions!

We gave a presentation for the 2 Rotary Clubs in town, the club meets at an old monastary and it was beautiful. Tim has been riding around town on his bicycle, in his suit!

Today we have woken to rain and it is about 4 degrees, freezing!

The castle picutred is in the town and is the same sort of architecture from the castle we saw in Kalmar although is in more 'original' condition. They have parties here and in the past the king and 'all the kings men' had massive parties and were allocated up to 20 litres of wine per day! As a result they didn't have a very long life expectancy - but they sure partied hard. The pope has visited the castle and in the summer they have music festivals here. This morning we vistited the nunnery in town, we met with Sister Patricia who is about 80 years old who is originally from New Zealand and has a wicked sense of humor, we have lunch here in Vadstena and then travel on to Linköping this afternoon to meet new hosts.

Just wanted to say a quick hello to Barbara and Peter Yates - hi guys, glad to hear you are reading the blog!!

Vadstena - Castles, Nuns and leftovers!

We started today with another scrumptous Swedish breakfast...around the size of a standard Australian dinner...thank goodness we are doing a lot of walking each day! We then set off on a walking tour of the town of Vadstena. It's absolutely beautiful here, all very old and quaint. The weather was perfect for walking and although there was a cool breeze coming off the lake, it was very pleasant (see Tim hanging out by the lake). We visited the Vadstena Castle, built in 1545, and walked through the grand rooms where Kings once held lavish parties that lasted for weeks (guests were allocated 20 liters of wine each day!) (see picture of us enjoying the view from the Castle window!). From the Castle we moved on to the local church and then the 13th century covent, where we heard stories of Birgitta, Patron Saint of Sweden (pictured with the GSE group....well, a wax version anyway!). Lunch was at one of the local restaurants...we have fallen in love with a Swedish dish called 'left overs' a bit like bubble and squeek! We now have some free time this afternoon for some of those very important jobs...washing, phoing home, updating the blog and perhaps a coffee in one of the gorgeous local cafes. This evening we are having dinner with our hosts, who have promised us some more traditional Swedish fare. More tales to come soon...Love, the team!

Nuclear Waste and Power Plant visit

Yesterday was another fantastic day. We started off in Oskashamn with a visit to the local Nuclear Waste Management Plant, we had no idea what to expect and it was quite literally out of this world. We started with a presentation about what the facility does, it is a full scale research and development centre and then to our surprise we were given some safety equiptment, (pictured) which gave us the jitters just a bit! and then we went down in a very small dark lift 450 metres under the ground to where they are doing their research into the best way to manage the nuclear waste, currently they have been using nuclear power for about 40 years and now have 10,000 tonnes of waste - burying it seems to be the answer! It was absolutley amazing. Felt a bit dizzy and funny down there, I have alot of sympathy for the guys in Tasmania, must have been awful.

After the plant we gave a presentation to the Rotary club at Oskarshamn and enjoyed yet another lovely full hot meal for lunch. We were interv iweed and photographed for the local paper (we feel a bit like rock stars or something!!) We then headed off for the next stop which was 250 kms away, Vadstena. At Vadstena we were met by all of our host families and we had a joint of Ox with some lovely south african wine, it was beautiful.

Will keep you posted! Love, the team.

Just a couple more pics

How the other half live!

We have been pretty spolied here in OskarshamN. We are off to a dinner tonight and then tomorrow to a nuclear power plant and after that we move on to a new town called Vadstena.

A hard days work in Oskarshamn

Well I was nearly correct, we didn't go sailing but instead on a search and rescue boat! We went exploring the islands in the archipelago, there are over 5, 000 islands

It was very beautiful and we feel very spoiled havign lounged in the sun on the front of the boat and cruised through the islands before stopping for afternoon tea! I have attached some pictures so you can get some idea of the scenery.

Moving On

Hello, well we have now left Kamlar and yesterday travelled to Vimmerby where we attended the district conference, gave a presentation, met up with our friend Charlotte who was on the D2410 GSE team who recently came to Australia. We had a tour of the town of Vimmerby which is the home of Astrid Lingren, the author of Pippi Longstocking.

We then drove on to Oskarshamn where we met with our new host families, we are all at different homes now.

I was picked up by Jerker, he is married and lives in a very nice home right on the water, it is a beautiful spot and today the weather is about 20 degrees, the picutres I have attached (boat and rocks) is looking straight out the door of the house.

Jerker (Jac) is a hunter so I have been treated to some smoked deer he has shot and may have some Moose tonight!! I have also tried pickled herring which was very nice.

We just went for a drive in his sports car to a nice river (pictured) where many men where fishing for salmon, some of which get to 25kgs, it was beautiful country and I saw many deer in the forest.

Jerker has a yacht and sails a lot to nearby islands, I have been told to take a jacket for an activity later today that is being kept secret so I have a feeling we may be going sailing. Will keep you posted!!

Love Christie.