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Newcastle Herald

National

Simon McCarthy

Olia said yes: Hunter couple's engagement captures hearts across Newcastle after sky high proposal

Ola (Person) Newcastle Simon McCarthy

Olia said yes.

The first letters of her partner's proposal appeared in the sky above Newcastle Saturday morning just before 10am.

As the veteran skywriting pilot, Robert Vance, put the final strokes on his 500-metre tall masterpiece, Adrian Jablonski dropped to his knee at the Burwood Lookout and proposed to a speechless Olia Mykulyshyn.

It was the same place they had shared their first date.

News of the proposal spread like wildfire on social media at the weekend, as the words "Marry me Ola?" - Olia's petname - appeared in an otherwise pristine blue sky over Newcastle.

Sports across the city came to a standstill and passersby stopped in the street as the question mark turned to a heart.

Adrian Jablonski and Olia Mykulyshyn were engaged Saturday after Adrian popped the question via skywriting in a romantic proposal at Burwood Lookout.

"Marry me Ola?" appeared in the sky over Newcastle Saturday. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

"Marry me Ola?" appeared in the sky over Newcastle Saturday. Picture by Simon McCarthy

"Marry me Ola?" appeared in the sky over Newcastle Saturday. Picture by Max Mckinney

The couple had met four months ago. Adrian is close friend's with Olia's cousin, Jimmy, and the pair were sharing a Friday night drink at Merewether's Beach Hotel when they invited Olia to join them.

The couple admit that it probably wasn't love at first sight. Adrian had a full beard then, and had probably had a drop too much to drink before he met Olia. When the party moved to The Exchange at Hamilton, he decided he needed better dancing footwear and had ducked into a convenience store to try his luck.

"I was in the car and I said, 'Jimmy, if you're going to try to get us together - no'," Olia said Saturday, laughing.

Nevertheless, Adrian was in love and quickly mended first impressions to win Olia's heart.

He knew she had a few Bumble dates coming up and was afraid he had missed his chance after they had met, but decided to message her anyway to see how they had went.

"Thank god I did!" he said at the weekend.

Adrian and Olia were engaged surrounded by her family as the proposal drifted across the sky at an altitude of around five kilometres, visible from as far as 30 kilometres away.

It was a moment a romance at the end of a hard year for the Hunter couple.

Olia moved to Newcastle from Ukraine, where Russia's globally condemned war continues to wreak devastation and heartache on the population. In June, she was confronted by the news a rocket had destroyed her home there.

Her family and friends, thankfully, were safe and well, she said, but the grief had been difficult for them to bear.

On Saturday, Adrian said it was heartbreaking that it had taken a war for him to meet Olia, but he was happy and hopeful that love had come from it.

"You can never lose hope and faith," he said.

Olia was stunned when Adrian proposed. He had gathered her and her family to the lookout on the pretence of celebrating her aunt's birthday. A little later Saturday afternoon, they were due to celebrate another family birthday in Newcastle.

"Olia is really good with surprises," Adrian said, elated, "She can grasp when there's something coming, so for her to have no idea was the mission; that was the hardest part for me.

"I mean, the wedding is going to be a piece of cake compared to the engagement!"

The romantic gesture spread across social media Saturday as video emerged of the couple's proposal, and as people across the city logged on to congratulate the pair.

"On behalf of all the women in Lake Macquarie (and) Newcastle, congratulations Olia - we all think your proposal was pretty cool," one user posted to Facebook.

It was the perfect day for it as the Newcastle turned on the weather for a balmy and clear 32-degree day, with light northwesterly winds before a late storm rolled over the city Saturday evening.

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