Message in a bottle, 21 years later
It’s the result every child hopes for - after bottling a message and setting it adrift 21 years ago, Blenheim’s Courtney Stevenson has finally heard back.
The message in a bottle released from Shelley Beach, in Picton, has been uncovered about 830 kilometres away in the Chatham Islands.
An eight-year-old Courtney wrote and sealed the message in a 330ml Sprite bottle in March, 1995.
The bottle was discovered by Chatham Islands resident Richard Goomes while walking on the beach.
The message offered Courtney’s name, date, location and a request to contact her once the message was received.
Goomes’ search was made all the harder as Courtney’s surname had disintegrated off the note.
‘‘It was quite fragile and falling to bits, so I took the plastic bottle home and cut it with a knife,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been floating around for a very long time. I was surprised at how old it was - it could have been to Antarctica and back for all we know.’’ Goomes and his family attempted to contact Courtney on the phone number included in the note, which was disconnected.
A search on social media took only ‘‘eleven-and-a-half hours’’ to track down Courtney and inform her of the message discovery.
‘‘Courtney was rapt that we found it,’’ he said.
The odds of finding her would have been as slim as that of the bottle making landfall after so many years, if it wasn’t for social media, he said.
‘‘For me, I’ve finally found a message in a bottle.
‘‘I spend a lot of time on the beach - I even said to my dog that day ‘I wonder when we’re going to find a message in a bottle’. ‘‘And bugger me, there it was.’’ Goomes predicted it was the force of Cyclone Pam last year which washed the bottle ashore.
He had laminated the letter to preserve its state.
Courtney Stevenson declined to comment.
The cafe would offer pastries, gelato, milkshakes and coffee, and an arts and crafts shop, in the same building, would sell good quality artisan products.
‘‘They can come in and have their coffees as normal, and have a lovely experience, and know that the money is going back to their community,’’ Gull said.
Profits would fund Bread of Life programmes in Blenheim. The charity offered counselling, community and family support, OSCAR childcare programmes, and food parcels, and had operated for 27 years in Blenheim. It helped about 1700 people a year, with some funding coming through the Sheets n’ Things shop which sold secondhand linen. But they were struggling to make ends meet as funding cuts to many charities over the past three years meant more competition for grants.
‘‘All the agencies are doing a good job, but under the same duress,’’ Gull said.