Letter delivered after 23 years

JEANETTE Baker knows the mail is sometimes slow, but never did she think it was 23 years slow.

Baker posted a thank-you card from one Lower Hutt suburb in New Zealand to another in February 1993, just after the birth of her daughter, Tyler.

The card, which had to travel all of 12 minutes in the postie van from Wainuiomata to Waiwhetu, arrived late last month.

New Zealand Post said the stamps on the letter showed it had been through the postal network twice.

It was sent first to No 25 Douglas Street, Waiwhetu, then to No 35 – neither of which was the right address.

In that time, Tyler has grown up, been to school, become a hairdresser and left home. Where the letter has been all that time remains a mystery.

“I can’t believe the card turned up 23 years late,” Baker said.

“When my oldest daughter was born, I sent out thank-you cards to people who had bought her gifts. I have absolutely no idea where that one went.”

Baker found out the card had arrived only after the recipient got in touch.

Recipient Carolyn Ferguson, who still lives in Douglas Street, said she was shellshocked to get the letter from the past.

She wondered if it had been found when the Wainuiomata post shop moved in August last year. – NZ Stuff