No fairytale ending for strangers who met on the shore

IT was a love story worthy of a Hollywood romcom that captured hearts across the world.

But sadly, the real-life tale of a Scottish backpacker who tracked down a stranger with whom she shared a fleeting smile on a New Zealand beach is not destined for a fairytale ending.

Artist Sarah Milne, 33, from Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, painted a poster to find restaurant worker William Chalmers after spotting him walking his dog on the shore in the South Island town of Picton.

After the note went viral on social media, Miss Milne came face-to-face with the mystery man in front of a crowd of excited onlookers.

At first, it seemed love would blossom as they hit it off and enjoyed a romantic dinner before g going to Mr Chalmers’ house. But he said they later agreed to cool t hi ngs because of al l t he a attention.

Mr Chalmers told the New Zeal land Herald on Sunday: ‘We’re young and just enjoying as much time as we have together.

‘We’ve had a really cool time t together here, but I don’t think I will be going back to Scotland with her. We’re going to have a very good last couple of days together.’

He said the pair were going their separate ways after some media reports went into ‘tacky’ speculat tion about their first date. He added: ‘They made us sound stupid, like we’d just had a sleepover and we were hungover when that wasn’t the case at all.’

However, romantics should not despair entirely as Mr Chalmers didn’t rule out rekindling the romance in the future.

He said: ‘Well, who knows. She’s a beautiful girl. Once it all dies d down, maybe.’