Letter in bottle travels from England to South Australia
When a young English girl threw a message in a bottle into the sea at the south of England, she was hoping it might make it to her aunt in Guernsey.
She never could have imagined it would traverse the globe, finally washing up on a South Australian beach.
Four-year-old Jasmine Hudson threw the bottle from the Bounemouth Pier in April this year.
Jasmine’s mother Louise told the UK’s Daily Mail: “Jasmine’s grandparents had bought her a message in a bottle kit when they went on holiday as a present.”
“It’s supposed to be a bit of a novelty, but we were going on holiday to Bournemouth, so we thought we’d fill it in and take it along.
“Jasmine’s aunt lives in Guernsey, so we said we’d see if we could get the bottle to float a few miles across the channel.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think it would get all the way to Australia.”
Five months later, grandmother Barbara Richards found the bottle while strolling along the Largs Bay Beach near Adelaide.
When Mrs Richards found the bottle, she wrote back to the little girl straight away.
Her postcard read:
“Dear Jasmine, As fate would have it we have been introduced to each other by your message in a bottle, Bournemouth Pier looks very interesting.
“I searched online on the computer to find out what I could, yes the pier exists and yes your address was there too.
“Your message in a bottle took five months to float up on Largs Bay Beach in South Australia.
“My name is Barbara. My brother Colin and I were walking along the beach for some exercise collecting shells and reminiscing about our childhood when I saw your little bottle.
“I scooped it up and we drove home with it where we opened it. I must share with you that I was so excited to find a message in a bottle.
“I hope my note finds you well and brings you joy to know it has landed safely into my hands on the 13th of September 2012.”
Barbara and Jasmine are hoping to keep in touch but plan to use speedier communication methods in future such as Facebook and Skype.
