Aussie boy finds incredible 50-year-old message in a bottle on fishing trip
An Aussie dad and son on a salmon fishing expedition came back with something completely unexpected – a 50-year-old message in a bottle from a British schoolboy on a boat down under.
Paul Elliott’s son Jyah, nine, was taking part in a fishing competition in Talia, South Australia, on Monday when the youngster discovered a glass bottle in the base of some sand dunes.
At first the pair, from Wudinna, South Australia, were unable to open the bottle but when they later smashed it they were stunned to find an incredible message inside.
Dating from 1969, the letter was written by a 13-year-old called Paul Gilmore, who was on his way to a new life in Melbourne after setting sail from Southampton, and dropped into the ocean 1600 kilometres from the shore.
Now the family are desperate to trace Paul, who would now be 63 this year, so proud fisherman Jyah can reunite him with his letter.
Dad-of-two Paul, 39, who works at South Australia Water, said: “We had to break the bottle to know what it was because we couldn't get the paper out.
"When we smashed it and we saw it was a letter from 1969, we knew it was pretty special.
“Jyah was pretty excited – now we want to try and find the guy.”
Schoolboy could now be in Melbourne
According to online records searches, a 13-year-old schoolboy called Paul Gilmore moved to an address in Mitcham, Melbourne, in 1969 after leaving the UK on a boat from Southampton.
The documents state he intended to make his stay permanent so Jyah’s parents believe he could still be living in Australia.
Paul’s letter, dated November 1969 and written on Sitmar Line paper, reads: “My name is Paul Gilmore, I am 13 years old, I am from England and I am travelling to Melbourne, Australia.
“This ship is TV Fairstar, Sitmar Line.
“We are 1,000 miles east of Freemantle, Western Australia. Please reply.”
The TSS Fairstar Sitmar Line was a ship that brought many British immigrants to Australia in the 1960s with tickets costing just £10 – coining the expression ‘£10 poms’.
Eagle-eyed commenters on the viral Facebook post spotted Paul must actually have been 1600 kilometres (1,000 miles) west of Freemantle during his voyage, not east.
Jyah now plans to write to Paul at the Melbourne address provided on the letter, which matches the one his parents discovered online.
"We have sent a letter to the address in Melbourne so we'll see what that does,” Paul said.
"We put it on Facebook to see if we could find someone who knows someone who knows someone, but I never expected it to go this big.”
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