A CASUAL wander along the popular surf beach Brown Bay has sparked an unlikely international friendship for one Mount Gambier man.
While taking his dogs for their usual beach stroll along the coastline earlier this year, Stephen Hocking was surprised to come across a washed-up bottle, complete with a message inside.
Initially mistaking the bottle and its contents for rubbish, Mr Hocking discovered a small handful of letters crammed inside the bottle.
Further investigation revealed messages written in Spanish with an accompanying email address, with the mystery soon to reveal the bottle had travelled over 12,000km and crossed two major oceans.
While hesitant to contact the original sender, Mr Hocking’s curiosity soon got the better of him with the
bizarre occurrence soon developing into a new friendship.
“I put a few key phrases through Google Translate and noticed they were written in a few different hand writing styles,” Mr Hocking said.
“I eventually figured the notes were addressed to a deceased husband and father, which is why I originally hesitated to contact them.
“I thought it may be quite emotional to speak to them about the notes but I decided they wished to be contacted because of the email address at the bottom.”
Mr Hocking contacted the original authors, receiving what he said was an “emotional response” back within days.
“Her name is Pierina and she threw it into the water at her husband’s favourite beach on the first anniversary of his passing,” he said.
“That was in March 2017 and I found it almost two years later.”
Mr Hocking said the bottle full of letters originated after Pierina and her family were sharing memories of her husband.
“They then decided to write down some thoughts and throw it into the ocean, not knowing where it would end up,” he said.
“They did make a commitment to go wherever the bottle went but I do not think they expected it to end up half way across the world.”
With Pierina elderly and retired, Mr Hocking said it was unlikely they would ever visit Mount Gambier.
However, he has not ruled out travelling to meet with the letters’ authors.
“We have been speaking quite regularly over the past few months and we give each other information and stories about what has been happening,” he said.
“I do not speak Spanish but I know someone who does and they have been translating the emails.”
While Mr Hocking said both he and Pierina did not encourage copy-cat behaviour due to environmental concerns, he said it had created an interesting
story.
“The journey the bottle itself has taken is incredible and I have tried to contact various places whom may have been able to tell me about the currents it would have travelled,” he said.
“But to go across the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean to land on Brown Bay is quite a journey.”
Mr Hocking said he would endeavor to stay in touch with Pierina.
“You do not go to the beach thinking that you are going to find a message in a bottle,” he said.
“It is something you never think will happen.”
