A message in a bottle has been found on a beach on Long Island, in the Whitsundays, after travelling 793 days and more than six thousand kilometres since it was dropped in the ocean in the South Pacific over two years ago.
A staff member of Long Island’s Elysian Retreat, Charlton Craggs, stumbled across the find while walking along the island’s beach.
After reading the message, Mr Craggs tracked down the message’s author, Tom Love, a Canadian who had been travelling with his wife, Dora, on the cruise ship, Oceania Marina, in the South Pacific in January 2016.The couple were enjoying their last night of their cruise, from Valparaiso, Chile, to Papeete, French Polynesia, when Mr Love decided to place a message, which he had scrawled on an envelope, in an empty wine bottle and drop it into the ocean.
Mr Love was amazed to hear his message in a bottle had found its way to Australia.
The message was nothing like what you would expect to see on a romantic movie; it merely contained some brief details about the cruise, the date, Mr Love’s contact details and an American one-dollar bill, to cover the finder’s costs of making contact.
The message is now set to take pride of place behind the Elysian Retreat’s bar when the retreat opens later this year.
Tourism Whitsundays and Mr Craggs have encouraged the Loves to consider the Whitsundays for their next holiday.
Tourism Whitsundays recently launched its Escape Winter in the Whitsundays campaign, with some of the best Whitsunday holiday deals ever offered.
Visitors can save up to 50 per cent on tours and accommodation with tours to the iconic Whitehaven Beach and Great Barrier Reef on offer, along with an array of accommodation packages, including Hamilton Island, Long Island and Camp Island (just off the coast of Bowen). Travel can be anytime up until June 2019 (different travel periods for different products apply) however bookings must be made by July 31.
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