Message in a bottle

So this week i have been at home with a lovely cough. One of those delightful coughs that sounds like a dog barking and also swallowed a squeaky chew toy at the same time...mmmm nice! so i have been a little exhausted and sore from all the flipping coughing and on Tuesday i thought I was getting better and went to work(sorry if i coughed on you). It was a nice enough day, lovely customers, but not very busy!
In the afternoon an older gentleman in his 70's popped in for a little look. He has been in before and he is always so lovely and has a little chat. He is also not one of these older guys that go on and on, he just seems to know how to tell a good story then buys something then off he goes! He reminds me of a fisherman. He wears one of those beanies that old salt's wear with a duffle coat like before they are about to set off to sea on a cold winters day! In summer he wears one of those cricket hats that Sir Donald Bradman wore...What a stylish guy, he is great!
Anyway, he spotted the O CHECK message in a bottle that we sell and thought it was quite awesome. He told me that he was the caretaker and lived at Palm Beach Lighthouse for 8 years and whenever there was a westerly wind he would write a message in a bottle and throw it in the water for someone to find! He told me that he received a few messages back in the years he was the caretaker and that he received a letter from someone on Norfolk Island 5 years after he sent a bottle out! He always put a self addressed stamped envelope in it so that the receiver could write back.
What an amazing feeling to receive a message back after so many years! He received them from all over the place including Western Australia!
He told me that recently a bottle washed up a shore in Australia he didn't say where, but the bottle with its little letter of happy was written by a man who was on board a ship in the Navy during World War 1. It had taken this long to come ashore. I feel like the message in a bottle is so romantic and old school and although its kind of littering the sea, I love the thought of putting your thoughts out to sea in hopes that one day someone would read your words!
Now I'm not suggesting we litter the sea, but maybe 1 day on some very special occasion we could all put our own thoughts out to sea in hopes that someone you don't know out there in the world can read them!
Maybe a beautiful thing to do when you get married! Together with your partner you could write a message about your love to each other and put it out there. That would be a very special thing to find!



Message in a bottle is available in store now at Little Paper Lane





photo from Jervis Sparks

if u ever want a great walk i would totally recommend The Barrenjoey Headland Walk up to the light house! The view is amazing and if its a cooler day and the sky is blue its perfect for Palmy. a little tip from a local...Palm Beach is quiet Monday to Friday, its so perfect for visiting, but the weekends are chaos even in Winter when the weather is nice!