Message in a bottle found

Gallery Video

MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - Hartenbos Heuwels resident Nickey Ras was walking along Hartenbos Beach when she spotted a little bottle on the sand.

She is amazed that she saw it. "If it were five seconds earlier or later, I would have missed the bottle," she said. There was a message inside.

The bottle was from Charmi van der Walt, aged five. Her mother, Elandri, wrote the message on her behalf.

Nickey Ras, who picked up the bottle when a wave washed it up, put a notice on Facebook, asking for the writer of the message in the bottle to contact her.

PHOTO GALLERY: Wave washes up bottle

Elandri explains that her children, Charmi and Kian, went to a pirates and mermaids party at Hartenbos Seefront on Saturday, 10 June.

The party had a treasure hunt theme, with excellent art and projects. After the party, the children were still active and excited and playing with the treasure hunt items they had received.

Elandri explained to them in detail what a "message in a bottle" was. The concept was exciting to them and they were keen to do messages in bottles themselves.

VIDEO - Message in a bottle found (Video: Linda Sparg).

Kian, aged seven, and Charmi have a close bond and do everything together. If Kian likes something, so does Charmi. Kian said his wish was for a skateboard and Charmi agreed she would ask for one too in her message. Elandri also wrote Kian's message on a piece of paper, because it had to be a small piece of paper to fit the bottle, and he needed help. Elandri took the children to Hartenbos Beach in the late afternoon on 10 June. She stopped in the parking area between Bonzo's restaurant and the caravan park. The children had to throw their bottles into the sea a few times, because they kept washing up. Also, for small children, they had to throw hard.

Kian was even worried about Charmi's bottle when they drove away because he thought the cork had not been secured tightly enough.

"But her message was a success," Elandri says with a laugh. Nickey found Charmi's bottle on about 13 June, 300 metres towards Hartenbos River mouth, from where Charmi had thrown it in the sea. Nickey put a notice on Facebook, asking for the writer of the message in the bottle to contact her and via that Facebook post, Elandri van der Walt contacted Nickey on behalf of her daughter, Charmi. Nickey then arranged to meet Elandri, Charmi and Kian at Hartenbos Beach on 22 June.