Anna Reid, her daughter Aleeha and husband Evan. Photo / Supplied
Anna Reid, her daughter Aleeha and husband Evan. Photo / Supplied
A Kiwi woman's message in a bottle was miraculously found six years later and more than 9000km away on an island off the coast of Chile.
Anna Reid was travelling on her parents' boat back from Great Barrier Island to Waiheke Island on June 9, 2010 when she decided to throw a message in a bottle overboard about an hour into the return trip.
This morning to her surprise she received a message on Facebook from a complete stranger saying a man on Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile had found her message.
Anna Reid, her daughter Aleeha and husband Evan. Photo / Supplied
"We'd just thought we'd do a message in a bottle, me, my husband and two other friends, in between the Barrier and Waiheke."
"I was quite amazed, I was totally surprised when I got the message this morning," Reid said.
"I rang my husband right away. It was an empty bottle of wine with a screw-top lid ... I'm surprised the lid actually survived more than anything."
The letter contained details of her trip to Great Barrier Island, and described the boat "heading back in moderate swell [of] 10-15 knots".
"If you find this bottle in the ocean please add to this message with who you are, what you're up to, where you're heading and your co-ordinates," it reads.
Pablo Rivadeneira of Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, found Anna Reid's message six years on. Photo / Supplied
"May you have safe sailing wherever you are. Safe journeys, the crew of Olivia Rose."
The letter included an email address to contact if anyone found the bottle.
A stranger alerted her through a Facebook message that a fisherman named Pablo Rivadeneira found the letter while he was out fishing with his father.
The bottle being thrown off the Olivia Rose while underway between Great Barrier and Waiheke islands on June 9, 2010. Photo / Supplied
The mayor of the Juan Fernandez Islands, which Robinson Crusoe Island is a part of, Felipe Paredes Vergara told Reid that the 1000-strong population on the island are all very excited, and the news has even reached Chile on the mainland.
Robinson Crusoe Island is 9086km away from the Hauraki Gulf.
Reid posted news of the discovery on Facebook, and said people have been just as astounded as her at the story.
"I sort of thought maybe one day someone might find it but I never actually thought it would be found.
