Evie gets a message during trip to Mangaster

Little Evie Hawley got more than she bargained for when she went out exploring along a beach at Mangaster with her older brother Oli.

That is because the eight year old from Edinburgh discovered a message in a bottle that had come all the way from Newfoundland.

The letter, which starts “Dear whoever you are…” was written by hand on 27th June 2018 by a boy called Kevin on his 12th birthday.

He said that he was on holiday off the coast of Labrador in Newfoundland.

Adding drawings and sketches, Kevin, who comes from Maryland, stated he was a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Evie, who has been on holiday visiting her grandparents Bill and Joan Manson, said she was delighted to have made the discovery on the coastline.

“It was lying in a few rocks. I thought, ‘that’s a bottle but it has a message in it – something like a paper in it,” she said.

Evie picked up the bottle and showed it to her mum, Jane Manson. The family had a minor struggle getting the cork out, but there was plenty of excitement once she had access to the note inside.

Now, the family have sent a letter back to Kevin along with some goodies detailing where the bottle washed up – albeit using the somewhat more conventional postal system.

Dad Joni Hawley said the bottle had almost been dismissed as just a worthless item of litter.

“Although Evie’s very good at spotting things, it just looked like a pile of rubbish.”

But he said the discovery of what was inside proved exciting for the family.

“I though Evie was thrilled by it. It took us a little while to get it open, but it was exciting to read what was inside. We spotted there was an address and we thought we could send a message back.”

Along with that message, the family have also sent back some Puffin Poo and a book of Shetland pictures, as well as a map of the isles so Kevin can see how far his message has travelled.

For Evie, it has certainly proved to be a holiday to remember.