I hope that this new year is being kind to everyone.
Lots of busy things going on throughout blogland, so thought it was well time I updated too.
A couple of weeks ago, MD and I took our Son to Tambo Bay. It's a little out of the way holiday home type of place, very quiet once the holidaymakers had returned home.
Thinking back to the first time we visited Tambo Bay, a raging storm was in progress (the weather doesn't deter our drives!). We sat in the car and looked out over the Bay with its grey clouds, pelting rain, waves lashing the sand and some poor seabirds hanging on to the jetty for dear life. Since then, I've always thought of Tambo Bay as a dramatic, wind-blown, romantic type of spot.
Anyway, the three of us decided on a walk before our picnic and, in the distance I saw what I thought was just an old beer bottle bobbing up and down in the water.
As we got closer, it looked a bit more interesting so, trying to keep my sneakers dry, I had a go, between waves, at trying to pull it in to shore.
Darn, I forgot the camera but fortunately our Son had his phone and took some beaut photos .... (ok, I 'fess up... I was yelling to him fairly over-excitedly in between the sloshing waves something like "quick ... phone...take picture"... fortunately our darling children know that Mum tends to get a bit over-the-top sometimes! )
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| After a bit of encouragement with a stick (and the inevitable soggy sneakers), I got it to shore |
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| Yep, definitely some flotsam... or jetsam... well, a bottle, and it looked old. |
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| Complete with rotting cork and partly covered in barnacles... we were hoping there might be a note inside! |
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| it has three sides and was about two-thirds filled with liquid. |
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| Here's a closer look and the words "This... must... use... food" are visible. |
(Still banging on about the bottle!)
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| Here's a shot of it now that it's been home with us for a few weeks. The cork dried out and dropped inside the bottle. The liquid had no smell at all. Alas.... no note was found |
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| A closeup of its barnacled bottom. |
Our mystery bottle sits in all its glory here at home.
I wonder where it came from.
I wonder where it came from.
how very cool! to have it still corked after all that time is neat. are you going to try to scrape the barnacles off of it or leave it as is? (i'm not very sea-savvy so not sure you can get them off easily, anyway)
ReplyDeleteHi Theresa, thanks, we were quite tickled at such a find. Don't have any plans for barnacle scraping - I just love it in its original state.
ReplyDeletehi susan, so happy to see an update from you today!! i wonder if you thought of me, and my love for sea glass/sea treasure as you struggled to retrieve the bottle?? it's a beauty, a real treasure from the sea!! i too adore it in it's original state!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debbie :D)
DeleteUm... lol, all I could think about at that exact moment Debbie was keeping my feet dry !! But once the pleasure of finding a sea treasure had set in, then, yes indeed. I'm always scanning for that beautiful washed up sea glass like you find (no luck so far). It would have been so easy to just pass it off as a beer bottle someone had recently discarded from a boat perhaps, but curiosity got the better of me. I love the mystery of its origins too.
Oh Susan I would have been right there with you getting my feet wet. I love the bottle and would leave the barnacles on it. It is very cool. Glad your son had his camera phone:)
ReplyDeleteTake care Susan and enjoy that bottle. Treasure yeah! B
oh yes B, I'd forgotten all about the wet feet when realised it was an old bottle.
DeleteI had a feel of those barnacles and they're stuck on hard and fast, but, as I said to Theresa, I'll be leaving them on :D)
Fascinating. I'd love to know it's provenance and how old it is. If you ever find out, please post an update.:)
ReplyDeleteI agree Vicki... oh, definitely, I'll do an update. It's given me a whole new project in life now, to find out more about the type of bottle it is.
DeleteIt certainly looks old Susan.Certainly would have a story to 'tell' I'm sure. Old shipwrecks on that part of the coast perhaps? A note would have been so exciting though! lol
ReplyDeleteA good thought Maria, there's a lot of nautical historical information around the area - I shall start with them :D)
DeleteOh, how I wish it had a note in it.
ReplyDeleteWhen my Mum was alive.... I used to visit her in Victoria, B.C. .... it is on Vancouver Island. We spent many a day wandering the beaches and tossed in lots of bottles ...with notes. Many of them probably didn't make it past the huge shore boulders and rocks... there was some wild surf there ....but, we always hoped........... what fun it would have been if somebody, somewhere had found them. Now, if anybody does.... they can't contact her or her friend ..or even me ...sadly, nobody is there anymore.... but, it was such fun when we all were.......
The mystery of it all is the thing isn't it? ...just the wondering...... who, where ..when.... and ...why or even how it got there ......
A note would have been fantastic, yes!
DeleteI love how you did that with your Mum - you just never know, some may have bobbed along past the wild surf out to sea - they could have floated for years! Perhaps, someone, somewhere may have found one. Yes, it's the mystery that's intriguing.
What a great find, don't you just love the beach and all the mysteries that surround it and particularly what's washed up on the shore. My beach changes every day and I'm constantly on the look out for mysteries like yours. I heard on the radio that whale vomit is liquid gold if you can find it. I'm constantly scanning but I don't think my little bay ever sees a whale let alone a sick one that's just had a vomit. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I do Chris! I enjoy looking at the beach you roam around on too - that 'dragon'
Deleterock was spectacular!
I'd also heard about whale vomit ... many years ago and your mention of it here interested me enough to look it up for my own curiousity. For anyone else who is interested, here's an extract from the ABC news: dated 1st Feb 2013:
"A British man has been offered 50,000 euros ($AU65,000) for a strange-smelling rock-like object his dog found on a beach, which is likely a rare form of whale vomit used in perfumes, the BBC reported Thursday.
Ken Wilman was walking his dog Madge in the coastal town of Morecambe in north-west England when she began "poking at a rather large stone" with a waxy texture and yellowish colour.
At first he left it on the beach, but "something triggered in my mind", Mr Wilman said, prompting him to go back and retrieve the object, which he believes is a piece of ambergris, a substance found in the digestive systems of sperm whales.
Whales sometimes spew up ambergris, which floats on water and has been highly prized for centuries. It is used in perfume-making for the musky fragrance it acquires as it ages, but newer ambergris is foul-smelling."
Wow... Chris, that puts a whole new dimension on beachcoming eh!!
A mystery - certainly- I wonder if there's some way you can date the bottle? Sue
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is Sue, and I shall be looking into it definitely :D)
DeleteWhat a cool and delightful find! I would have been as excited as you!! Darn, no note!
ReplyDeleteLinda
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it's a natural reaction to look for a note isn't it! Never mind, it does happen occasionally. I was reading recently about a lady from South Australia who'd found a bottle with a note from a young lass in the U.K. who'd set it adrift some 6 months earlier.
DeleteI think it's ironic how, in this day and age of instant communication, we are fascinated by this other, haphazard way of communicating with each other. It's a primal thing I guess... I'm sure Fuzzy or Boomer would have some insights on that Linda ;D)
Well spotted. And what a lot of fun you have had, and will have as you try to find its history.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joan and, yes, we did have a lot of fun finding it! Was a beaut day out all round :D)
DeleteHey, there must have been something potent in that bottle if you must use food with it...you know, to keep from becoming nauseated!
ReplyDeleteHow are you dearest Susan? What a fun post! Love the photos of you acquiring that bottle from sea, and such an interesting shape. Old, yucky brown with barnacles on it. And, the cork fell thru? That's strange. Maybe you can do research and find out about the bottle and its contents, it does look old.
You are always coming across fun and exciting things on your travels, and you're not afraid to dive into the unknown!. It is so great to see you here today, I hope you and MD are doing well. Hugs to you!♥
Hi there Suzanne, thanks for your thoughts on the mystery bottle... lol, albeit barnacles (warts) and all!!
DeleteMust share a stupid thing I did the other day. While researching "old" bottles, there was a mention to look at the underside of the bottle for certain marks... so, guess what yours truly did.... I turned the bottle upside down - completely forgetting the cork had withered and dropped inside, so the liquid comes spilling out! Well, after a few choice words (which I won't share!!), I cleaned it up - no smell from the liquid so who knows what it was.
Thank you, we're doing well and wish the same for you and Karo. Cheers now :D)
That was an exciting find but a pity there was non note but finding more out about the bottle should be inteesting. Keep us informed.
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, yes, it was really exciting thanks. It's a good project trying to find out more about the bottle. So far I've learned that three-sided bottles were made for containing poisons... makes sense!
DeleteWhat a great find!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week Susan
and I hope that March will be a good month for you.
Fiona ♥
Beaut to have you visit too Fiona... thank you, and already March is zooming along. Good thoughts to you as well for a happy month :D)
DeleteHello Susan
ReplyDeleteBack in the swing of things again - catching up with blogs and unanswered comments.
What a deliciously suprising find you found - you never know what its origins might be. Just a thought but is it possble the original words read:
THIS BOTTLE MUST NOT BE USED A FOOD CONTAINER
Take care
Cathy
Lovely to read you again Cathy, it's always nice catching up with blogs again isn't it. I like it that we can all come and go as we please.
DeleteThanks for your comments and, yes, indeed it was such a surprise finding the bottle :D)
I'll try again lol Left a word out.
ReplyDeleteTHIS BOTTLE MUST NOT BE USED AS A FOOD CONTAINER
Cathy
You're right on the money there Cathy... yes, that's what it was trying to say underneath its barnacled coat. Three sided bottles were made for keeping poisons in - such a sensible thing, instant recognition to hold such a bottle wouldn't it be.
DeleteCheers now :D)