Message in a bottle washes up on Peterborough beach after 16 years at sea

A wine bottle with a letter inside has washed up on an Aussie beach, more than a decade after it was dropped into the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the world.

Local Tony made the astonishing discovery on Monday while walking along the beach at Peterborough, south-west Victoria.

He later shared photos on Facebook of the green glass bottle, which was covered on one side with dozens of seashells.

The bottle was dropped into the ocean about 50 km off the coast of Brazil, between Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, on November 3, 2008.

“Greetings, your curiosity has paid off. Thank you for retrieving this bottle and taking it with you [the] time to see what was inside,” the letter read.

“I have placed bottles like this in different oceans in many different locations around the world, hoping that people like you would find this bottle and return the note to me in the United States.”

The author was American Joe Johnson, who dropped dozens of empty wine bottles into oceans around the world during overseas cruises.

Mr Johnson said he threw the bottles away in the hope that someone would find them and return them to him.

“I would appreciate it if you would send me this note so I can find out how far the bottle has traveled and for how long,” he wrote.

“To make it worthwhile to participate in my experiment, upon receipt of this note I will send you $20.”

Mr Johnson, who lives in the small town of Towson, Maryland, was shocked to hear his letter washed up on the shores of Australia.

“My wife and I have been on a lot of cruises, I can’t remember that particular bottle,” he said ABC Radio Melbourne on Tuesday.

“It’s so interesting… especially because it came to Australia from Brazil.”

Rio De Janeiro is located over 13,100 km from the seaside resort of Peterborough, on the Victoria coast.

Mr Johnson, who wrote the letter (pictured), stated that he would give $20 (US) to the person who found the parchment and brought it back to him in the US.

Mr Johnson added that it is very rare for someone to notify him that one of the hundreds of bottles he has thrown away has been found.

The veteran traveler promised to keep his word when asked if he would keep his promise to give beachgoer Tony $20.

Shocked social media users were quick to express their excitement over the rare discovery.

‘How fantastic, I love that!’ wrote one person.

Another added: ‘Heading to Australia – how wonderful!

“Wow, that’s a long time to be bobbing up and down in the ocean,” said a third.

Many urged locals who found the bottle to claim the promised money.

Others were fascinated by the distance the bottle traveled.

‘That is a truly fascinating find! To think he survived in the ocean for 16 years,” one person wrote.

This is great! What a find. If only that bottle could talk, what an adventure,” someone else wrote.