Message in a bottle found on one of PNG’s most far-flung islands sparks an unlikely friendship

A conservation worker on one of Papua New Guinea’s most far-flung islands and a teenager from the United States have struck an unlikely friendship after a recent surprise discovery.

Ranger Steven Amos was sorting through 50 kilograms of rubbish collected from beaches around the Conflict Islands last month when he stumbled on a glass bottle containing a hand-written letter, some seashells, and a few grains of rice.

It was written by Niki Nie, then a 17-year-old girl from America, who was sailing from Vanuatu to the Marshall Islands when she threw the letter overboard, unsure of where it would end up.

In the letter, Ms Nie said the bottle was thrown on January 8, 2019 as she “crossed from the southern hemisphere to the northern…