Message in bottle led to Waihi publican

Eight years ago a young man found a message in a bottle washed up on a deserted beach in Japan. The message led him on a journey that was to change the course of his life.
No, this is not the theme for a novel.
However, the main character Kenta Goto, has traced the writer of the message back to the Rob Roy Hotel in Waihi.
Kenta, 20, found the bottle in July 2002 on the small, uninhabited island of Uchipanari Island in Okinawa.
Kenta had been camping with university friends and "went behind a rock to pee, and then there was a wine bottle lying. Inside that deep green bottle I can see some letters".
"It is a message in a bottle I've watched only in the TV," he said.
The message was sent from the ship MV Stolt Sun on September 1, 2001 by Kevin McKernan and the address was Rob Roy Hotel, Waihi.
Kenta decided there and then he would make the trip to Rob Roy Hotel and surprise this mysterious man with the message.
Eight years of adventure and chance meetings later Kenta arrived at Auckland airport to waiting television cameras and his Waihi host John Fisher.
The highlight of his pilgrimage was to meet with the note's owner but Rob Roy Hotel's Kevin McKernan had no idea he was coming. In blue overalls Kevin dodged an ambush of television cameras until Kenta stepped forward, all smiles and a little nervous, holding out the 9-year-old, ocean-weary note.
Recognising it straight away, Kevin welcomed Kenta to Rob Roy Hotel and New Zealand, showing him letters he had received from others who had found his messages from as far away as Miami, East Port, Bahama, Morocco and the Philippines.
"But you are the only one who has brought my note back in person," Kevin said.
Kevin was in the Merchant Navy for 29 years.
"During my sea voyages the captain, officers and myself often had wine with our meals.
"The number of empty bottles grew fairly quickly and I collected all the empty red wine bottles."
He had purchased the Rob Roy Hotel the previous year giving him a long-term postal address.
The idea came after he read about a Queensland tourist who found a message from an American serviceman to his girlfriend more than 40 years ago.
"It was a bit of fun for me and I was curious about how far the bottles would travel."
Kenta has stayed a night at Rob Roy Hotel, visited the mine and Rotorua, been farming and fishing and has featured on radio, TV and newspapers.
When asked how he felt now that his quest of eight years was over, Kenta said the journey would continue.
"As this journey was full of fantastic connection to peoples, maybe this bottle will give me many connection from now. I think so. I thank the people who I met on this journey and to people who I will meet in the future. The wandering story about bottle - to be continued."
Kenta said he looked forward to the day he could show Kevin the spot on the deserted island where the bottle first washed ashore.