Australians have become very familiar with postage delays in recent years, but no one expects their post to be delayed 42 years.
However, that is exactly what happened to a postcard sent from Sydney to a house in Westgate, near Canterbury in southwest England.
The postcard was sent on August 27, 1981. It arrived at the address in December 2023.
Samantha Williams, who now lives at the Elm Grove address that the postcard was sent to, told the BBC its origins remain “a mystery.”
Williams said she would love to deliver the letter to the man it was addressed to, Steve Padgett, or “Padge” as he is referred to in the postcard.
The sender signed the card “Gerry” but nothing else is known about him.
“They were obviously good friends and it may mean a lot to him,” Williams said.
The card includes a number of pictures of the Sydney Opera House, when it was a spry 10 years old.
“It had been sent from a man called Gerry in Sydney and addressed to Steve Padgett or Padge, who we believe lived here with his parents in the 1980s,” she told the BBC.
Gerry, who wrote his address as 1 Dawes Point, Sydney, 2000 also seemed to have his own delivery woes, telling his mate Padge that he only “just read your letter dated 8 May” – three months earlier.
“Sorry to have not been in touch, but what can you say about colonial practices!” Gerry wrote, promising to write tomorrow and wishing him well for the summer.
He said it was a “shame” he could not arrange “a holiday” of his own, said he was “having a brilliant time” in Sydney nonetheless.
While it is obvious that the world has changed so much in the decades since the postcard was written, what makes it especially obvious is the 35 cent postage stamp stuck to the top corner.
If Gerry were to send his postcard today it could cost him $2.61 to get it to the UK, according to Australia Post.
Williams said the stamp may also show that “it’s been stuck at a sorting office” for the whole time.
Britain’s troubled mail service, Royal Mail, has been one of many postal services copping criticism for lengthy delays and lost post. It has also faced mass strikes over the past 12 months.
In a statement to the BBC News, a Royal Mail spokesperson said it was “difficult to speculate what may have happened” to the postcard, but debunked Williams’ theory.
“It is likely that it was put back into the postal system by someone recently, rather than it being lost or stuck somewhere,” the spokesperson said.
“Royal Mail regularly checks all its delivery offices and clears its processing machines daily. Once an item is in the postal system then it will be delivered to the address on the card.”
One thing that can be said for the postcard is that it takes the term “snail mail” to a whole new level.