A PIECE of Wokingham has become an internet sensation after being taken on a European tour.
Newlyweds Casey and Lhyle Millar discovered the painted rock, emblazoned with a heart and the message Love Is Love while they were visiting St James Park in London. On the reverse, it mentions the Wokingham Rocks Facebook group and asks the finder to photograph the rock and then rehide it.
The couple fell in love with the pebble and its romantic message and have since taken it with them on their European adventure.
The Wokingham Rocks group is, like many others that have sprung up, dedicated to decorating pebbles with pretty pictures, varnishing them and then hiding them in parks across the borough for others to find. The finds are then posted as pictures on the group to allow others to see them.
But this appears to be the pebble that has gone the furthest. The Millars, who hail from the Gold Coast in Australia, asked members how far they’d like the rock to go. Group members encouraged them to take it with them on their adventures, with the rock’s creator telling them to take it back to Australia.
Since then, the couple have taken it wherever they have gone and when they spoke to The Wokingham Paper it was en route to the Alps.
Mrs Millar said: “We found the rock in St James Park in London.
“As we are newlyweds on our honeymoon, it was fitting that the rock has a message about love. Lhyle my husband posted on the page from the writing on the back of the rock and asked how far can they be re-hidden, from there we got hundreds of messages telling us to take it with us on our honeymoon.
“Finding it was a nice surprise, we weren’t searching for the rocks and then bam, we got one about love.”
The couple have been enjoying showing the rock off when they’ve stopped off on their travels, which has included London, Paris, Munich, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy.
“The rock has been a wonderful conversation starter with strangers from all around the globe, this being our first time overseas. Before we found the rock we were struggling to talk to strangers but it has been the perfect ice breaker,” Mrs Millar explained.
And the rock will continue its journey once the couple’s honeymoon is over.
“It’s been amazing journey so far with more still to come,” Mrs Millar said. “After we are finished we plan to hide it in Australia where we got married.”
Louise Collins’ family created the rock and are delighted that it is now going around the world.
She told The Wokingham Paper: “Most of the rocks we’ve hidden have just vanished without a trace around Wokingham.
“We never imagined when my son hid this one in London it would be found, make its way back on to the page and then be traveling its way around the globe. It’s lovely that it was found by a couple who have got into the spirit of it all!”
