January 30th, 2009 by Brad Lovell

I received a message from Louise requesting my services in the southern suburbs of Sydney to search for her lost ring. The ring was lost at a quiet beach named Sandingham Bay the day before. I explained to Louise I would be happy to help, but made her aware of the $50 Call Out Fee, as Sandingham Bay is well beyond 20kms from the CBD. I really hate asking for a Call Out Fee, especially if I do not find the lost item in question…but I really need to cover myself for two hours worth of driving/tolls and petrol. In reality, this is incredibly cheap in comparison to what a plumber would charge for an out call! Plus for the $50, I will also search for 2 hours plus. The lost ring was very important to Louise, so the call out fee was not an issue for her. The ring was a gift from a close friend, who brought it back from Thailand for Louise. I made it down to Sandingham Bay before 8am. The beach was empty, with the exception of a few fishermen. Louise was running a little late, so I decided to start scanning the beach anyway. Not long after, Louise arrived and showed me the area where she lost her ring. Apparently Louise had removed her ring before going for a swim, and left it on her towel. When she decided to leave for the day, she forgot the ring was on the towel. A very common mistake. Obviously, the ring had fallen in the sand as she picked up her towel. Both Louise and her boyfriend tried searching for the lost ring to no avail. I marked off an area where I beleived the ring could have dropped, and began the search. After about an hour of searching, I had found plenty of fishing sinkers and bottle caps, but no ring! I had searched the area in a grid pattern, so I knew if the ring was in that area, I would find it! It was time to expand the search perimeter. I began searching further away from the spot where Louise had lost the ring. After about an another half an hour of scanning and digging, I received a nice strong signal on my Metal Detector. One quick scoop, and there it was. Louise’s beautiful lost ring. The ring was a good 20-30 meters away from the area it was actually lost. As I was walking back towards Louise, I could see the look of dissapointment on her face. She figured I was giving up on the search. I asked her if this was the ring she lost, and she instantly jumped up with a huge smile on her face. Louise gave me a customary hug, and put the ring back on her finger. Louise did not have much hope of seeing her lost ring again, so you can only imagine how she must have felt to have it back on her finger. It was a pleasure to help such a beautiful and friendly girl find her lost ring