Raylene Watts and Alex Tuele wandered down to Port Alberni鈥檚 waterfront last Wednesday, but unlike the other people standing by the Maritime Discovery Centre lighthouse, they weren鈥檛 there to see the Navy ships in port.
Watts and Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, were hunting for treasure鈥攁nd they thought Port Alberni was where they would find their pot of gold.
Their adventure began two days earlier when Watts saw a video about a B.C. treasure hunt posted on TikTok from an account called Twenty Four Seven Exotics. 鈥淚 was scrolling through. He (owner Ryan Billard) uploaded the riddle,鈥� Watts said.
鈥淏ritish Columbia, there are thousands of dollars hidden throughout the hills, valleys and coast. Your chance at the first thousand dollars starts (March 6),鈥� one video boasted.
Billard is listed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twenty Four Seven Exotics Inc. out of Edmonton. The company offers exotic car entertainment 鈥渁nd random acts of kindness.鈥� The hunt Watts and Tuele saw was just one of a string of scavenger hunts Billard has set up around Alberta and B.C.
鈥淕iveaways are just some of the ways we support our communities and we bring our communities together by live events like the famous scavenger hunt,鈥� notes the company鈥檚 YouTube page. The prize for the first person to find the most recent treasure box was $1,000 and the scavenger hunt came with 鈥�5 Riddles to the Prize,鈥� the video noted.
鈥淎lex loves this kind of stuff,鈥� said Watts. She took the riddle to Tuele and the two of them tried to decipher it. They signed up for all of Twenty Four Seven Exotics鈥� social media accounts and watched previous videos to learn Billard鈥檚 methods and search for past clues. 鈥淚 was reading them because he said you would get hints from them,鈥� Tuele said.
Both mothers had time last Wednesday, March 8 to take a road trip, and they thought the riddle was leading searchers to Port Alberni.
鈥淚t was something fun to do while the kids are at school,鈥� Watts said. She had written the riddles in a notebook and documented every step they took in case they found the treasure. They were looking for a small box with a coin in it; once discovered there were specific steps the finder would have to take in order to win.
More than 200 comments were made on the original video. 鈥淪pent $1,000 on gas to look,鈥� someone named Dave said.
鈥淗e said valleys. I鈥檓 thinking somewhere in Comox,鈥� Islandbudi posted. Numerous other posters guessed that the location was near Squamish or Whistler.
鈥淏efore I play, did you bother with anywhere past the lower mainland?鈥� a cynical DM asked.
After searching around the Alberni waterfront for a little while longer, Watts and Tuele decided it was time to head back home. They left the lighthouse empty-handed.
Little more than 24 hours after the duo visited Port Alberni the treasure was found鈥攊n Tete Jaune Cache, a rural area on the Fraser River in the Robson Valley. Located at the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 16, the small rural community is also home to an abandoned historic town.
鈥淪omeone from Calgary drove to B.C. and found it,鈥� Watts said in a text.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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