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Treasure seekers scour British Columbia for pot of 91Ƶgold91Ƶ

B.C.-based scavenger hunt offered $1,000 if someone could solve five riddles
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Raylene Watts, left, and Alex Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, visit the Port Alberni waterfront looking for treasure on Wednesday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Raylene Watts and Alex Tuele wandered down to Port Alberni91Ƶs waterfront last Wednesday, but unlike the other people standing by the Maritime Discovery Centre lighthouse, they weren91Ƶt there to see the Navy ships in port.

Watts and Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, were hunting for treasure91Ƶand 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. 91ƵI was scrolling through. He (owner Ryan Billard) uploaded the riddle,91Ƶ Watts said.

91ƵBritish Columbia, there are thousands of dollars hidden throughout the hills, valleys and coast. Your chance at the first thousand dollars starts (March 6),91Ƶ 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 91Ƶand random acts of kindness.91Ƶ The hunt Watts and Tuele saw was just one of a string of scavenger hunts Billard has set up around Alberta and B.C.

91ƵGiveaways are just some of the ways we support our communities and we bring our communities together by live events like the famous scavenger hunt,91Ƶ notes the company91Ƶs YouTube page. The prize for the first person to find the most recent treasure box was $1,000 and the scavenger hunt came with 91Ƶ5 Riddles to the Prize,91Ƶ the video noted.

91ƵAlex loves this kind of stuff,91Ƶ 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 Exotics91Ƶ social media accounts and watched previous videos to learn Billard91Ƶs methods and search for past clues. 91ƵI was reading them because he said you would get hints from them,91Ƶ 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.

91ƵIt was something fun to do while the kids are at school,91Ƶ 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. 91ƵSpent $1,000 on gas to look,91Ƶ someone named Dave said.

91ƵHe said valleys. I91Ƶm thinking somewhere in Comox,91Ƶ Islandbudi posted. Numerous other posters guessed that the location was near Squamish or Whistler.

91ƵBefore I play, did you bother with anywhere past the lower mainland?91Ƶ 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 found91Ƶin 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.

91ƵSomeone from Calgary drove to B.C. and found it,91Ƶ Watts said in a text.



susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com

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Susie Quinn

About the Author: Susie Quinn

A journalist since 1987, I have been the Alberni Valley News editor since August 2006.
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