In September 2000 the Olympic Games were running in Sydney while fuel protests rocked the UK and brought panic buying to Norfolk.And a couple of holidaymakers in Norfolk scribbled a few words on a postcard to their daughter back home - never dreaming how long it would take to get there.

In September 2000 the Olympic Games were running in Sydney while fuel protests rocked the UK and brought panic buying to Norfolk.

And a couple of holidaymakers in Norfolk scribbled a few words on a postcard to their daughter back home - never dreaming how long it would take to get there.

For just as celebrations began to usher in the year 2010, their card was finally delivered to the Australian address it should have reached a decade ago.

Michelle Selmer, who lives in Mackay, Australia, said she received the card on New Year's Eve but had no idea who it was addressed to.

'When we got it we all had a laugh about the time it had taken to get here,' she said. 'Talk about snail mail.'

The card is addressed to Fiona Voyer and dated September 16, 2000, when Ms Selmer was renting her house to a group of doctors.

It shows a picture of Aylsham stately home Blickling Hall and discusses the heavy rainfall in Norfolk and the ongoing fuel protests which were paralysing the country at the time.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: 'We are sorry for the delay, but it is extremely unlikely that the postcard was in our postal system for such a length of time.

'The most probable explanation is that it was initially delivered to an address and subsequently reintroduced into the mail network.'

She added that because items of normal post are not tracked it would be impossible to confirm where it came from.

'It could have been delivered to a wrong address and later put back in the post - there's just no way of knowing,' she said.

'This is a very rare occurrence - but it's good that it finally got there.'

The card has an English stamp and Air Mail stickers, but no post mark, which could mean there was a problem when it was posted.

Australia Post communications advisor Nyssa Black said it appeared the card had only recently arrived in Australia.

'We think it has only recently been processed somewhere overseas because the fluorescent inks used on the barcode generally fade quite quickly, within a few months,' she said.