beautiful morning to be camped near the ocean.
Harry and Mudpoo had slept in a tent near the edge of the Red Gum forest. Laughter and screams could be heard coming from the tent.
Captain Pete got out of bed, stretched and yawned and put the billy on.
âWeet-bix with honey for breakfast,â said Mudpoo and Harry together.
Captain Pete looked stern, âYou can get breakfast ready for yourselves today,â he said trying to look as grumpy as possible.
Without too much extra mess Mudpoo and Harry prepared their own
breakfast.Â
"Let's go down to the rocks," said Harry who wanted to scramble away at once.
âWait just a minute,â said Captain Pete. âWhat about the washing up?â
Looking as sad as they could Mudpoo and Harry helped with the washing up.
âThere, thatâs better. Grab the fishing rods and letâs go,â said Captain Pete.
In less than one minute theyâd walked to a beautiful beach with large rocks everywhere.
âThere are more rocks than yesterday!â said Harry a little surprised.
âThatâs because the tide is out,â said Captain Pete.
Indeed the tide was out and it had left hundreds of tiny rock pools filled with interesting sea creatures.
Mudpoo and Harry carefully walked between the rocks, studying the rock pools. The rocks were often jagged, very slippery and sometimes very difficult to cross.
âHereâs a nice big water hole with little fish in it,â cried Harry very excitedly.
Captain Pete dropped in a fishing line.
They all watched as the fish played a game with the bait. No sooner was the hook in the water, than a sneaky little fish would eat the bait without being caught.
âHey, cut that out!â said Captain Pete as he fumbled to re-bait the hook.
He was so busy that he didnât notice that Harry and Mudpoo had walked to the very edge of the rocks where the ocean was gently lapping at their feet.
âWhatâs over there?â yelled Harry pointing out to sea.
Captain Pete looked up, âThatâs the Pacific Ocean and the next land is Chile in South America.â
âIs that far?â asked Harry.
âItâs a very long way,â said Captain Pete. âIt would take a month in a boat.â
âWow thatâs far!â said Harry.
By now Captain Pete had realised Mudpoo and Harry were very close to the rocky edge.
âGet back from the edge!â yelled Captain Pete urgently.
Mudpoo and Harry came over at once.
âWhy, whatâs wrong?â they both asked looking very surprised.
âWell, I know the water looks calm, but every now and then the ocean can get quite dangerous with giant waves,â said Captain Pete.
âYou mean like a secret wave?â said Mudpoo.
âErrr . . . Yes,â Captain Pete replied.
âLike that one,â said Harry pointing to a giant wave heading towards the rocks.
Captain Pete looked up and had less than one second to tightly hold Mudpoo and Harry as the giant wave washed over the rocks where they had been standing.
The seawater washed over Captain Peteâs wobbly knees as Mudpoo and Harry hung on. In a moment the sea was calm again.
âNow we know why itâs dangerous to go too close to the edge of the rocks,â said Mudpoo, Harry nodded his head in agreement.
A secret wave almost washed them into the sea.
From that day on, they were all a lot more careful!
T he smell of adventure was in the air and Gus was excited.
Gus loved camping by the sea, but after three days at the camping ground, Gus was very keen to get moving again. Mudpoo and Harry were brushing their teeth. This seemed to take longer than usual.
With all the packing to be done and the breakfast dishes to be washed, Captain Pete was patiently waiting for their help.
âRight Harry,â said Captain Pete. âYou finish packing