Gus arrived safely at Woodyhead camping ground near Iluka. After the long trip, everyone patted Gus, who always beamed with pride. Harry and Mudpoo scrambled away to check the beach whilst Captain Pete chose the best shady spot to set up camp. Woodyhead is a part of the beautiful Bundjalung National Park that has many wonderful camping spots. 

“I can see lots of rocks,” cried Mudpoo excitably. 

“ . . . and shells,” added Harry. 

After a little rest, everyone helped Gus and Captain Pete to unload and set up a comfortable camp. 

They had just finished unpacking and setting up when some visitors arrived. They were Captain Pete’s friends; Rod the bush poet and Jess his blue dog and best mate. Rod called Jess ‘the princess of all blue dogs.’

Captain Pete and his friends chatted away about old times. Rod loved to write stories and so did captain Pete, so they had lots to talk about. 

Rod had just released a book and CD called ‘Frogs and Dogs and Kids,’ which was a huge success (he won an award at the Tamworth Music Festival for it, but that’s another story). A lot of his stories were about how clever Jess was, and how she loved frogs. Mudpoo, Harry and Jess explored the beaches around Woodyhead and Back Beach, it was great fun exploring the rock pools and looking for shells and stranded fish. 

Captain Pete had a visit from Ranger John. 

“Definitely no dogs allowed in National Parks,” said Ranger John quite firmly. 

“What about talking dogs?” asked Captain Pete. 

When he saw that Harry and Jess were talking dogs, he carefully checked his ranger manual. 

“We have special permits for Guide Dogs, so I suppose I can give you a special permit for talking dogs,” he replied, scratching his forehead. 

“THANK YOU,” replied Captain Pete, Harry and Jess, altogether as they were handed the permits. 

Ranger John smiled, “I don’t suppose I’ll ever meet too many talking dogs,” he said, shaking Captain Pete’s hand before he walked away to check another campsite. 

Their friend Liz arrived in her Kombi van called ‘Kevin’. 

Captain Pete put the billy on at once. 

“You little ripper,” smiled Rod, who loved to have a cup of tea. 

That night they ate beautifully-sizzled sausages, a mouth-watering damper (made in Rod’s camp oven using his secret recipe), some lamingtons, some blueberry pie that Captain Pete had bought from the bakery at Iluka and a beautiful pavlova that Liz had brought along with her and they washed it all down with hot, billy-tea. 

YUMMY!

That evening, as they sat under the shiny stars, around a small, glistening campfire, with the gentle hum of the ocean in the distance, Captain Pete and Rod took turns to tell them stories. Rod knew lots of great stories and so did Captain Pete. 

Just before bedtime, Captain Pete told the wonderful story of Grumblegoo.

(Remember . . . you have already heard some of this story).

He told the story of how a monstrous goanna called Grumblegoo, appeared in the Iluka rainforest, just as some people had cut down an enormous Karri tree. Grumblegoo was fierce and ferocious, and could breathe fire. The creature was covered with pointy spikes and was able to gobble up a whole person, quicker than a wink! (Maybe Captain Pete exaggerated parts of the story a little when he retold it. Does that happen to you sometimes?)

Everyone listened to the story. Captain Pete said he thought that Grumblegoo might still live in the rainforest, but he also said he wasn’t scared of Grumblegoo, or any other monstrous goanna. After all, he did have a blue belt in Taekwondo and could probably teach it a thing or two if it tried to attack!

“Nevertheless,” continued Captain Pete, “once Grumblegoo appeared, nobody ever tried to destroy any part of the Iluka rainforest again. Not even the people who wanted to mine there for sand in 1964. They thought better of it once they heard about Grumblegoo.” 

“Maybe Grumblegoo, the monstrous goanna, did a good thing?” whispered Mudpoo to Harry and Jess.

Harry was too tired to answer. He fell asleep dreaming about firebreathing goannas. Jess dreamt of blueberry pie and friendly frogs. Rod dreamt of billy-tea and damper. Captain Pete dreamt that he was bravely battling monstrous goannas with his blue belt Taekwondo skills. Liz dreamt of the peaceful ocean. And Mudpoo dreamt about his humpback whale friends. He dreamt they were in trouble and needed his help and awoke with a start in the middle of the night. ‘It’s just a dream’ he reassured himself and soon fell asleep again.