It was Foggerty frog who found Jess. 

She was out for her early morning stroll on Woodyhead beach. Jess loved frogs and was pleased to meet a green tree frog that could talk. Foggerty, who always said ‘never judge a book by its cover,’ trusted Jess at once. He knew that dogs could be dangerous, but Jess was trustworthy and Foggerty knew it from the first moment he looked at her gentle face. 

“I’m searching for a boy called Mudpoo and he needs to come with me at once to meet Grumblegoo,” stammered Foggerty, “it’s a matter of life and death, Mudpoo’s whale friends are in grave danger.”

“I can help you cried Jess, hop onto my back and I’ll take you to him.” 

Jess raced back to camp in the stillness of the early morning, where silently and urgently she awoke Harry, repeating Foggerty’s request. Harry, who had heard Captain Pete’s scary Grumblegoo story only the night before, felt a little worried. Still, he trusted Jess and this strange little talking tree frog. Most of all, he could sense their urgency! 

“Wake up Mudpoo,” Harry loudly whispered, “you need to follow me at once, we need to help our humpback whale friends, they’re in great danger.”

It might have been because of Mudpoo’s dream that night, but somehow he had already sensed that his whale friends were in great danger and he needed to do something. He quickly jumped out of his sleeping bag and followed the others, running toward the beach. 

Early that morning, a fisherman on Back Beach thought he was dreaming when a small, barefoot boy, two dogs and a frog, all raced by, one after the other, together in a mad hurry . . . 

“Why on earth are they in such a hurry, so early in the morning?” wondered the fisherman as he scratched his head. 

Back at Mudpoo’s camp, Liz, Rod and Captain Pete were still sleeping, tired from their long drive. Someone was snoring loudly with ‘ZZZZZ’ sounds vibrating through the morning air. It would be a few hours before they would awake to discover that Mudpoo, Jess and Harry were gone. 

“This way, QUICK-STICKS!,” puffed Foggerty as they ran up, past the beach, to the Iluka Bluff. Kev and Sammy had seen them coming and were encouraging them along. 

“BUST-MY-BILLY, it’s not far now,” squawked Kev. 

“SIZZLING-SAUSAGES, there are humpback whales under attack in Antarctica,” said Sammy silver gull, as he soared just above Mudpoo’s head.

“They sang a message that was passed from Antarctica to the humpback whales at Iluka Bluff to ask you to stop the pirates!” stammered Foggerty, trying hard to think and talk and hop all at the same time as they all clambered up to the very top of the bluff. 

“Not far now,” cried Kev. 

Clancy koala, high in her tree above the Magic Tree Stump, was keeping a lookout, “GREAT-GATHERING-GUMNUTS! They’ve found him, they’ve found Mudpoo and they’re nearly here!” she cried excitably. 

Grumblegoo hid behind some bushes. Perhaps Mudpoo would be scared of her? She understood that they could only save the whales if they worked together. She’d been able to keep the forest safe for all the trees and animals by being very scary to humans. She also knew that Mudpoo was asked to save the whales, so if she was going to help, she had to be friendly and allow him to use the Magic Tree Stump

Mudpoo arrived at the Magic Tree Stump, looking puffed and concerned. He stopped for a moment to look around at Sally, Kev, Percy, Andrenna, Harry, Jess, Sammy and Foggerty. 

“What am I meant to do?” he asked quietly. 

And just at that moment, Grumblegoo appeared . . . trying very hard not to look too scary (and finding that a very difficult thing to do). 

“Hello,” she gargled, her eyes were bulging and her nostrils were flared a little because of all the excitement. 

“Yike . . .Crikey,” yelped Mudpoo, who felt like running, but couldn’t. He was frozen on the spot! After all, didn’t Captain Pete say that Grumblegoo had been known to gobble people up in a single gulp? 

Mudpoo swallowed nervously. He didn’t run though. He trusted his friends Harry and Jess and they would know if there was any danger. He felt nothing but warmth and friendship from all the creatures. 

Then Grumblegoo spoke. Mudpoo listened very carefully to Grumblegoo’s words. 

“You may use my Magic Tree Stump to make a wish which will save our humpback whale friends. Use it wisely, as you only have one second to make your wish and you only get one wishing chance!” 

With that said, Grumblegoo disappeared. It really was against her better judgment to be seen by a human, unless she was very, very busy scaring them.

Kev, realising they were running out of time, screamed out to Mudpoo, “QUICK-STICKS, get up onto the Magic Tree Stump and make your wish, before it’s too late!”

Mudpoo climbed onto the Magic Tree Stump. 

As he stood there, he thought about his humpback whale friends and how magnificent and magical they were. He thought about how they had enough power in two beats of their tail to lift their enormous 40 tonne bodies into the air.

And right then . . . he knew exactly what to wish . . .