The Big Sandy World Old Jack's Boat

Go on, Salty!

# Come with me, we're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet with games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales

Ha-ha! # Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

Oh, yeah, there it is, Salty.

Yep, oh, hello.

I'm just looking through my telescope at the beach.

Ernie is building a beauty of a sandcastle, over there.

Yeah! Ho-ho-ho-ho!

And all the way round the castle is a ditch that they call the moat.

Yes, you can fill it with water if you've got enough buckets.

Oh, that is a beauty, that is. Yeah, now then.

I've got a story to tell you about sandcastles, moats,

seagulls and very big adventures.

It all happened when I was a boy

in a twinkly time, long, long ago.

Hi, Jack.

I used to run down to play on the beach as often as I could, meeting

up with my best friends,

Little Ernie and Little Sailor Sue.

That afternoon, Sue and I were off to the rockpools when we saw Ernie.

He was building a sand castle

and decorating it with lots of sticks and pieces of straw that he'd found.

"Looks great, Ernie," said Sue.

"Watch out for those seagulls," I laughed.

A seagull had landed near the sandcastle

and was looking very closely at it.

"Shoo!" shouted Ernie to the seagull, who shot up in the air.

"They seem to like me today," he laughed.

The seagull landed on the sand nearby.

"Shoo!" shouted Ernie.

The seagull flapped off.

Bernie shook his head. "Oh, those seagulls."

"Let's find some seaweed to decorate your sandcastle," I said.

So, we dashed over to the rockpools in search of seaweed.

We clambered around and then stopped beside one pool.

We gazed deep down into the glittery waters.

And there, a magical world appeared before our eyes.

Sally the Starfish loved her rockpool

and she loved playing among the seaweed stalks,

but sometimes, she wished that she could go on an adventure.

"What I want to do is to visit the big sandy world

"outside the rockpool," she said to her friend, Andrew the Anemone.

Andrew was always ready for an adventure.

Yes, just like you, Salty.

And he was very excited.

"Perhaps we should ask Reginald the Great Wise Limpet," he said.

"He'll be able to help."

So, the two friends swam up to where the water meets the sunshine and

where Reginald sits clamped to his rock, keeping his eye on the world.

"Oh, Great Wise Limpet," said Sally.

"Could you tell us about the big sandy world?"

Reginald rolled his great eyes.

"All I know," he announced,

"is that dogs have leads, so they don't float off,

"and seagulls have feathers to tickle sailors at sea."

Sally and Andrew looked at each other.

They weren't sure how helpful this was.

"We'd like an adventure," said Sally.

"In the big sandy world," said Andrew.

"But how do we get out there?"

Reginald sighed.

"Oh, you could climb a seaweed stalk and look around, I suppose."

That was a good idea. "Thank you," said Sally.

"Let's find the tallest one."

So that's what they did.

They found the tallest seaweed stalk and started to climb.

It was hard at first, but starfish have strong little arms

and Anemones are used to holding on tight.

Very carefully, they inched out of the water and into the daylight.

They were at the top of the stalk.

Sally peaked around, nervously.

She saw dogs off leads, but they weren't floating away.

Seagulls with feathers but they weren't tickling sailors,

and she saw sand. Sand everywhere.

"I think this is as far as we can go," she said.

"No," said Andrew.

"Look, we can go even further if we climb this straw bridge."

Sally wondered why there was a straw bridge on top of a seaweed stalk,

but she didn't want to be left behind,

so she followed Andrew as he climbed onto it.

At that moment, the straw bridge rose up in the air.

SALTY BARKS

Yes, I know, Salty, that shouldn't happen.

You see, it wasn't a straw bridge at all.

It was a hat, a seagull's hat.

This particular seagull had been admiring his reflection

in the rockpool's glassy surface and had now decided to fly off.

"Hold on tight!" cried Andrew.

The two little creatures felt themselves lifted into the air

and fly off into the cloudy blue skies.

They were certainly having an adventure now.

Sally gripped the edge of the straw hat tight as she saw

the beach below look smaller and smaller.

Andrew sat on top of the seagull's hat

and held on as tight as an anemone can, which is very tight indeed.

And the wind rushed past them as they swooped and dived,

but Sally soon found herself slipping.

She wasn't made to hold on to hats.

Her little arms were getting tired.

"Don't worry, Sally, I'll help you," called Andrew.

He bounced down from the top of the seagull's hat

and landed on the brim next to Sally.

"Oh, thank you," cried Sally.

But Andrew, he'd landed too close to the edge - and flop,

he tipped the hat over, sending it tumbling down and down.

"Oh, hold on!" shouted Andrew.

The two friends spun through the air round and round and round

and moments later, they landed with a plump, in a great sandy desert.

Oh!

Sally and Andrew crept out from underneath the hat.

"Are you all right?" Said Sally.

"I think so," said Andrew.

"But where are we?"

"I think it's the big sandy world," said Sally, nervously looking around.

They seemed to be in a long sandy ditch and above them

was a ginormous castle, entirely made out of sand.

SALTY BARKS Yes, I know, Salty, old girl.

Yes, they'd landed in the moat of the sandcastle, hadn't they?

SALTY BARKS Yes. But Sally didn't know that.

"Andrew?" she said.

"I'm sure I can hear rushing water."

And sure enough, at that moment, there was

an almighty whooshing sound.

Andrew and Sally looked behind and there was an enormous

wall of water rushing and tumbling towards them.

"Whoa!" cried Sally as the little creatures were swept up

in the rushing water.

It sloshed them one way and then another,

slopping them up against the sides of the moat and then down again.

Andrew and Sally, they tumbled and turned and slithered

and swooshed until finally, the water made a last big swish.

And it trickled away.

Oh! Andrew and Sally blinked at each other.

" Quick," said Andrew. "Let's hide in there."

They saw a big cave nearby,

so they decided the best thing to do, was to hide in it.

"I think I've had enough of adventures,"

whispered Sally, when they were safe inside the cave.

SALTY WHINES Yes, I know, Salty, old girl,

but the adventure wasn't over yet, was it? No.

Sally and Andrew hadn't crawled into a cave.

They had crawled into a tin bucket.

It belonged to Ernie.

He'd picked it up and started to walk across the beach with it.

Inside, Andrew and Sally found themselves bouncing around.

"Can we go home now?" cried Sally.

"I think this is great," laughed Andrew, as he bounced around.

At that moment, the bucket was tipped up.

Andrew and Sally were sent twisting and turning downwards until...

Splash.

They landed in some warm seaweed-y water.

They swam out and looked around, blinking in the light.

There were the seaweed stalks, there was the rocky ridge

and there was Reginald, the Great Wise Limpet,

calm and still on his rock.

They were home.

Ernie had gone to the rockpool and had sloshed Andrew

and Sally right back to where they started.

"We're home!" cried a delighted Sally.

"That was a very big adventure," Andrew laughed.

"Right now," said Sally, firmly,

"I just want to stay where I belong, right here in our lovely rockpool."

So, the two little rockpoolers rushed off to

tell their friends about their adventures in the big, sandy world.

Ernie, Sue and I, we gathered up our seaweed and carefully

made our way back over the rocks to the beach.

"This will look great on your sandcastle, Ernie," said Sue.

But when we got back onto the beach, oh, what a sight greeted us.

Ernie's sticks and straw had been turned into a nest

and perched on top of the nest, was the seagull.

"That's why it was so interested

"in what you were doing, Ernie," I laughed.

"It thought you were building it a new home."

So, we both helped Ernie make another sandcastle.

But this time, decorated with seaweed, pebbles and shells.

And then we played and played until it was time for us to go home and the

tide came in and it covered the rockpool

like a great seaweed-y blanket.

MUSIC PLAYS

Well, we're off to see if Big Ernie has finished that sandcastle yet,

aren't we, Salty? Yeah. Ahoy.

So why don't you join us for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Right? Right. Come on, girl.