The story so far: Inspired by pictures of Tasmanian Tigers, Lionel decided he had to search for his long lost fore-lions (In Part 2) . He and Gavin hitched a ride north from Perth to Geraldton, Western Australia (in Part 3 ) then journeyed on. to the Shark Bay heritage region (in Part 4 ) where they saw wild emus. Further north they ventured finally arrive at Coral Bay (Part 5.). After a day searching the beach and dunes they decided to go wider and further in search of these elusive fore-lions.
First, Lionel and Gavin returned for another quick look at the beach. You never knew where fore-lions might suddenly appear. Anyway Gavin loved seeing the beach and took every excuse to go there. They looked under seaweed bracken and under the kayaks. No fore-lions.
They took advantage of the low tide to check hollows and overhangs along the shore. They looked down, they looked around, they looked up. No fore-lions.
But also no clouds, no noise, no people, no noisy boats, no air planes … Oh, it was so peaceful. Next, they hiked up the dunes to the lookout near their camp site.
From there they could see the whole township. Mind you, its so small, that it is not hard to see all of it. They could also see the wide lands beyond. And dust.Lionel used the telescope to do a thorough search. This was not easy.
The strong wind filled with stinging sand bowled over their little ruck sacks, blew off their hats and nearly took Lionel’s mane off too.
Even so, Lionel tried. He focused carefully at every shrub. Was any fore-bear, fore-tiger, fore-lion or other fore-creature lurking there? But no. Even the kangaroos they had seen earlier had gone away.
One thing Gavin decided for certain. Fore-lion hunting on a hot day in strong winds with stinging sand whipping into your fur is not really as much fun as he had hoped.
They felt discouraged. They took a last long searching look all around the bay and the seas and the sand and the dunes and made their way back to camp. By the greatest good fortune they found chocolate chip ice creams in the fridge and all seemed well again.
Next day they set out eastward, on and on into Nowhere At All – or that is what it looked like. Here they found another high point, not very high really, but a little bit higher than the flat bits all around, and once again they scoured the landscape.
Once again, the thing that mostly got scoured was themselves. There was wind blown sand in their fur, their eye lashes, their knapsacks. They nearly lost their hats again. Gavin’s bowtie unravelled in the wind and he nearly lost that too.
Lionel’s mane was in trouble again. The wind pulled and tugged and tried really hard to get it off him. It was a wonder he didn’t return home a mane-less lion.
They took one more long look, scanning every bit of the seemingly endless plain, which is not easy with dust blowing into your eyes. But no, there was, without doubt, not a single fore-lion in sight.
They returned to base to rest, snoozer, nap, sleep and occasionally raid the fridge for ice cream, They rested all the next day while their Chauffeurs, the Guardian and Guardian-ess, sailed out on to the glorious blues of the Coral Bay waters in the good ship Ningaloo. They snorkelled over coral and saw turtles, reef sharks, little and big coloured fish and even Manta Rays! Don’t miss the next exciting episode of …. Da da da daaah dummmm … Lionel Seeks His Fore-Lions.
Mawson Guardian Says: Gavin and Lionel live with Mawson Bear. Mawson writes little books full of muddles , bafflements, and even some accidental wisdom.
Where to find Mawson’s Books: Our publisher is OdysseyBooks where you can find fun and beautiful books with pictures for grownups.At Amazon everywhere, including at Amazon Australia (where Mawson Lives), Amazon UK and Amazon France, among others.
You have wandered into Mawson Bear’s web-den. Mawson is the Writer-Bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and Dreamy Days and Random Naps and She Ran Away From Love.
Mawson Bear 