How long does it take to get to Forest Lake? It’s been a while since the last skate there and I really couldn’t remember. I was sure it was less than an hour, but how much less? Forty minutes less turned out to be the answer. It seems I was not the only person who wasn’t sure. Paulie was already there when I arrived (although he had deliberately turned up early to rotate his wheels). A few minutes later and Pepsi pulled into the car park followed in close order by Jo, Mannie and then Carl and Suzy with an asleep Monte in the back of the car. This with half an hour until the skate was supposed to start! Within ten minutes, everyone had arrived and we were soon skating round the car park at ABC Child Care waiting for Monte to emerge from the back of Carl’s car. Eventually, Jo tentatively tapped on the back window and Monte extricated himself from his slumber and joined us for the estate skate of choice.

With reports of rain as people left Brisbane the sky looked blue with only the odd hint of a fluffy white cloud blocking out the sun for a brief moments. With previous recollections of Forest Lake conjuring up 44 degree temperatures the warm winter sun was just about perfect. Monte was going to lead the tour with able assisted from Lyndal, Paulie and Jo. With no new comers it was decided there would be no need for a beginners group and so we set off to explore the leafy lanes and avenues that make up Forest Lake as a single group.

Leafy lanes make for a particularly apt description in this case. The footpaths were noticeably debris strewn with a mixture of leafs, twigs and small stones. Shortly after setting off, as we headed down a moderate hill, Carl picked up a stick in his brake and lathed off a good portion of his rear wheel. After a quick swap for a middle wheel we were soon on our way again.

With the first shop stop looming, Monte suddenly stopped, reached down and retrieved a $20 note nestling in grass at the side of the path. With a broad smile, he didn’t seem adverse to the suggestion that the ice creams were on him, although it might be stretching it a bit to squeeze twelve ice creams out of $20.

Over at the shop, we emerged with various sugar fixes and Monte appeared clutching a large bag of assorted lollies which he proceeded to distribute amongst us. With an eclectic mix of pink fluffy clouds, multi-coloured feet, pineapples and sundry other brightly coloured gelatinous shapes, we all eagerly tucked in.

Energy levels topped up to overflowing, we once more set off in the general direction of the lake. After a few downhill runs and with the lake looming into view, we came across a small children’s play area. With no Bruce to take up the challenge, Monte stepped into the breach and with the use of a conveniently placed rope, clambered up to the top of a blue plastic slide. He was just about to launch himself off the when a small child decided that it would be fun to climb up from the bottom. While the slide was not particularly big, when you are only two feet tall, it must seem like the north face of the Eiger. Encouraged upwards by Monte the small boys arms and legs where twirling round like bee’s wings but all to no avail. With barely a quarter of the slide traversed defeat was admitted and the child slid off and went to investigate an interesting pile of dirt. Monte skated gracefully down and we were once more on our way.

After a couple of laps of the lake, a group photo was requested, however due to the position of the sun, another half lap was required. Rather than skating round the lake path again, a detour was proposed which involved a run through a few more side streets before emerging somewhere on the other side. Once this information had been relayed to everyone (about four times) we headed into the side streets and worked our way round in a wide sweeping arc before emerging in roughly the right location. A suitable grassy knoll was selected and with a lake side group shot ‘in the can’ we once more ventured into the rabbits warren of little streets that make up Forest Lake.

One of the more interesting features of this tour is its relatively free form nature. The ever expanding network of smooth streets and nice wide bike paths means that the opportunity to explore is ever present. Combine this with Montes keen sense of directional precision and we were completely lost in no time. Luckily we came across a friendly local (she must have been local as she had no shoes on) who quickly pointed us in the right direction.

Before long, we were heading up hill away from the lake and back towards the shopping centre that would ultimately be our dinner destination. As we approached Red Chilli Thai, Pepsi, Carl and Suzy split off from the group and the rest of us headed back to the cars over at ABC. On route we made a quick detour for a downhill bomb through the swimming pool car park before picking up the cars and heading back to the restaurant.

After a quick change we assembled inside for a Thai banquet fit for a king. While Monte regaled us with tales of colonic irrigation (always a good topic of conversation at the dinner table) we consumed our own body weights in various rice and noodle dishes, while for those with an insatiable appetite, carried on with the full banana split pudding experience.

Dinner consumed and our knowledge of hose pipes expanded beyond all reasonable requirements, we wended our way home after an enjoyable afternoon’s estate sk8ing.