Minnippi Parklands, 200 hectares of bush watered by the Bulimba Creek and named after Minnippi Rawlings, an Aboriginal elder who lived in the area around the second half of the 19th century. Today it is home to a large population of water fowl, colonies of egrets, moor hens, swans and occasional migrating birds. It's also home to the densest Squirrel Glider population in Australia. So, a good place to be if you are a bird with a penchant for water or a rat with wings, but how would it fair as a skating location?

As this was a first time skate for me and with a 2:30pm start and no idea how to get there, I decided an hour should be plenty of time to find the place. As it turned out, that was just about right and as I pulled into the rather full car park, I spotted Jo, Dave and Pepsi pulling their skates on. A steady trickle of people arrived and at the arbitrary ten minutes late point we were all assembled. It was a pretty mixed group and Monte decided to split us up into two. He and Justine took the beginners group with Lyndal, Vaughan, Jo and Dave looking after the rest of us. With introductions complete we set off on the nice smooth concrete paths that thread there way though the parklands.

When I said the paths were smooth, that was indeed the case for the first couple of hundred meters, however we were soon making our way over a section of path that looked like it had not seen the back of a trowel for many a year. Careful placement of the feet was required through this section, but we passed through it reasonably quickly and the paths returned to a more serviceable state through the rest of the park.

Our first rest stop was by a small children’s play area which elicited a few eager looks from one or two people. Lyndal, however, informed us that there was a much better play area just a bit further on and it would be well worth hanging on for. At this news, Jo suddenly got itchy wheels and seemed very keen to be setting off again.

A few minutes later, we did indeed arrive at a larger play area. A pair of swings and a blue plastic slide were the reward for our patience. Lyndal and Sash were the first to participate. Swings and skates make an interesting combination. Without the friction from the soles of your feet, getting yourself going is no easy matter. Lyndal, who had clearly done this before, used a v-walk technique to get the required leverage to initiate the swinging motion. Sash on the other hand was having all sorts of problems as her feet scooted effortlessly back and forth while her body remained resolutely still. In the end she requested a push and Vaughan stepped in to provide the missing element of forward momentum.

Dave was next up to indulge his inner child. He decided to tackle the blue plastic slide. A hop, skip and a jump and he was stood at the top of the slide, however a strategically placed bar designed to ensure only small children used the apparatus caused much grief as he forced himself through the tiny opening it presented. Finally, stood at the top of the slide, he launched himself down. With a quick running two step at the bottom and a well timed jump to avoid the concrete lip which marked the edge of the surrounding bark, he made it down safely and impressively upright.

Finally, Jo got to play. Partnered by Dave, they began a swing contest that saw them just about level with the top of the support bar. The contest came to an abrupt end when the entire swing frame began to rock back and forth on its foundations and both of them decided that playtime was over. With everyone’s craving for silliness temporarily satisfied, we once more set off on our way.

We hadn’t gone far when the path dipped under a road bridge. The supports on either side of the bridge were cast in concrete and made a long slightly off camber ramp. Dave immediately saw this as a skate parkesque challenge and was soon stood at the very top of the ramp with everyone below cheering him on. A quick flick forward and he shot to the bottom clearing the join with the path with a quick hop. A round of applause and off we went.

It wasn’t long before we reached the end of the path and indeed the park. The path finished with a couple of bright yellow car stoppers (arc shaped pipes that artificially narrow the path and prevent cars driving onto it). These once more provided a challenge to the more gymnastically inclined amongst us. Jo’s first attempt to spin round the obstacle proved to be a little uncommitted and left her dangling ignominiously over the top of the bar. Dave then couldn’t resist the temptation to run up to the bar, flick himself round in a single move and land perfectly on his feet. This only proved to make Jo more determined to complete the challenge and with a mighty grunt, made a full 360 degree spin. A few more goes later and the two of them declared themselves satisfied at their endeavours.

At this point, Lyndal and particularly Vaughan, pointed out that we were at the bottom of Eromanga Street, a particularly nasty hill that looked fairly innocuous but steepened up just as you got to the top. Unlike other nasty hills on Planet skates, this one didn’t have a nickname (cardiac arrest and heartbreak hill to name but two), so I would like to propose “The Annihilator”. The top did indeed steepen at the end, but we all made it to the top alive and after a few minutes most of us had our heart rate back under control. We continued along a variety of paths before reaching the turn around point. Here, Anne declared that she wanted ice cream and that nothing should come between her and the realisation of this desire. Lyndal declared a route that would take us to a Cold Rock and we set off with Anne now up at the front and setting a determinedly fast pace.

As we crossed back under the road with the large concrete ramps, Jo decided that Dave’s earlier tackling of this obstacle required matching and climbed most of the way to the top. From the bottom, the ramp does not look particularly steep or even that high, but as is the case in most situations like this, the view from the top is another mater. After a couple of second thoughts, Jo launched herself forward shot down the slope and glided gracefully to a stop. Sporting a large grin and a satisfied look she joined the rest of us as we tried to keep pace with an ice cream frenzied Anne.

Finally we arrived at the Carindale shopping centre and Cold Rock. At first glance, it looked shut but this was just an illusion caused by the total lack of people around. We all trouped in and started to place our orders. Whether it was the time of day or a stock miscalculation, by some cruel twist of fate, they were completely out of milkshake mix (which I believe is the technical term for milk). This meant that the deluxe super sized cookies and cream milk shake I had been looking forward to had to be relegated to two scoops. Still, it was a welcome burst of sugary energy and provided sufficient fuel for the short skate back to the car park.

With the sun starting to set we arrived back just as the last of the beginners left. We pulled off our skates, exchanged our goodbyes and made our way home after an enjoyable afternoon’s parkland sk8ing.