A heady mix of Indy cars, Indy girls, and hot summer conditions tempted many skaters away from this tour. However, a grand total of nine skaters were able to resist the twin siren calls of fast cars and cool air-conditioning, although I suspect some of the marshals only turned up because they were rostered on!

Vaughn showed up fashionably late in a non-marshalling capacity. The waiting group watched with interest as he skated past what was the Ship-Inn, between two of the curving uprights on the Bougainvillea walkway, and straight into the wires connecting the uprights. After witnessing a near decapitation and accepting that the skating learning curve never stops, the tour group set off.

Lyndal set an appropriately modest pace for the heat – straight up the largest hill she could find. After catching our breath at the top of the hill on the South-East Freeway cycle track, the group forged ahead.

Our reward for skating was to be one of the first to skate a brand new section of the South-East freeway cycleway. After many months of dug-up path protected by orange safety mesh, and council workers conspicuous by their absence, the new section of cycleway is finished. And it is a beauty – smooth, wide and fast. And short. By my calculations the rest of the cycleway / skateway should be upgraded in about 85 years.

Pausing at the top of the downhill section of the cycleway prior to O’Keefe Street, Dave provided the usual warning – brake solidly to avoid becoming part of the grillwork of a passing truck at the bottom of the hill. Clearly Vaughn wasn’t listening to this piece of wisdom, as he chose to get a stick jammed between his fifth wheel and the all-important brake. However, he managed to combine the friction of his now stationary wheel with desperate and clever manoeuvring at the bottom of the hill to prevent serious injury.

After a brief pause to relocate the flattened wheel to the centre of Vaughn’s skate, we headed off toward Coorparoo. Stopping off at Stone’s Corner for much needed cold refreshments and light sustenance, we skated off alongside Bulimba Creek, coming to rest at the Coorparoo skate park. This too, has been recently upgraded, and was chock-full of young skateboarders wearing clothes that they had yet to grow into. Most of the (real) skaters retired into the comfort of a nearby shaded seat, while a couple of the hardier types ventured into the park. (The most likely suspects here were Dave and Lyndal, however by now the rest of us were recovering from heat stroke and were oblivious to anything happening beyond the immediate horizon of our water bottles).

When it got too hot even for the hardest-core bladers, we stopped off at a nearby tap for a quick fill. Here Dave demonstrated his comprehensive gymnastic skills, carefully balancing on one leg while filling all of our water bottles and somehow managing to keep his skates out of the lake surrounding the tap.

Rested and refreshed, we discovered that the orange safety mesh which had previously served duty on the South-East Freeway path is now proudly protecting dug-up sections of the cycleway beside the Coorparoo Secondary College. A quick detour up Stanley Street East brought us to, and through, the Norman Park train station underpass.

Recognising a superb site for a group photo at the top of the hill, we admired the view of the city and instinctively started to line up for a group photo. Alas, there was no photographer on this trip (although some rumblings were heard about this being a good thing!).

Now comfortably in one of the wealthier sections of Brisbane, the group split somewhat unevenly into two groups. Vaughn and I headed up to bomb Kingsbury Street, while the larger part of the group opting to bypass the hill. Stopping momentarily to assure a passing motorist that yes, we really did intend to skate down there, Vaughn and I took off. Many thanks to Dave for monitoring the intersection halfway down the hill.

Regrouping at the roundabout, we set off around a few more quiet streets before heading up some steep steps and broken footpath to the intersection of Wynnum and Hawthorne roads. By here, the heat and humidity had really taken their toll. Had there been an open store at the intersection selling cold drinks, they could have made a fortune.

Instead, we drained our water bottles, had an all-too-short rest and headed up Hawthorne road, turning left on to Virginia Ave just past Lourdes Hill College. (There’s nothing like an impressive name to convince aspiring parents to part with vast sums of cash to private school their little darlings!)

Cutting through the leafy suburb of Hawthorne, with only minor periods of directional indecision, we finally arrived at our destination of Bulimba. A ragged bunch of hot, sweaty and tired skaters dispersed along Oxford Street, mingling with the latte-sipping fashionistas, and generally lowering the tone of the neighbourhood.

After a leisurely lunch of hot food (what better to eat on a hot day?), a unanimous decision saw us taking the City Cat back to Southbank. The open-air ferry ride back to Southbank was so refreshing that we were already starting to forget how hot the skate had been . . .