Nudgee Beach, at last, an easy to find tour! Follow the road past the place where the big silver birds take off, turn right, stop before hitting the beach. Easy. Actually Nudgee Beach is a bit of an over enthusiastic description, Nudgee Large Expanse of Brown Sludge and Mangrove Trees would be slightly more accurate but probably wouldn’t look as good in the tourist information pamphlets. Saying that, it really is quite an idyllic spot, not in a sun bathing, let’s hit the surf kind of way, more in a nice place to go for a peaceful walk by the ocean. If you had a dog, this is the perfect place to exercise it.

The tour started at 1pm and the ease of finding it showed up in the fact that everyone was kitted up and ready to go ten minutes early. Michelle and Dave were leading proceedings with assistance from Jo and Paul. With the introductions complete, we headed off, single file, along the road towards the start of the bike path.

Our first landmark, of any significance, was the local council dump (you get to see all the Queensland glamour spots when you skate with Planet). This was marked with what at first glance looked like a complete boat, however closer inspection revealed that it had most of its left side missing. No sign of any shark teeth so it was more likely dropped off its trailer or crashed into a jetty wall.

We soon reached the start of the cross county bike path that leads all the way over to Toombal Shopping Centre. This is either a brand new path or a recently resurfaced old path because as a skating location, it is about as close to perfect as you can get. It is smooth, flat, virtually debris free, very wide and most importantly of all, almost completely deserted.

With Paul up front the pace was pretty quick and the group began to stretch out. For Dave, however, it was time to stretch the old legs and pick the pace up a bit. By a bit, I mean he engaged the warp engines and shot off up the path like a whippet that’s just seen an electric rabbit. Gauntlet firmly laid down, a break away formed with Paul, Jo and myself determined to keep up. We were soon skating in tight formation and giving Dave a good run for his money.

It didn’t take long to reach Toombal, however the last 100 meters of the path was noticeable by its absence. Building work necessitated a detour along a section of gravel to get to the shopping centre and lunch. An extremely long scissor and a total disregard for personal safety meant you could just about skate on the more compacted sections, however derogatory comments directed to anyone other than yourself seemed to result in you instantly falling over. The best policy seemed to be ‘keep quite and look out for the big stones’.

We arrived at the shopping centre food court to be greeted by the magnificent sight of almost everything closed, it being Easter Sunday and all. The only two heathen organisations trading were the cinema and McDonalds. Lunch came down to the choice of a bland, flavourless snack with the consistency of cardboard or pop corn from the cinema. Mickey Dee’s was the meal of choice and we were soon refuelled and ready for the return run.

The earlier sprint along the path set the agenda for the return journey and we were soon racing back the way we had come. The difference this time was a steady head wind just strong enough to gradually wear down the person who chose to head the pack. Team work came into play and we took turns in the lead stint. This graphically showed up the advantages of drafting. Skating behind Dave or Paul seemed relatively easy; going out in front showed just why they were sweating so much. My brief run at the front resulted in a puce face, a rather unattractive gasping and the possible realisation that the shadow behind mine wasn’t in fact Jo’s, but the grim reapers.

It didn’t take long to get back to the road and a choice of destinations. Carry on to the car park or branch off into the Boondall Wetlands. The group split in half and went its separate ways. I chose to continue on through the wetlands.

Boondall Wetlands covers an area of 730 hectares and is currently protected by Brisbane City council as a natural area reserve. In the 1990’s it was earmarked as a site for a giant Olympic village but pressure from conservationists persuaded the council to step in and protect it.

We were soon skating through the mixture of swampy mangroves and tree covered bushland along a twisty path that tested your step turn and ability to dodge small twigs and loose leaves. We also encountered the only hill on the tour which thankfully was not too big. The round trip added another 8.5kms to the skate but the interesting scenery and swooping path all added to the fun.

We arrived back at the car park around five to be greeted by a few of the skaters who had come back earlier and were sitting on the grass enjoying the glorious afternoon sunshine. Skates came off and toes were stretched before we said our good byes and headed home after a very enjoyable afternoon’s sk8ing.