Seeing a mirage

Yesterday, I was walking home across the William Jolly Bridge from West End to Paddington. The bridge spans the Brisbane River, linking the north and south banks and walking across it gives lovely views of the city skyline, the Gallery of Modern Art and back across the green hills to the west. It was very late afternoon and rush-hour traffic meant that cars were moving slowly. As I crossed the bridge I thought about the new/old car I'm picking up on the weekend. It's a hatchback, so I was imagining how my longboard is going to look strapped to the roof! Could be amusing.

As I neared the north end of the bridge, I looked at the road cutting underneath me. Immediately I noticed a small, white car with a single-fin log in a home-made cover on the roof. I'm used to seeing boards on cars in my small home-town, but the sight of a log on any car in Brisbane - let alone a familiar white Mirage - always stands out. I recognised the board-cover immediately - Huon!

The traffic was stopped at a light, so I ran to the edge of the bridge, draping myself over the hand-rail and waving wildly. Huon stuck his smiling face out the window, Buddy! We laughed and yelled at each other, but unsurprisingly, bridge-to-traffic conversations over the sound of a thousand car engines aren't that easy.

Seeing a surfboard on a car in the city here always makes me smile, but coming unexpectedly upon my friend driving about with a log on the roof - as naturally as though he was at the beach - really made my day!