A paddleboard abandoned on the water's edge during a Sydney beach party hosted by touring Irish rockers U2 sparked a police and helicopter search for a ''missing'' person.
During the afternoon barbecue at a house on Bilgola Beach rented by drummer Larry Mullen and his family, children who were using the board left it lying on the sand just before dark.
Guests at Wednesday's garden soiree in Allen Avenue included U2's singer Bono and his wife Ali Hewson and their children, as well as band members The Edge and Adam Clayton. They were joined by former Australian rock hero and environmentalist Peter Garrett, now federal Education Minister, and his fashion-model daughter Grace.
Bono, who first toured Down Under in 1984 and obviously enjoyed the beachside party, has described Australia as a ''magical place.''
''Surely it's alchemy that has turned this often-parched continent into the most fertile country on the planet -- fertile lands, fertile minds,'' the singer and humanitarian wrote in a published essay.
At dusk on the day of the party, lifesavers at the local surf club found the abandoned yellow board near the waterline and contacted Water Police at Broken Bay, fearing a person was missing in the surf.
A Water Police spokesman yesterday confirmed it had sent a launch to Bilgola Beach and that the Air Ambulance was involved in the night-time search: ''The launch and the helicopter undertook quite a significant search for quite a period of time.''
A person watching the search said people at Mullen's barbecue were in the backyard watching the helicopter do sweeps of the beach with its powerful spotlight.
The next morning a person from the house went to the surf club and asked if they had found the board.
U2 play their farewell Australian concert in Perth tonight.
This is not the first time Mr. Garrett has been linked to dramas involving Bono. In July 2007, the singer-turned-pollie was forced to deny claims by Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns that he had smoked marijuana with Johns, his former wife Natalie Imbruglia and Bono.
Johns was later forced to apologise over the cannabis claims, saying it was a joke and not true.
source : http://www.smh.com.au/ by Jim O'Rourke
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