Rotorua ice rink back on Village Green

A cold blast has swept Rotorua, and with it comes a bit of winter magic in the form of an ice rink.

The Harcourts Outdoor Ice Rink officially opened last night and this morning people were invited to the Harcourts Charity Breakfast For Hospice. Rotorua Hospice's fundraising and marketing manager Nicola Smallwood said it had been a success.

"We asked for a gold coin and lots of people put extra into the buckets anyway. The rink matches the donations," Smallwood said.

Brooke and Baishe, 5, Wood. Photo/Stephen Parker

"It allows us to continue the palliative care work we do in the community. We have 120 patients on our books at any one time."

Erin Majurey headed to the event with her partner and three children, two of them foster children.

The family was up at 6.30am to get to the rink before school.

"We're here for a couple of reasons. It's such a great opportunity to attempt something like this for a gold coin. There aren't a lot of things you get to do for free or near to it," she said.

The Harcourts Outdoor Ice Rink is open for four weeks. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

"It's also good for our family to go and do a family bonding activity.

"We also strongly support any charity we can."

Majurey said it was also a good experience for the children.

"With foster kids, they may not have had the opportunity to do anything like this. It's important for our family to take them to do an activity where they can just enjoy being kids."

The charity breakfast and skate raised $320 for Rotorua Hospice; $160 generated from visitors and the same amount matched by the ice rink operators.

The ice rink will be on the Village Green until May 13, open from 10am to 10pm daily.

Rotorua Harcourts director Glenn Austin said this was the fifth time the rink had been to Rotorua but the first since 2015.

"It's a great thing to try. It's very rarely in Rotorua."

Austin said the breakfast to support hospice was a tradition and the food had been donated by Bidfood and Coupland's.

Harcourts Outdoor Ice Rink:
Where: The Village Green at the Lakefront.
When; From now until May 13, 10am until 10pm daily.
Cost: Adults $20 and children 12 and under $15 for 90 minutes. Includes skate hire.
Deals: Wednesdays 7pm until 10pm are student nights, entry $10 with ID. Fridays will have a DJ from 7pm until 10pm and Thursdays will have old tunes.