What should have been a fun birthday out with her daughter and her friends turned into a spot of traffic madness for Hastings woman Kelly Cruikshank who said the Napier City Council need to take a close look at the Marine Parade trouble spot.
Which, after her complaints were put to them, they appear set to do.
She chose Ocean Spa as the perfect place to celebrate her daughter's birthday but unfortunately the Sunday outing clashed with the Sunday Market nearby - which has shifted north from the usual car-parking area now undergoing a transformation as part of the Marine Parade redevelopment.
She said they were greeted by traffic jams and "a general mess" of cars due to the people flocking to the market as well as the spa facility.
Unable to get into the usual spa parking area, due to the market, she drove along to do a U-turn but as she waited at a Give Way sign to turn - "which took forever due to bad traffic management or lack of it" - she noticed cars trying to get into the market area but because of the stalls set-up were unable to.