As the morning mist cleared from Mt Ngongotaha on Tuesday morning, I heard a strange sound emanating across our rohe, the sound of dozens of local doomsday business operators choking on their cereal as they read the cover of the Rotorua Daily Post revealing our events outlook is "better than it has been in years".
What a shock it must have been to dozens of locals to discover that Rotorua isn't just a hellish backwater fit for nothing more than a dumping ground for unhoused people - but instead it's a place where tens of thousands of people are planning to visit to attend events far into 2023.
A trip to an overflowing carpark at Waipa along with bars and restaurants humming on the weekend proved just how enticing it still is for people to visit Rotorua.
While there's no doubt Rotorua has some issues to address, it's incredibly positive to see the events calendar filling up again bringing with it jobs and opportunities for locals.
Let's hope the gloominess starts to clear as we look to a brighter future in Rotorua
