Opinion - Paul Hickey: Long weekend vibes, Wordle woes and Motion Entertainment giveaway

There is another long weekend with Anzac Day around the corner - pictured is last year's Anzac Day dawn service in Rotorua. Photo / File

The easing of restrictions, two long weekends in a row and school holidays have all combined for the perfect storm of positivity right now, don't you think?

I spent Thursday night in town and sampled the Night Market, before putting some money into the tills of four or five establishments throughout the evening, and the vibe was so good.

This continued across Easter, and then plenty of positive comments in the paper and social media this week.

I've got to give top marks to Friends of the Rotorua Library, who offered a free book giveaway to get their events back underway.

I found the exact James Paterson/Alex Cross book I needed to continue my marathon read of the 29 novels in order!

Road trip

Now to Anzac weekend, and the weather looks like it will play the game again for all our visitors, and also for the official commemorations on Monday.

But after spending Easter in Rotorua, this weekend it is one of my annual road trips - albeit a delayed one thanks to Covid.

I've been travelling to the Superstock Teams Championships since the 80s and have missed just one event in the past 30 years.

It is normally in February, so the delay means it might be a little cooler than normal for this road trip.

But I'm sure it will still be heaps of fun with a group of good mates, and even better with our Rotorua Rebels team being the defending champions.

Wordle failure

One of the biggest online sensations this year has not been a Kardashian or the Will Smith slap, but the game Wordle.

Did you get hooked on it? Or if you are like me, you still are. Or am I?

I'm trying to work that out right now after an absolutely gutting personal moment earlier this week.

On Tuesday I was playing my 86th game of Wordle, still feeling pretty smug in that I had never lost, and my streak of days playing unbeaten was at 72.

But the unthinkable happened as I failed to guess the word in my six guesses. For the first time I failed at Wordle.

So as I was alluding to, I thought I was hooked on the game. But since that loss on Tuesday, I've not had the same motivation to play.

So I'm now starting to wonder if I was hooked on my unbeaten streak. Or is it just the disappointment of losing?

Get into motion

We are so lucky in Rotorua to have so many options when it comes to holiday fun and activities, and sometimes it is hard to decide what to do.

And once you've made up your mind that you are going to head to Motion Entertainment, you then need to decide which activity to do once you are there!

Tough choices I know, but the team at Motion have made life a little easier with 10 brand new multi-passes to choose from, with three fun-filled attractions in each pass.

I've got my hands on some of these cool new passes, so listen to my show next week on The Hits to win.

I just want to hear your Motion emotion. What sound do you make when you score a strike or a hole in one?

Get loud and proud next week thanks to Motion Entertainment at Lynmore Junction and The Hits!

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Paul Hickey is your local host on The Hits Rotorua weekdays between 9am and 3pm. Featuring Rotorua news, information, and giveaways, plus trending stories from around the world. Listen on 97.5FM or download the iHeartRadio app. PLUS follow The Hits Rotorua and Paul on Facebook and Instagram.