ICE, ICE BABY: Experiencing the cool fun at Ice Escape at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre were (back row from left) Stephanie Hunt, Fiona Robinson, Jade Loughnan. Front row: Alisa Kwai and Pamela Barling.
IT might just have been one of the coolest places to be yesterday.
The Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre is playing host to a giant ice rink, with Ice Escape being staged.
As the temperatures soared past 40 degrees outside, in the entertainment centre it was a cool 19 degrees, while on the ice itself it was cooler again.
A number of people took advantage of that winter wonderland location.
Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre manager Bob Mangan said numbers at yesterday’s sessions were solid.
“I think people were keen to escape the heat but the catastrophic declaration probably put a few off,” he said.
“We still had solid numbers but I think a lot of people were perhaps put off by that warning. It was more important to stay with their houses that could have been under threat than go ice skating.”
He said there were also a few customers from further south who rang to cancel tickets because they didn’t want to leave their properties due to the possible bushfire threat.
“We don’t usually exchange tickets but in that circumstance we did,” he said.
“But we also seemed to still have a number of walk-up ticket buyers.”
Mr Mangan said the 25 x 15 metre rink had been popular.
Basin View resident Pamela Barling invited a number of her university friends from the Sydney area to come down and enjoy the experience.
“We tried to go to the beach but it was way too hot so this was excellent, a great way to escape the heat,” she said.
The ice rink will run until January 20.