After more than 100 days in lockdown, Aucklanders can finally hit their local bar again.
After four months in lockdown, Aucklanders are back at the pubs and restaurants and celebrating like it's New Year's Eve.
With the sun shining this afternoon and the new traffic light system in place, folks were quick to head to the bars and restaurants this afternoon, especially those in Ponsonby and the Viaduct.
Freeman & Grey manager Emma Gore said the Ponsonby Rd restaurant was having a great night so far.
"We've been pretty busy but it's been fun. Sign-ins are working well and our customers are happy.''
She said while they were expecting it to be as busy as a standard Friday night before lockdown, it was exciting to be back.
"We've been spending the last four months getting ready to go and to have tonight be the night to do it... We're just super happy to be back."
Further along in Ponsonby, bistro and bar SPQR was so busy the manager didn't have time to tell the Herald his name.
"Tonight is like new year's night for us. We're unbelievably busy and probably a little bit understaffed because it is absolutely humming, we hardly have any time to pick up the phone.
"Apart from that, it is a fantastic night to be back providing a service for very friendly customers who are all signing in and abiding by the rules."
Under the new system Aucklanders are now allowed to dine at restaurants, bars and cafes, albeit still with some restrictions and patrons must have a vaccination pass.
These, and other businesses in the hospitality sector, have been mostly unable to operate under alert level restrictions since Delta plunged the city into lockdown on August 17.
Around 2000 people gathered at the Viaduct.
Selene Kow and and Kate Gigg at the Viaduct. Photo / George Clark
Selene Kow and Kate Gigg, who headed into town on a date, said it was great seeing people out and about again.
"The night is going pretty well so far. We got to the Viaduct around 6.30 and the amount of people here so far is about what we expected," said Kow.
"It's nice to see a bit of normality and friends catching up."
Gigg, who arrived in Auckland from Los Angeles in June, had to get a temporary vaccination pass as hers still hasn't arrived.
"I wasn't expecting to be in a restaurant today and didn't actually have a vaccine pass, it was still processing. They had to send me a temporary one and when that come through I thought that's it, I'm going out to dinner.
"I'm a little bit worried about the virus but because the vaccine rate is so high I feel comfortable. We're double vaccinated and wearing masks, at this point I feel safe and happy to go out again."
James, who didn't want to give his surname, lives in Wellington but found himself working in Auckland for the night so decided to head down to the Viaduct for a beer.
"It feels normal for this time of night. I'll head back to the motel after a few more of these but it does feel pretty good to be out with everyone in Auckland.
"It's a nice way to support a business, drinking a beer."
James headed into the city to enjoy a cold one. Photo / George Clark
Soul Bar and Bistro's commercial and events manager Olivia Carter told RNZ the business had been preparing for days.
"It's a mixture of being excited, of being nervous and having that real sense of butterflies in my stomach almost but I can't wait," she said.
"We're delivering the summer menu so our staff have come in and we've gone through how the dishes are prepared, we've tasted them all, we've had some wine tasting also some cocktail tasting with new cocktails added to the menu."
Aucklanders celebrate newfound freedoms under the new traffic light system after 107 days of lockdown. Photo / Alex Burton
It opened at 11am with four seatings of 100 diners with set start and finish times.
"It is only 100 people, once you stand up you need to put your mask on, it's still distanced, and lots of restaurants will have timing restrictions in play to try to maximise these last few lost months."
Carter told RNZ that was still a third of the number of customers through the door in normal times and turning a profit under Covid red was questionable.
"If you are deciding that you're not going to come into whatever restaurant it is, please ring them and let them know because you not showing up with six people really is huge to us and if they can get somebody else in on that table of six then that's really important."
Olivia Carter from Soul Bar & Bistro. Photo / Norrie Montgomery, File
• Auckland is in traffic light red with Northland, Taupō, Rotorua Lakes, Kawerau, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki, Gisborne, Wairoa, Rangitīkei, Whanganui and Ruapehu districts. Everywhere else started the day in orange.
