Fans unite in defiance of terror

When Londoners Tom and Robert Waite flew into Auckland early yesterday morning they were immediately confronted with questions about how they felt about the news back home.

"I said, yes it's great news London got the Olympics - only to be told 'no, not that, there's been bombs'," says Robert.

"I phoned home straight away and the family are all fine ... it's awful being so remote from it and not having found out for so long."

The father and son have pulled into a long line of campervans at Alexandra Park on a grey, misty morning just as fellow Lions supporters begin to emerge for the day.

The smell of bacon butties wafts through the bar area and tired faces scan newspapers, one eye on the giant screens showing news of the London bombings. A whiteboard sign just inside the door offers help to contact family and friends while, outside, a message on green cloth from the Auckland Diabetes Centre reads: "We are thinking of you and your family back home ... our thoughts and prayers are with you."

Travel agent Tom would normally have been on the Tube on his way to work in The Strand when the bombs hit. Instead, he is in New Zealand having won an eight-day trip for two. He and his father plan to soak up a bit of Auckland before heading to the Coromandel and Rotorua.

"I do feel safer being here ... something like this is at the back of your mind all the time but London will probably feel safer from now on, now they have hit us. It was inevitable," he says.

It's a view shared by many tourists, who have long wondered when, not if, London would be hit.

"I have worked in London since 1973 and we have had terrible threats for the last 30 years," Robert says.

"Everyone wants to take a chunk out of London. It's an easy target, it's got 10 million people. It's massive, you can't keep it secure."

And while the tourists say the bombings have hit the experience of being here, all were adamant that life must go on.

"It's the Dunkirk spirit and all that," Midlander Danny Rawlins says, smiling.

"People should just carry on. As soon as you stop they win."

Welshman Philip Bradshaw, who woke early yesterday morning to the news, was adamant the last game of the Lions tour shouldn't be cancelled.

"We should be far more resilient than that otherwise these guys are going to get away with it and achieve their objective. We must not allow them to do that."

Walking through a nearly empty Barmy Army headquarters on Auckland's waterfront yesterday morning, Clive Rogers is philosophical about the attacks. He doesn't want to sound callous.

"That's the world we live in now. It could be here or anywhere. This time it was London.

"It could be Christchurch, last year it was Madrid. I don't think you'll find people in their rooms because of what's happened. There will be a lot of solidarity."