They came, they saw, and most of them still haven't left. Well, not the hairier ones anyway.
More than two months it's been going now.
While middling masses persist with the steady hum of lawful, systematic life, pockets of society around the world have been refusing to accept what has been an unfortunate reality since the beginning of time: Some of us are rich and most of us are not.
Well they're not standing for it.
Or at least, that's what they think they're not standing for. Ask them ...
They haven't really decided yet.
Oc-cu-py. It's three simple syllables that have haunted the consciousness of the global financial elite since September.
As the white collared and shiny-shoed hustle their way to 9am briefing, city-dwellers from Sweden to South Africa have a veritable obstacle course of tents, amateur signage and dirty, outspoken hippies to dodge before they even reach the elevator.
It's unorthodox, dangerously arbitrary and fiscal superiority aside, being told you're a soul-sucking corporate vehicle of Satan can't be doing any good for company morale either. But who's to judge? For a crusade against a millennia-long way of life, the Occupy movement's not doing too badly.
In the latest Auckland-based instalment of the saga, the council sought an eviction for the great unhoused, hoping to eventually oust them from Aotea Square and into wherever they wouldn't dry the grass out.
The bureaucrats were happy, the media weren't surprised, and the sparrows were just chuffed to have their grass back.
Alas, the eviction was not to be and, in a rare moment of sticking up for the hemp-scented underdog, Judge Dave Wilson decided to keep the flag-waving fiends there just a little longer. The reason? To give protesters some time to "gather their argument".
It's a grant not uncalled for. As the Occupy movement has proved, there is an inherent flaw in trying to stage a protest against "a range of things".
In a bizarre chicken or the egg situation, the somewhat uncertain focus of the Occupy movement has seen it being used as a passive weapon against everything from extreme wealth (the supposed intended focus of the whole palaver) to the execution of the male sex (God bless America).
Thanks to an alarmingly ingrained fear of missing out, extremists from all walks of mental instability have jumped on the Occupy bandwagon, leading not only to violence, rioting and complete misunderstanding, but an almost complete lack of credibility on behalf of the protesters.
Whether it's the lack of administrative support bringing in the crazies, or the crazies pre-empting their own demise we'll never know. Either way, it's a bit of a bloody pickle. It's hard to tell what will happen when the eviction notice finally does come in a week's time though.
With moving plans foggy at best, the controlling 1 per cent now not only have the imposed guilt factor to deal with, like all true members of the ruling class, they've hit back not with fists but a touch screen, social media and a larger than average vocabulary.
Some are wry, some witty, some even manage to cast a fair and unpompous sounding point.
Yet, the anarchist in me says if you don't like it, protest back.
Despite scepticism from all corners of the globe, Judge Wilson's Wednesday decision has shown that persistent activism can do at least a sliver of good.
It is nearing the end of the year, the end of the school for many, university, work. Decisions. Or indecisions.
It is a time when a little bit of lawlessness is good for us.
A time when it's comforting to look at a rainbow banner that reads "Everybody love everyone. Believe things. Explore!" and know it actually makes sense to somebody.
Ultimately, it's a time when it's good to know that sometimes it's okay to have no idea what you want.
Bored with life this festive season?
Find a cause, get your misguided mates on board, and let loose. It might just work out for you.
The mayor says she is 'disappointed' with one councillor's position.