By FRANCESCA MOLD
Business is still booming at restaurants inundated with New Year's Eve revellers days after the big night.
Some Auckland restaurants said they were full to the brim on Friday night as thousands of people searched for somewhere to eat.
Many eateries were closed, but those operators open said the bad
weather meant some people elected to spend the evening at a restaurant rather than at rainswept public events.
Restaurants around the Viaduct Harbour were chock-full and many potential millennium patrons were turned away.
A Viaduct Central spokeswoman said the bar and restaurant opened again at 4 pm on Saturday and within half an hour, 150 people had packed all available tables. The restaurant also expected heavy patronage yesterday.
"There's just people everywhere, it's chocka," she said.
It was a similar story in Hamilton, with New Year's Eve revellers packing the central city restaurant Iguana.
A spokeswoman said the boom continued yesterday and the restaurant was full an hour after opening in the afternoon.
In Whitianga, the bad weather seemed to put off potential restaurant-goers on New Year's Eve.
A co-owner of On the Rocks, John Dunn, said the restaurant was not as busy as predicted.
"I think that as the day developed and the evening arrived, most people seemed to decide not to venture out."
However, with an improvement in the weather over the weekend out came the crowds looking for summer entertainment, including somewhere to dine.
Mr Dunn said the town was now booming and he was "going like a madman" trying to keep up with demand.
At Tauranga's Grumpy Mole Saloon the number of revellers was down for New Year's Eve.
But, like Whitianga, that all changed over the weekend with another wave of holidaymakers.
