Warm fuzzies linger at village

By CATHERINE MASTERS

On a balmy Sunday afternoon, Auckland's waterfront yesterday finally exhaled.

After three days of serious celebrating, gone was the frenetic tension and there was room again to breathe. The pace had slowed right down to a pleasant stroll.

The party is not yet over, but it has begun to die down.

The America's Cup itself is about to leave town. It and crews from Team New Zealand and Prada will wing their way, courtesy of the Air Force, to Wellington for a parliamentary reception and a parade on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Helen Clark says Government officials are also talking to Team NZ about the possibility of the yachtsmen going to Christchurch and Dunedin.

Back at the waterfront, Aucklander Kieran Junger has been busy for days pasting "countless thousands" of temporary tattoos of silver ferns onto arms and faces.

And the end of America's Cup racing had not dented business at all, he said yesterday.

The crowds were still pretty big, but not a patch on the 80,000 or so who squashed into the American Express NZ Cup Village for Thursday's final race.

"There seems to be a euphoria and satisfaction among people," said Mr Junger. "Everyone is just really relaxed and people are buying."

Patriotism was alive and well and it was one of his better days, possibly because punters did not have to fight, jostle and queue.

He was confident the village would sustain itself until the next series. "Look at this," he said, gesturing at passers-by and the numerous restaurants, bars and water taxis continuing to do steady business.

"This is the Auckland we have been waiting 100 years for."

Most of the superyachts are staying for another eight weeks or so. Some will idle a while longer before heading across the Tasman for the Sydney Olympics.

"There is not going to be a sudden mass exodus or anything like that," says Cup village spokeswoman Sue Foley.

"Initially a lot of them were intending to go straight away but they have really liked it out here."

And the water taxis that have become a feature of the Viaduct Harbour, taking hordes of people on superyacht inspection tours, are here to stay.

Water Taxis manager Elizabeth Collins said the company would keep up the tours of the village as well as starting a new point-to-point transfer service on the Waitemata Harbour.

Wellington, meanwhile, has bought a large supply of ticker-tape for its parade. The city council there will pick up the $10,000 tab.

The Air Force will probably use its Boeing 727 to transport around 50 people each from Team NZ and Prada.

Helen Clark said the Government still had to check whether the crews were willing to travel to other cities - and whether the cities wanted to receive them.

"We have got to take into account that the teams have raced pretty hard and I think this week was supposed to be a week for people to be with their families. So we are just checking what would be appropriate."

The Air Force could handle the cost of the flights within existing budgets.