People planning New Years celebrations in Auckland are hailing the city's next step towards freedom, just in time to bid goodbye - or maybe good riddance - to 2021.
The city will be joining the rest of the country in the orange traffic light setting one minute before New Years Eve, allowing bars, restaurant and night-club owners, and their patrons to operate with fewer restrictions.
Not everyone's happy about the two-and-a-half week wait.
Katie Todd reports.
