Cheers, Auckland - you made it.
After almost four months in lockdown, cooped-up people had packed the city's Viaduct bars by 11am. They were excited.
"Mumm champagne was our first order, and then oysters," one person told Newshub.
"Oh my gosh, it's like the uncaged tiger," said another. "I'm going to a bar tonight, I'm going to four restaurants over the next week, I'm just going to get my fix!"
"We're social creatures, we need this, we thrive off being around people."
"I've had the canned beer for 15 weeks now, I'm ready for the boujee experience!
Many had even taken a cheeky day off work to have a drink with their mates.
The keenest of the keen had an even bigger head-start, scanning their vaccine passes at 11:59pm on Thursday night, just as the first clubs opened.
"Definitely got work in the morning at 7:30am - but it's worth it!" one patron said.
Bar owners were excited too, but also concerned the crowd limit will hit their already stretched finances.
"Normally on a Friday or Saturday night we have 500 people," explained Richard Bagnall, owner of Longroom. "We're licensed for 500. So 500 to 100 - it's slightly different, as you can imagine."
The pace was a little slow at cafes on Friday morning, with many of Auckland's office workers still at home.
And some customers preferred to wait for the more-ventilated outdoor seating.
"I like the fact we can come here and hang out with vaccinated people, that's really reassuring to me," one person said.
While Newshub was filming at Atomic cafe in Kingsland, one person tried to enter without a vaccine pass.
"He wasn't really happy about it, because he was a regular. So he was expecting you know, like, 'I'm a regular, I come in all the time' - but we are just following the rules," said manager Anna.
National's new leader believes the new rules already need an overhaul - he says Auckland's ready for the green light.
"Why is Auckland in a red light system?" asked Chris Luxon.
"That is designed for when the country has an overwhelmed health care system and the Prime Minister says the healthcare system is fine. Fundamentally, we have the highest vaccine rates of any city around planet Earth."
Grant Robertson, the Deputy Prime Minister, said the current setting for Auckland is because "we still have a significant outbreak of COVID-19" in the city.
"Whilst the numbers of cases coming down is very encouraging, it's still a significant outbreak."
Red also means more retirement villages are allowing visitors, with many now requiring rapid antigen testing.
"We saw the traffic light system coming and we knew the number of visitors was going to go up, so it's just adding an extra layer of precaution," said Summerset Village manager Terry Moore.
Tattoo parlours and cinemas are also open again, and the punters have come roaring back for sold-out James Bond screenings.
"I was hoping, very optimistic, and it's very encouraging - we basically sold out the first week of opening. There's a lot of pent-up demand," said Silky Otter cinema owner Ahmed Almukhtar.
Out and about at last. You've done it Auckland - enjoy.
