It was a busy weekend in Whangārei as fans flocked to the city for the Women’s Rugby World Cup games on Saturday, with all accommodation booked out and the tills ringing at restaurants and cafes.

People packed out hospitality venues and markets around the Town Basin as well as the stadium where almost 17,000 watched the three WRWC games at Northland Events Centre – the largest crowd there since the British and Irish Lions toured in 2017.

Lloyd Rooney, co-owner of several restaurants in central Whangārei and in Waipū Cove including Loco and The Quay at the Town Basin, said it had been a busy Labour Weekend.

“It’s been a great weekend, both in rugby-fied Whangārei and the surrounding areas. The weather’s certainly helped.”

Temperatures reached 20C and above in parts of the region over the long weekend.

Overseas tourists were coming through the restaurants again, he said, particularly with the Rugby World Cup games in Whangārei.

“It’s nice to see the country getting back on its feet again. It’s nice to see those people, hearing those different voices.

“We haven’t heard those European voices for a very long time and it’s nice.”

Although it was a busy weekend for Rooney’s restaurants, which include Loco and The Quay in the town basin, there was an ongoing issue with staff shortages.

“We’ve so far been able to ride through pretty much unscathed, but I know some places that had to close this weekend because they just didn’t have any staff,” Rooney said.

“We, so far, are doing pretty well, but it’s always in the back of my mind, I need to recruit and get more chefs in.”

The main issue at the moment was with chefs, who had to be skilled and experienced, rather than front-of-house staff, Rooney said.

“There’s definitely a lot more of the backpackers coming through, which is good for front of house, but chefs are skilled and you can’t just employ somebody who hasn’t had any experience as a chef.”

Rooney believed it would be a busy summer but would be difficult for hospitality businesses if they could not find staff.

Whangārei will be heaving again this weekend with the Black Ferns playing their WRWC quarter-final at the Northland Events Centre.

The double header at the stadium will start at 4.30pm when Italy takes on France and the Black Ferns take on Wales from 7.30pm.

They are the last WRWC games in Whangārei with the semi-finals and finals at Auckland’s Eden Park.

The Canopy Night Market, like bars and restaurants, was buzzing on Friday night with locals and long weekend holidaymakers, as was the Artisans Market on Saturday.

Market organiser Tima Cassidy said the Friday night market was unusually busy, but it was not just the long weekend and the Rugby World Cup.

“It was unusually packed – I think it was almost on a par with the first-ever night market. It seemed like a huge chunk of Whangārei all decided to come out on the same night.”

“Even if it wasn’t the World Cup and it wasn’t the long weekend it still would’ve been crazy busy because people have been waiting for this sort of thing.”

Neither market was run last summer due to Covid and they had to move locations prior to this due to building work on the Hundertwasser Art Centre.

Cassidy said the Artisans Market on Saturday was also much busier than previously, but the temporary move down to Reyburn House had a major impact.

“It had more of an impact on Artisans than it did on the Canopy Night Market. It was a lot quieter for us down at Reyburn House.”

Northland Chamber of Commerce president and Bernina Northland owner Tim Robinson said although hospitality and accommodation providers were experiencing high demand in the lead-up to the long weekend, retail was not so busy.

“Obviously, we were pretty delighted that accommodation and hospitality providers were having a heyday with the World Cup.

“It’s been fantastic but certainly from our perspective as retail we’ve seen very little impact at all.”

It has also been a busy weekend on the roads, and there was a serious crash in Ōpua on Friday evening.

A car and a van collided about a kilometre out of Ōpua on SH11/Paihia Rd. One person sustained serious injuries.

Both northbound and southbound lanes were closed for several hours and the Serious Crash Unit was in attendance.

There was another crash further south, between Puhoi and Warkworth, on Monday afternoon.

One person was seriously injured and the road was blocked. The police warned of extensive delays, with southbound traffic back up for 14km.

There were also two minor crashes in the Far North on Monday. The first, on Riverview Rd in Kerikeri, happened around 12.40pm.

The driver was uninjured in the single-car crash, and the road was not blocked.

Shortly after 2pm, another car was driven through a fence on Waharua Rd in Te Hapua.

Only one car was involved and the driver had minor injuries. The road remained open.

Another crash was reported at the intersection of Williams St and Lake Rd in Kaitaia around 7pm on Monday evening, but when police arrived they found no vehicles or any evidence of a collision.

And while Whangārei saw the largest influx of visitors for the long weekend, other Northland tourist hot spots also reported being busy.