20/08/08

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Lunchtime shopping was not the usual business of the day as thousands packed out Queen Street to watch the topical Boobs on Bikes parade.

The weather, seated on a balmy 13 degrees, may well have been higher in places where crowds grew to 10 deep.

Cheers and whistles floated down the street like a giant Mexican wave.

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Preceding the parade was a protest staged by Denise Ritchie from Stop Demand, an organisation which promotes the prevention of sexual violence.

Fronting the protest a banner was carried saying: “Pornography fuels sexual violence against women and children”.

Poker-faced protestors eyed the crowd, unresponsive to jeers, shouts and objects that were thrown.

Police pushed spectators from the road back onto the footpath making way for the cavalcade of bikes and bare-breasted beauties.

No vantage point was overlooked as bus-stops, telephone boxes and building ledges were all used to gain a better view.

The parade is organised by Steve Crow, a porn distributor who also ran for mayor last year.

Auckland City Council lost a legal bid in the city’s High Court yesterday to stop the parade.

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An ocean of cell phones and cameras caught the event as the girls’ responded to the enthusiasm of onlookers.

ENDS