How expats are marking Waitangi Day

File photo / Richard Robinson

Mass haka, Maori culture-infused church services and helpings of roast lamb and kumara are among the ways expat Kiwis will be remembering home this Waitangi Day.

Major Roger Hovenden, who is based at Bagram Airforce Base (BAF), in Afghanistan, says Waitangi Day will be business as usual for the small team of 10 Kiwis at the base.

A special Waitangi treat will be roast lamb sandwiches for lunch, cooked at the Kiwi base in Bamyan as lamb isn't available at BAF.

But as Waitangi Day coincides with the American Super Bowl, the small New Zealand contingent's celebration will be well overshadowed by the excitement of the 36,000 US personnel who share the base, says Major Hovendon.

"The weather here is cold and wet at present so memories of a sunny Waitangi Day at the beach with family and friends will also linger in our minds," he said. "But generally it is a normal day but thinking of family and friends back home as we all do throughout our deployment."

Captain Kelvin McMillan, logistics officer for the NZ Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan, Afghanistan, says the significance of Waitangi Day isn't lost on Kiwi soldiers there.

"For many of the soldiers, it is a time to remember and think about their own families," said Captain McMillan. "Some will get the opportunity to phone home to talk to their loved ones, and those within Kiwi Base will even get a traditional hangi cooked by the military chefs for all to enjoy, even the American and Malaysian coalition partners posted to Kiwi Base."

Joseph Hoye of NZNewsUK said thousands of New Zealanders would turn out for the Circle Line Pub Crawl around London on February 6.

The three-year-old event makes many stops on its way to culminating in a mass haka outside Westminster Abbey.

A less rowdy option would be a Waitangi commemoration church service, including one inside the abbey on February 8, said Mr Hoye.

He has already attended a Waitangi service hosted by the Royal Company of Girdlers and supported by local Maori group Ngati Ranana.

London Rugby club captain Campbell Rowe said his club was expecting 300 people to show up to a pub it has hired out for Waitangi Day.

The evening will be a fundraiser for an ANZAC Day match at the village of Passchendaele in Belgium, he said.

"It's a time to be proud to be Kiwis. There's not one person here who isn't proud of their connection to New Zealand. We're proud of our clean and green image, proud of our rugby team. It's a time to celebrate that."

He has been in the UK for 16 years and still thinks often of coming home.

"There's definitely a lot of us who have been here more than 10 years that want back. But we've got lives over here in the UK now. Homes. Family. It's not possible, economically."

Singapore-based ex-pat Marc Checkley said Waitangi falling at the same time as Chinese New Year is likely to make for a "Chinese Waitangi Day".

Still, he would be celebrating with lamb, roast kumara and a decent bottle of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

"So the day will be 'remembered', as such."

He is in favour of setting up a 'New Zealand Day' to celebrate Kiwis' "inherent New Zealandness".

"Would be good to give the Australian Day celebrations a run for the money with other younger expat Kiwis."