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They greeted the world's first sunrise in the Chatham Islands with song and dance and speeches of welcome. The new dawn broke when the sun's rays lit the summit of Mt Hakepa on Pitt Island at 4.15am local time (5am NZT).
Pitt, one of three islands making up the Chathams group, is the first inhabited land in the world to greet the sun each day. Its festivities were broadcast live to a world audience of almost 2 billion.
As the sun rose over the Chathams, the dawn on mainland New Zealand was still 45 minutes away. Maori were waiting on Mt Hikurangi on the east coast of the North Island where the rising sun strikes before anywhere else in New Zealand.
The summer sun's first rays touched the summit at 5.40 am NZT and then rippled north and south along the eastern coastline of New Zealand rising in Gisborne, the first New Zealand city to see the sun, six minutes later.
Invercargill, New Zealand's most southerly city, saw the sunrise at 5.57am NZT.
Thousands turned out to attend dawn ceremonies around the country despite cloudy weather. Heavy overnight rain in the northern part of the North Island meant the sun was hard to see, but skies were clear enough in most other places for the sun to make a dramatic millennium debut.
Two thousand Maori near the summit of Mt Hikurangi performed songs, chants and hakas to salute the sun. Watching guests included New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark who had flown down from Auckland after attending midnight ceremonies in her home city. She was met at the foot of the mountain and carried to near the summit in a four-wheel drive vehicle over a rough, twisting 9km farm track.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra entertained an earlybird audience at Gisborne's Midway Beach just before its sunrise. A noticeable hush fell over the audience as the diva glided into view before dawn this morning, dressed in an aquamarine-coloured gown, with an overgarment studded with cream coloured feathers, reminiscent of a traditional Maori cloak.
As the sun broke over the Pacific She combined with the Waihirere Maori Cultural Group to deliver a highly-charged rendition of the all-time Maori favourite, Pokarekare Ana. Together they also performed TarakihiM and Po Ata Rau. -NZPA
Welcome, welcome...
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