“KiaOra & Cheers Mate" ( Waitangi Day Pub Crawl)

The unsuspecting travellers on London's Circle Line train on Saturday, must have thought they were stuck in the middle of a big Mardi Gras celebration. In reality, this was a much better party.....the celebration of Waitangi Day, antipodean’s style. For those that don't know, Waitangi Day is the anniversary of the signing of the treaty of Waitangi between the Maori and the Crown, symbolising a unification of the New Zealand people.

Although a bit controversial and political back home , there were no signs of divide here in London as thousands of patriotic homesick Kiwis came together to celebrate the joy and uniqueness of being New Zealanders.

It's not entirely clear when this grand tradition of the circle line pub crawl actually began. According to the TNT magazine, it was somewhere around 1976, when a group of Kiwis (not to be outdone by the Aussie’s celebration of Australia Day a week before Waitangi Day) came up with the brilliant idea of doing a pub crawl along the circle line and this was the beginning of what has now escalated to possibly the largest organised pub crawl in the world.

The Circle Line choice is obvious because it loops around the city. The crawl moves en masse in a counter-clockwise direction with stops all along the route at pubs near the stations. The object is to drink half a pint in a pub at each of the 27 stops along the circle route. Interestingly enough, the kiwis re-name the stations along the way after famous NZ towns and cities for e.g. Paddington was Auckland, Bayswater was Tauranga, Temple was Bluff, High Street Kensington was Napier and so on.

At some point, perhaps in the early 80’s someone started to do a hakka at Westminster and since then every year, when Big Ben strikes 4pm, thousands of men strip off their shirts, and brave the cold, to do a mass hakka outside Parliament Square, while the rest cheer on.

This year the kiwis flocked in their thousands like sheep (some were even dressed like them) to the pubs. There was singing and general merriment as the crowds spilled out of the pubs and into the streets. I was privileged to be part of the grand tradition. I went solo but returned after having made some really nice mates…..like Sally, Mila, Denise, Jo etc (hope to catch up with you soon.)

The stations were packed and at one point they shut down Sloane Square because there were just too many of us there and the station could not cope. So then, began a frantic road race to get to Westminster in time for the hakka. The square was triumphant in Black (what other colour could did you expect us to wear??) and the NZ flag was everywhere. There were even two fellas dressed up as Sumo Wrestlers with the flag proudly draped across them. And, of course, from there the party just continued on to the rest of the stops.

One of the really good things was that although there were a lot of legless kiwis (some several feet deep), no one actually misbehaved. Yes, there was the traditional booing of District Line trains and there was a lot of loud singing and shouting, but there was no hooliganism or violent behaviour that is normally seen when large crowds gather to celebrate. Everyone was just there have a good time and celebrate the day. Even the Metropolitan Police on patrol seemed to be enjoying the moment. Some even happily posed for pictures. It truly was an enjoyable event.

So if you are in London next year on the first Saturday in February, hop on the Circle Line, leave your groceries, and inhibitions aside and join in the adventure.