This is my roommate "Bear" and I making our way from Notting Hill Gate to Parliament Square for the 4pm Haka. This was somewhere inbetween Notting Hill and High Street Kensington.
I spent last Saturday celebrating Waitangi Day with Sarah (another Kiwi Contikian) and Bear. It was great! Quite an experience, that’s for sure. For those of you who don't know a Kiwi or what Waitangi Day is... it's the name of the Treaty that made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British subjects. It’s like their Canada Day...i suppose. I’d never seen so many kiwis in my life! It was unreal. It was called a pub crawl, but it really wasn’t much of one… the only pub we went into was the Maple Leaf for dinner at around 6 pm! We just spent the whole day drinking in the streets, starting in Notting Hill and walking to Parliament Square (Big Ben) to watch all the male kiwis perform the ‘Haka’ – a tribal war dance – it’s really an amazing sight to see. I found a video that will give you an idea of what the day was like. Needless to say, after drinking all day, by the time 8pm rolled around I was dead. My tolerance is not what it used to be I suppose... however, it was such an honour to be included as an "honourary" kiwi for the day to share part of their culture with them.
Kia Ora!
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