ANZAC Day dawned cold and clear yesterday (April 25) encouraging hundreds of locals and visitors to gather before sunrise to attend dawn services in Wānaka and Lake Hāwea.

The Australian and New Zealand national anthems, sung with stirring pride, heralded the start of Wānaka’s dawn service as a large crowd gathered on the foreshore.

A highlight of the service was Year 12 Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) student Noah Moody who spoke of his great great uncle, who served and died in World War I, and of the day’s significance to him.

New Zealand’s identity was shaped by that war, Noah said, but he questioned whether the sacrifice of those who served is being fully honoured, especially in light of ongoing global conflicts and a growing divisiveness in New Zealand society.

“We as a nation need to find the footholds of compassion and understanding once more…it is these values that truly honour [the sacrifice] and should make us proud to call New Zealand home,” he said.

Piper Vern Affleck and bugler Jackie Hamilton at the Lake Hāwea service. PHOTO: Andy Woods 

Lake Wānaka’s Armstrong Room was packed by dawn service attendees, some from all corners of the globe, to enjoy the refreshments provided and several “took the chair” to speak of their personal family experiences.

One was Can Onoran, visiting from Türkiye, who spoke of the heartbreak on both sides of war as Turkish soldiers are buried alongside New Zealanders.

Guest speakers at the civic service in the Lake Wānaka Centre, Year 13 MAC students Ryan Enoka, Ania-Kanu Saklani, Charlie Roy, and Lucy Redford, impressed many in the crowded auditorium as did the St John representatives, national cadet Lily Wilson (who did the Bible reading) and youth member Daisy Speak (the Flanders Field poem).

After the civic service, a parade of service personnel, both serving and retired, accompanied by piper Clifford Hiscoke and a strategically placed police escort, led the crowd to Chalmers Street and Wānaka’s Cenotaph.

Noah Moody was congratulated for his well received speech made at Wānaka's Dawn service. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Many wreaths and poppies were laid at the foot of the Cenotaph, including one by a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence representative Ed Groom, who was holidaying with his family in Glenorchy.

Ed attended all three Wānaka services and said he was “blown away” by the experience. He was particularly impressed with the quality of presentations by the MAC students, their well researched and considered sentiments, and the sincerity and confidence of their convictions.

Against the backdrop of the autumnal blue sky and mountains, the Tiger Moth flypast by Wānaka pilot Peter Hendriks up the lake and over the Cenotaph brought Wānaka’s 2025 ANZAC services to a close.

Earlier in the day more than a thousand people attended the dawn service at Lake Hāwea on a typically brisk but calm autumn morning.

“It was fantastic to be supported again by a hugely diverse crowd of both locals and visitors to the town; reinforcing how important this occasion is to multiple generations,” master of ceremonies Sergeant Lorne Capell told the Wānaka App.

“The dawn light, the rising crescent moon, the mist rising from the river and the natural splendor of the peninsular created a stunning backdrop to the most successful service to date.”

UK Ministry of Defence representative Ed Groom prepares to lay a wreath at the Wānaka Cenotaph. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Sergeant Capell began the service with a call to commemoration, followed by students from Hāwea Flat School singing ‘Hareruia'.

The group was privileged to have Afghanistan veteran Lance Corporal (Rtd) Dan Leighton attend and speak as the guest of honour.

MAC student (and school board student representative) Tyler Gawn read the Hāwea District Roll of Honour (those who fell during the Great War), then Hāwea Flat School students placed the crosses of the Fallen and wreaths were laid as Vern Affleck piped ‘Flowers of the Forest’.

The ANZAC Prayer was read by Reverend Aaron Johnstone (who also adapted it), and In Flanders Fields was read by Year 6 student Ella Key. The Ode of Remembrance was read by Year 6 student Kobi Strudwick.

Jackie Hamilton played the Last Post and Reveille on the bugle, and the national anthems were led by Anna Rowley (Advance Australia Fair) and MAC Year 11 student Lynda-Jayne Kitto (God Defend New Zealand).

‘Time to Say Goodbye’ was piped by Vern Affleck, and Danny Mollan played ‘Abide with Me’ on the bugle. Peter Hendriks piloted the traditional and moving Tiger Moth fly-past.