Kiwis on a Waitangi Day pub crawl in London have hit back at
claims they shamed the country with disgusting behaviour.
Dylan Clements complained to the New Zealand High
Commissioner Derek Leask after witnessing on Saturday pub
crawlers urinating on the street, swearing, exposing
themselves and scaring the public.
The Herald was inundated with emails from Kiwis who took part
in the crawl, disappointed at Mr Clements' comments.
Andrew Acton-Adams said he had been on the pub crawl a number
of times and had never witnessed any disgraceful behaviour.
"A bit of drunkenness, sure, but nothing too bad, or anything
to be ashamed about. The pub crawl is a great tradition and
in no way reflects badly on us as a country,'' he said.
"The fact that the police are so supportive of the crawl
every year shows how well behaved we are as a group.''
Kayla Dynes said the day was "good fun''.
"The tubes were no worse than we'd see on a normal Saturday
night. I didn't see any indecent exposure, never saw anyone
running around nude. I saw a couple of people urinating, but
they were going around corners and out of the way.''
Cat Shennan said the day united expats, and was the best
she'd seen in seven years.
"It was awesome. The costumes were amazing. It was a fabulous
day,'' she said.
"All the people in London stopped and asked questions, tooted
their horns and the police loved it because they were
respected and listened to when we were all asked to move
on.''
Sharon, 35, said it was her sixth pub crawl, and she'd even
taken her parents in the past.
"This one was just as good as all the others.
"I heard people reminding others to `be a tidy Kiwi' and
apologising to non-crawlers for taking up extra space on the
pavement.''
Mr Clements stood by his claims.
"It's all been blown out of proportion. They think I want to
get the crawl banned _ which I don't,'' he said yesterday.
"It's just the behaviour on the day that was embarrassing. I
voiced my opinion and now it's turned into a hate campaign
against me ... people are making a mockery of me.''
Mr Leask said he met Clint Heine, who runs the event's
Facebook page, but he did not back it officially.
"Mr Clements drew an important and wrong conclusion. As High
Commissioner I did not sanction the event,'' Mr Leask. "On
the contrary, my recent discussions with the organiser were
aimed at an improvement in the behaviour around the fringes
of the pub crawl. This behaviour has in recent years not been
acceptable.''
- Anna Leask, New Zealand Herald
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