The stalls, food trucks, performances, families and friends having fun in the sun, and the joy all around, was something often glossed over by the media, Mr Cadogan said last night, after a big day in the sun.
"It was not what I expected ... what we see of the day in the media, doesn’t show the other side ... the togetherness.
"We’re in a time of conflict, a time of division — it would be naive not to say so."
However, despite some discord shown at the Treaty Grounds, he found the true spirit of Waitangi was the community coming together and celebrating as a family.
On Wednesday, Mr Cadogan joined 8000 others for a free hāngī, where he said he "may have overdone it".
"It was so delicious, how could I resist?"
His visit is part of a personal bid to immerse himself in a culture "worlds away" from the Deep South.
"Everyone should come at least once ... there’s nothing quite like it."
Mr Cadogan and his wife Ally travelled north in their campervan at their own cost to experience the day at the centre of it all.
They woke at 3am yesterday to catch the dawn service at Waitangi.
He said he felt it was important to make the trip north, so he could learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi — initially because it was part of his job as mayor, but also because he had a personal interest in New Zealand’s early history and culture.
It helped him understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Crown’s responsibility to it (which was often enacted by local government), and it would also help him to engage with Māori culture, he said.
Mr Cadogan made headlines in 2023 when he took a stand against Julian Batchelor’s Stop Co-Governance Tour which tried to air racist rhetoric and objections to Māori and the government working in partnership.
During Mr Batchelor’s tour of the South, Mr Cadogan told him and his entourage they were not welcome in Balclutha.
He said he would be disappointed if a leader put out a welcome mat for "that type of divisive, nasty focus".
Mr Cadogan said it would be nice to have at least one marae, or something akin to one, somewhere in the 6700sqkm Clutha district.
"I didn’t have to pay for the hāngī like I expected, no, they put on a spread for 8000 people for free ... the people of the Far North are so hospitable, knowledgeable, respectful — they are just happy to have you and happy to share.
"It would be nice to have more of that going around."
