Thousands turned out in Otago yesterday to services and parades to honour those who served in New Zealand's armed forces. The large number of young people and families was a feature of the ceremonies.
Dunedin
Queens Gardens service convener Lox Kellas was pleased with the weather and crowd of about 9000 at the dawn ceremony at the Dunedin Cenotaph.
''What stood out to me was the presence of the schools. It was outstanding - just a sea of young people,'' he said.
Guest speaker Wing Commander Aaron Young, of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, told those who attended that this year's 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1 was a poignant reminder to all New Zealanders of the sacrifices made by thousands in serving their countries.
Numbers were also strong in other parts of the city.
Former Dunedin city councillor Colin Weatherall said a ''good crowd'' of more than 400 attended the Green Park ceremony and about 250 went to Green Island.
At Brighton, the attendance of about 250 was ''as big, if not bigger than we have seen for a long time'', with ''huge numbers'' of children.
Hundreds also went to ceremonies at the University of Otago (200), Mosgiel (400 at the cenotaph and about 200 at Mosgiel Memorial RSA), Andersons Bay (400) and Outram (250). There were smaller ceremonies at Montecillo Veterans' Home (150), Waikouaiti (120), Portobello (100), Caledonian Bowling Club (80) and Port Chalmers (120).
There were also services at East Taieri, Hillside Workshops, Macandrew Bay and Waitati.
South and West Otago
More than 1000 people attended 13 services in South and West Otago.
Constant drizzle did not dampen the spirits of more than 500 people who gathered at the cenotaph in Balclutha.
Clutha District RSA president Des McBride said the mood of those at the 7.30am service was ''very positive''.
Pastor Alex McLaughlin spoke about the role of peacemakers and New Zealand's profound impact on world affairs, despite being a small country.
Hundreds also paid their respects at the cenotaph in Milton.
Milton Bruce RSA secretary Keith Bain said he was ''rapt'' with the turnout.
Rev Vivienne Galletly spoke to the crowd, which gathered around a field of remembrance.
About 200 attended the service at Simpson Park Gymnasium in Lawrence and about 100 went to Tuapeka Mouth's Memorial Gates to hear Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan speak.
Ceremonies were also held in Kaitangata, Lovells Flat, Benhar, Dunrobin, Heriot, Tapanui, Owaka and Clinton, and at Fairfax Cemetery, in Milton.
North Otago
As dawn pierced the night sky, North Otago RSA president Ian McKay paid tribute to those who made the great sacrifice. The 6.30am dawn service in Oamaru attracted one of its biggest crowds, more than 600, at the World War 1 monument.
Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean and Mr McKay, along with others, laid wreaths during the 30-minute ceremony, which attracted people of all ages.
''As the wreaths are laid it reminds us of the past, but it reminds us also to have that spirit of hope deeply embedded in our hearts,'' Father Wayne Healy said.
Mr Kircher, in his address, expressed gratitude to those who had helped preserve the nation through their sacrifice.
''Future generations need to be aware that happiness has a price,'' he said.
''Happiness is the product of freedom, and freedom is the reward of courage.''
At 10.30am, hundreds gathered at the start of the main Anzac Day ceremony at the Boer War monument on the corner of Thames and Severn Sts.
As the parade marched down Thames St for a second wreath-laying at the World War 1 monument, those numbers grew and by the time the parade dispersed outside the RSA in Itchen St, about 700 people filed into the Garden of Memories (World War 2) for the main service.
Mr McKay said the turnout for wreath-laying and services was getting bigger each year and was a real tribute to a town the size of Oamaru.
He also remarked on the number of young people present.
''Schools are really into this, very much so, which is good for the future,'' he said.
A crowd of about 150 packed into the Enfield Church for a service at 9am, which included a ''very personal'' address from Alistair Wilson, organiser Colin Murray said.
Other North Otago country ceremonies and services, which stretched from Hampden to Omarama, were also well attended.
East Otago
Growing interest in Anzac Day, which also honours returned veterans, has swelled the number of people attending East Otago services over the years, Palmerston-Waihemo RSA president Russell Oliver said.
The 300-strong crowd in Palmerston yesterday included two World War 2 veterans, Gordon Gunn and Tom Collins, of Palmerston, who said it was encouraging so see so many people in the small community involved.
In his lifetime, Mr Gunn has missed only two Palmerston Anzac Day services - when he attended Waimate services.
Other staunch figures at East Otago Anzac Day ceremonies were Bill Lester and Vince McLachlan. Mr Lester, who played the bugle yesterday, has missed just one Palmerston service since 1950, while Mr McLachlan has been playing the bagpipes for the Palmerston-Waikouaiti Highland Pipe Band in the Anzac parades for more than 50 years.
At 9am, the band led a procession, including members of the Palmerston Volunteer Fire Brigade and St John, from the war memorial gates to the D. G. Murray Hall for the service, followed by wreaths being laid at the South African war memorial and the Dunback service.
Mr Oliver said it was great to see Palmerston's two World War 2 veterans turn out for the parade and service yesterday.
''We're proud to have two people like that in our RSA,'' he said.
''We make the best of what we can do and celebrate the day for those two gentlemen and the rest who lost their lives.''
Wakatipu
The sound of rain on hundreds of umbrellas made hearing difficult at dawn in Queenstown yesterday, but many seemed lost in their own tribute, anyway.
For the second consecutive year, the resort held a dawn service before the traditional 10am service.
Rain failed to deter the hundreds of Anzac observers and many returned to the gates at 9.30am to accompany the parade to the Memorial Centre, where Queenstown RSA president David Geddes addressed the crowd.
He told Anzac observers most people ''have no idea'' what being in a war is like.
''There is nothing like experiencing it in the flesh,'' Mr Geddes said solemnly.
Later, Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden spoke of the atrocities of war while musician Craig Smith honoured the occasion by singing a moving song titled Lest We Forget, which he wrote specially for yesterday.
Sunlight broke through dark clouds over Arrowtown when participants in the village's Anzac Day Memorial Service stepped forward to lay their poppies at the Arrowtown and District War Memorial.
The Athenaeum Hall was packed to overflowing for the earlier morning service and the speeches and singing were relayed to the people gathered outside in Buckingham St.
Arrowtown RSA president John Lindsay welcomed all to the service, which was presided over by the Rev Ian Guy and included Queenstown lawyer Graeme Todd as guest speaker and readings by Arrowtown School pupils of extracts from the oral history archives of the Lakes District Museum.
The Arrowtown School Choir led the service in song and the national anthem was the last to be sung, but the pre-recorded music track failed to play. Undeterred, people raised their voices and sang the anthem a cappella, which made the moment all the more powerful.
The parade marched to the Arrowtown and District War Memorial. The World War 2 memorial beside the fire station was chosen as the destination instead of the traditional monument at the top of the steep memorial hill because of the wet conditions underfoot.
Wanaka
Thunder roared in the dark skies above the 7am dawn service at Lake Hawea.
The memorial area on the peninsula above the dam was a sea of umbrellas as hundreds of people assembled to pay their respects in the steady rain.
A cannon was fired to mark the start of the service, which was led by Queenstown Lakes Deputy Mayor Lyal Cocks, a retired Royal New Zealand Navy commander.
The guest speaker was Wanaka man Major Ian Piercy, 2/4 Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, who acknowledged the ''Kiwi'' traits servicemen and women were proud to embody: ''mateship, professionalism, respecting others and getting the job done''.
His words were particularly fitting for the Hawea Flat School pupils performing Lest we Forget at the service, who sang on unaccompanied after their backing music failed in the wet weather.
It was standing room only in the Lake Wanaka Centre at 9.30am for a memorial service featuring guest speaker George Watson (92), of Christchurch, who served in the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force from 1941, went overseas with the Ninth Reinforcements in 1943 and served in Egypt and in the full Italian campaign.
Mr Watson said Waitangi Day and Anzac Day were part of a growing heritage that New Zealanders must preserve. While his recollections of war were also tinged with humour, he spoke seriously of the patriotism he had shared with his comrades.
''I think the New Zealand patriotism is in many ways appropriate to the New Zealand character. It's not as demonstrative as the patriotism that exists in some of our ally countries but in our quiet way, I think we felt that our country had a standard of living, an environment that was much superior than what we'd seen in many other places and to us, it was worth defending, even if we knew that at some stage, it might cost us our lives.''
Year 13 Mount Aspiring College pupils Kasper Humphrey and Eden Brown also spoke, and shared stories of young Otago men who contributed to World War 2.
After the Wanaka service, a parade marched through town to the cenotaph in Chalmers St for a wreath-laying ceremony, as the rain began to ease and the sun made an appearance.
Peter Hendriks flew over both the Hawea service and the Wanaka cenotaph in his Tiger Moth.
Central Otago
Rain did not bother the crowd of more than 150 at the Bannockburn service yesterday.
People ignored the weather as the service was conducted and a speech given by Colonel Jim Cutler, of Lowburn.
Col Cutler said the attendance at the service and others across New Zealand and Australia was evidence the Anzac spirit was alive and well.
The names of those listed on the memorial in Bannockburn were read out.
As the Last Post was played by the bugler, the sun broke through dark clouds in patches to light up the sky, before poppies were placed at the base of the war memorial.
In Cromwell, the town's memorial hall was well over its 330-person capacity, and a large number of people listened to the service from outside. Voices rang out in unison for the national anthem, the Ode and the hymn How Great Thou Art.
Following the Ode, and a Bible reading by Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper, Col Cutler spoke again. He discussed the meaning of Anzac Day and how it changed for each one of the thousands of people who attended Anzac day services, before recounting an experience in a cemetery in Egypt that was important to him on Anzac Day.
In an uncommon feature for Cromwell's service, members of the Territorial Force 2/4 Battalion New Zealand Infantry Regiment were present as a firing party.
Tears were shed and members of the public embraced as the gun salute was fired outside the hall, before people streamed past the memorial to leave poppies among the wreaths already there.
Heavy rain did not deter people from commemorating the Anzacs in Clyde yesterday.
Alexandra Clyde RSA president Kevin Harding said despite ''bucketing rain'', about 600 people attended the Clyde service.
Alexandra's parade and service were also well attended. About 800 to 900 people were present, Mr Harding said.
Numbers were bolstered by people in the town for the weekend.
Veterans were becoming increasingly rare at the services while the number of young people grew, he said.
Roxburgh Millers Flat RSA parade marshall Forbes Knight said both the dawn parade at Millers Flat and the Roxburgh service at 9am avoided rain, but had a lower turnout than in previous years.
Although he was not sure of the numbers, those who attended seemed to enjoy themselves, Mr Knight said.
A highlight of the services was Roxburgh residents 100-year-old Hec Clare and 90-year-old Les Tombs taking part in the Roxburgh parade, he said.
