Wellington's largest dawn ceremony for some years saw thousands of people gather at the cenotaph to remember the fallen from New Zealand's wars.
Wellington Returned Services Association President David Moloney said attendances at the Anzac Day service had been steadily growing over the years, but he had not
expected this morning's bumper crowd.
"It's much larger than we have had for some years. I think Hayley Westenra helped pull a lot of them in."
Westenra sang the national anthem to being to an end a moving ceremony which saw more than 150 veterans present to honour their fallen comrades.
"It was very special," Westenra said.
"I didn't expect that there would be so many people there."
The service was briefly disrupted by anti-war protesters. They had stood peacefully holding banners, but police moved in when the demonstrators burned a New Zealand flag.
It is understood two of the protesters were arrested, one for offensive behaviour and the other facing a charge of obstructing a police officer.
Governor General Anand Satynand, Wellington Central MP Marian Hobbs and Opposition leader John Key were among dignitaries at the service.
Former Secretary of Defence Graham Fortune told the crowd most people alive today did not have memory of war, and not did many of their parents. It was important to keep the deeds of New Zealand's soldiers in living memory, he said.
"It is those indelible scars, those inherited memories, that still bring tears to the eyes at the sound of the last post."
