New Zealand wasn't the only place where Matariki was celebrated - whānau and other Kiwis living overseas organised their own festivities to mark the Māori New Year.
Te Ūkaipō Māori Club hold a Matariki celebration in Newcastle. Photo: Supplied
It was a 4am start for Te Ūkaipō Māori Club in Newcastle, New South Wales, on Friday where they gathered at a coastal lookout to catch a glimpse of the star cluster.
The hour-long service included karakia along with the calming sounds of taonga pūoro.
Organiser Raianna Poutapu wanted to keep everything as traditional as possible and emphasised the importance of first consulting with tangata whenua, the local Awabakal tribe.
"We were going up onto one of our favourite maunga to do this service but the maunga we had chosen is actually sacred, it's a sacred men's initiation maunga where women and children aren't actually allowed. So I thought that was phenomenal, we're trying out best to respect our culture but the people of this whenua we might have disrespected by going up to that maunga."
Cultural Advisor Luke Russell from Awabakal has been guiding Te Ukaipo through the laws of his tribe.
He said the area he picked for the service has great significance with Aotearoa.
"A couple of years ago they put a walk along the top of that cliff top, like a boarded walk and it's a memorial for people who have served in the wars under that ANZAC banner so their names are scattered across the cutouts, I guess sculptures up there too."
Going further afield, to Memphis, Tennessee, Amelia Butler shared Matariki with her husband's American whānau.
Her daughters Bria and Aria are not only Māori but also come from the Fulani tribe in West Africa and the Native American tribes Blackfoot and Choctaw.
Amelia and her girls were excited to share more about what Matariki means to their whānau, including making fried bread to share with them.
"...Sharing through food, and creating those conversations through the vehicle of sharing kai, sharing the stars, the crafts that we make for them," said Amelia.
Amelia runs a business called Learn Māori Abroad and recently launched a Matariki scholarship to help Māori overseas.
Some of the students she teaches include members from Ngāti Rānana, is a London-based group for Māori living in the UK.
Chair Charlie Panapa said the group celebrated Matariki by throwing a ball on Saturday.
"We've got a couple of live performances happening, there's a dance company from Ōtautahi called Jolt and they're doing a contemporary dance performance at the ball. As well as that we also have a singer named Jayson Norris who anyone who has ever come to the UK, come to London knows he's a staple," Charlie said in the days leading up to the event.
A huge staple for the roopu was sharing te ao Māori - a sentiment shared in The Netherlands where the Dutch Waka Crew celebrated Matariki on Saturday.
The group organised free activities for the public at Museum Volkenkunde and started the day with a powhiri followed by waka workshops and waiata.
Mat Spencer, part of the group Kiwis in the Netherlands, explained the public were interested in te ao Māori during their Matariki celebrations.
"So we had a waiata session which I think we said would run for 20 minutes and I turned around and then like an hour later they're still going because everyone was getting so into it. So everyone was so engaged and super interested to learn more and just had a really good time as well."
The roopu used a lot of educational material from Dr Rangi Mātāmua and traditional Māori game expert Harko Brown to help them navigate their celebration.
A celebration that isn't limited to only Aotearoa.
