Dawn Service

[khiemtran]

It's an hour before sunrise in this quiet coastal town. Yet there are 9000 people walking in the darkness. Why? Because it's the Dawn Service on Anzac Day...





The Torquay Dawn Service has been growing and growing, especially as more people start coming from the nearby city of Geelong.



The service takes place on Point Danger, where the sun will rise over the sea in a particularly poignant setting. The crowd gathers well before dawn and watches in reverence as one of the smallest, quietest (and darkest) parades you'll ever see goes past.



This is what the dawn looks like, taken a few days later when there weren't 9000 people gathered around the cenotaph.





There are lots of young children here, mostly very sleepy. Liem and his cousins have just had a sleep over together (so they haven't had much sleep) but they're still excited by the occasion.



As the sun rises, there are speeches, prayers and hymns (Morning has Broken and Abide With Me). Note that we Australians don't really actually sing anymore in public. At best, everyone just mouths the words. Below are some of the wreaths left at the memorial, photo taken a few days later.



After the wreaths are laid, a bugler sounds the Last Post, then Reveille and the Ode to the Fallen is read. Then, as the flags are raised, a piper plays Flowers of the Forest.



Finally, the national anthems are sung (it was supposed to be both the Australian and New Zealand national anthems, but for some reason the singer for the New Zealand national anthem didn't turn up), and there's a flypast by a pair of Tiger Moths.



By now, the sun has risen and everyone is heading home.



Many choose to walk back along the seashore.



Or to stop for a play.



Liem and I walk home together along the beach.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

These photos are lovely, and they did make me stop a moment and think about lives lost in the conflicts that drew in participants from all over the globe.

I like the people on the swings, silhouetted against the golden light of the sky and sea, and then that same sky and sea, unpeopled.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It was a special moment, even walking back with the crowd after the event. We were lucky that the weather was good this year - apparently, last year it was freezing. Ironically, the thing that Liem liked most was that he got to "see a real gun being fired for the first time", during the salute.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That's actually pretty neat, because it shows just how much a child of peacetime and of security he is--and I think that's a *great* way to be privileged.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's a blessing.