Dawn Service at Currumbin's Elephant Rock

This morning we almost didn't make it to the dawn service for ANZAC Day. We had arranged with my parents for them to come to our house at 3.15am, so we could drive in convoy down to Currumbin's Elephant Rock for the dawn service which began at 5am.

At 3.15am, when my father's knock came at our front door, instead of having been up and ready, everyone in the house was still soundly asleep. My husband had been in charge of setting the alarm, but, because he was sleep-deprived from several early starts and late finishes during this week, he had inadvertently set it for an hour later (ie. 4am). If we hadn't organised for my parents to come here, we probably wouldn't have made it at all! As it was, we did a mad dash around throwing on the nearest clothes and were out the front door by 3.30am.

The opportunity to be present for this occasion is awesome, and, once again, today's dawn service did not disappoint. This year, just as the sun was rising over the horizon, the Currumbin Surf Lifesaving Club, the Vikings, rowed out in their surf boats and did a traditional viking salute with oars upraised in honour of those lost at sea. This was in addition to the release of doves, a flyover, a gun salute and a Scottish piper.

The service was hosted by the Currumbin RSL and the master of ceremonies was so dignified. Each year he has the difficult task of reading out the names of Currumbin RSL members who have died in the last year to honour them, and this year the list was longer than ever. His comment at the conclusion of the list, "You've got no idea how hard that was", as he took a moment to regain his perfect composure, said it all. The sad reality is that each year, numbers of veterans are dwindling. If it is any comfort at all, though, to their families, comrades and friends, the numbers turning out to honour the veterans of all wars is definitely growing. We estimate numbers at this morning's service to have been around 20 000 of all ages. The respect and honour displayed by all was testament to the fact that the sacrifice made by all involved in war will never be forgotten.

So, thank you Dad, for the wake up knock this morning. This was an occasion we would have been very upset to have missed.

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