sounds very similar to my ANZAC days nick.
the dawn service here in dunedin are very interesting.
a/ it's a student town, so you kinda wouldn't expect too many of the students to be up that early....wrong. every year we get more and more people turning up at 0400.
B/ Dunedin is of scottish decent....so we have a REALLY good piper. and robbie burns cannon. it's about the size of a TV but makes the biggest bang i have ever heard.
C/ the Cenotaph Guard. one member of each branch (AF, Army, NAVY) and a Maori warrior in Traditional costume (poor bugger must be SO cold!) i'll try and get a photo to post here.
p.s here is dunedins monument....an italian marble spire
the National monument here is NZ is something else though, it a special bell tower played by a keyboard. here's a pic from when it was opened;
The dedication of the National War Memorial on Anzac Day, 1932
Just over 50 metres tall, New Zealand's only carillon is one of the largest in the world. Its art deco qualities have been recognised by a Category I Historic Places Trust registration. The Carillon's weekly recitals, often commemorating important battles, added a new feature to Wellington life.
(A carillon (pronounced "ká-ri-lon") is a huge musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze bells, tuned chromatically so that when rung together they produce a wide range of concordant harmonic effects. The bells are hung stationary in a massive steel framework and are struck by cast iron clappers, which are operated by wires attached to a manually played clavier (keyboard).
The carillonist plays by striking the wooden keys of the clavier with loosely clenched fists and by depressing the foot pedals. The sound is controlled entirely by the amount of energy used to strike each bell.
Carillons originated in the Low Countries (now Belgium, The Netherlands and northern France) during the late 1500s. They were used to play a wide variety of music, ranging from simple folk tunes to classical arrangements, popular songs and original carillon compositions. )