ANZAC Day Part 3

Once I’d gotten a few hours’ sleep following the dawn service, I was ready for another Anzac Day event. I didn’t make it to the traditional Anzac March in the city center that morning, but I figured the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders march would be better to attend anyway. I’m taking an Indigenous Australia class here, which discusses the mis- and under-representation of the Aboriginal community.

The Aboriginal march began at The Block in Redfern. Redfern is an inner-city neighborhood in Sydney with a large population of Aboriginal people, and unfortunately it is also poorer and associated with crime. Redfern was the site of riots in 2004. It’s also conveniently the closest train station to my house. I know to be careful walking back at night, but I’ve never felt unsafe during the times I’ve been there.

Anyway, I was glad to go to a positive event in Redfern associated with pride and tradition. Many carried Aboriginal and Torres Strait flags.


These two girls were cute imitating martial arts moves with their flags.


Something striking about the event was the media presence. I’d have to say there was one reporter or photographer for every actual participant. It’s great that the press was covering the event, but it was sad how few people from the wider community attended. Of course many had already been to the dawn service and the parade and at this point were getting drunk before the rugby game. But still.


Just for fun, here's an Aboriginal hip hop song that I gave a presentation and wrote an essay on a few weeks ago. The video for the song features the guys driving through Redfern.

ANZAC Day Part 2

Dawn isn’t something I see very often. The hours between 2 and 6 in them morning are usually off limits for me. But today, my dedication to the exploring Australia cause possessed me to set an alarm for 3:10 a.m. to go to the ANZAC Day dawn service at the Sydney Cenotaph.


I walked to the bus stop where two old ladies were sitting. I bet they’d be fun to talk to. After 10 minutes of waiting for the bus, I spoke up. “Well, I guess I coulda gotten a little more sleep.” The women told me they never went to bed. Instead they stayed up watching “Cape Fear” and whatever else was on. They each had sprigs of rosemary, which I had read was important to Anzac day. They couldn’t tell me why exactly rosemary was significant, but they said poppies were important too. The one woman broke off a piece for me and the other offered me a pin.

They joked about bringing a flask to the service. I told them, “Oh, no, I’m going to get in trouble with you two.” The one responded, “It’s good to get into trouble now and then,” and said something about it making life worthwhile.
Another ten minutes passed and they started to complain about the bus being late.
“I’m starting to lose my sense of humor.”
“This is absolutely ridiculous. The paper said it was supposed to be here. We rang up to check and they said it’d be here.”
I said I’d be happy to share a cab with them, but they weren’t interested. “No, love, we’ll just go back home if the bus doesn’t come. We’re getting tired.”

A group of students who had come from a night of barhopping joined us at the stop.
“I don’t think the bus is coming,” one of the women said. “We’ve been waiting for 40 minutes. It's absolutely ridiculous.”
The bus came five minutes later but was so full it didn’t even bother to stop.
“Absolutely ridiculous. Let’s go.”
I told them I’d pay for the cab if they wanted to come.
“It’s not about the money, dear. We’re just cranky at this point.”
“Yeah, we’re going to call and complain.”
“First person who picks up, we’ll let em have it.”

So the women left and the group of kids hailed a cab. There were four of them so they couldn’t fit me in their taxi, but they decided to split up so I wouldn’t have to pay the whole fare myself. During the ride I learned they went Sydney Uni with me.


We arrived at Martin Place just after 4 a.m. The street was packed and there was no way to get anywhere we might see anything so we just listened. The MC introduced Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other important attendees. The service began with a hymn and a prayer. A general gave a speech, which was followed by more hymns.


Rain started to fall and everyone’s umbrellas went up. Now I really had no chance of seeing the band or choir up front. The service closed with the New Zealand and Australian national anthems, which I had never heard before. Listening to thousands of people sing the anthems just before sunrise was a great experience.


My new friends, who had been up all night, offered me to join them on their ride back to campus, but I decided to stick around for a little since I hadn’t actually seen anything during the service. As people cleared out, I moved toward the cenotaph monument where some were laying wreaths and flowers.


I watched the bagpipe players play.


And pitied the journalists who got stuck with the Anzac story — the same story written every year, which bonus! has a 7 a.m. deadline. It was amusing to watch them fight for quotes from the oldest veterans.


I decided to walk back as the sun came up. It was a good idea until I was 15 minutes away and contemplating how comfortable it would be to curl up on that curb. I finally made it back in bed just after 6:30 and slept until 10.

My final Anzac Day story will have to wait for another post.

ANZAC Day

Today is a public holiday for ANZAC Day, which honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. April 25 marks the anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli during WWI.


Thought I’d share photos of the ANZAC Bridge taken back when the sun used to shine in Sydney. (We’ve had 14 days of rain now.)

More ANZAC Day photos and stories to come.