As the last note of the Australian anthem played over the radio, MacCabe Park was completely empty except for a wreath and a bunch of flowers that had been laid at a cenotaph.
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Normally, the Wollongong War Memorial would be crowded with people at dawn on Anzac Day, milling around after the city's largest ceremony and waiting for City Diggers to begin serving breakfast for the many veterans who attended.
But this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic on an Anzac Day which will go down in the history books, everyone stayed home.
On driveways in every suburb across the Illawarra and the country, people were marking the day in their own way.
In Mount Ousley, as the sun peeked over the horizon, the sounds of the Last Post and Reveille echoed through the suburb as bugle player Craig Russell played on his front lawn.
He joined with his family including, harpist Yasmine Russell and childhood friend Brad Whitford to host a small service on their driveway.
"For the past 20 odd years we've been going to Dawn Services in MacCabe Park, and Brad and myself have only missed two together in 20 years," Mr Russell said.
"Just because we're in isolation, we didn't want to miss it this year."
Mr Whitford said the importance of Anzac Day has been instilled in him all his life, and was an important tradition for his family.
"Even though it's different circumstances, we can make changes and so it goes on," he said.
As the sounds of Anzac Day rang out along Gaynor Avenue, neighbours stood at the end of their driveways holding candles and wreaths to mark the occasion.
It was a similar scene throughout the city as people gathered spaced out along their streets.
In Berkeley, St Mary's Aged Care residents aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s all went out together at the end of their driveways with wreaths and candles.
For many of them who had been in isolation, it was something to look forward to and made an occasion of the day at a time when many of them have been missing the occasions that bring them together with family and friends.
Many of the residents have links to war - they were either young during wartime or had family members and friends who served - making the day all the more meaningful for them.
At the cenotaph, too, things were done a little differently.
Just before 7am, two young veterans rode up to the empty park on motorcycles.
Silently, they enacted their own ritual - marching through the arches, saluting and saying the Ode.
They then placed a poppy at the memorials for the Iraq and Afghanistan war, before taking a small swig out of a hip flask and going on their way.