Huge crowds turned out for today's Anzac Day services across Hawke's Bay with some veterans describing the numbers as among the largest they had seen.
At the Dawn Service in Napier, staged at the Sound Shell, the colonnade area was packed as were nearby footpaths and a large stretch of the closed-off northern end of Marine Parade.
One of the guest speakers at the service, Royal New Zealand Navy Commodore David Proctor, paused briefly before his address and looked toward the sea.
"We see the awesome sunrises of the Bay - and we remember the Gallipoli sunrise."
He spoke of the mateship and comradeship of the services, and how they were strongly embraced today by families and communities - that was evident looking out across the faces in the crowd, which some estimated to be about 6000 strong.
All ages were represented.