This year's Anzac Day will be one to go down in the history books.
For more than 100 years, the community has come together on April 25 to remember those soldiers lost at war and share gratitude with returned service people for their bravery.
Instead, as a historical global event gripped the nation, residents showcased their commitment and headed to their mailboxes at dawn in an act of commemoration.
Emotions ran high as The Last Post echoed throughout many neighbourhoods.
A Stand At Dawn service was broadcast over RNZ National from 6am, with the Last Post, Ode of Remembrance and New Zealand, Australian and Turkish national anthems played before an address by Ron Mark, Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs.
And although the people were unable to gather, the message of unity rang through more than ever.
This idea of unity was hammered home with mayor Steve Chadwick's address to the community this morning.
A live-streamed Civic Service was put on by the Rotorua Lakes Council with Rev Tom Poata and youth speaker Ngakohu Walker sharing messages.
More than 100 people tuned in to watch the live address at 9am.
Image 1 of 10: Veteran Adrian Macpherson stands outside on Koutu Rd.
Chadwick said this year's commemorations were being done "very, very differently than ever before" but "true Kiwi style" had shone through as people showed unity from their gates.
She said for many returned service veterans, they would be "standing alone" this year and missing the poignant opportunity to march in remembrance.
However, the community was "standing together in spirit".
Those values of the Anzac soldiers was something that the community should hold on to while they "get through the challenge" they were currently facing, she said.
Rev Tom Poata spoke heavily about these values and how the Anzac soldiers' "bravery, determination and commitment" was something the community should hold on to in current circumstances.
He said by coming together for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice was a "natural act of community".
As the community was currently in unchartered territory, he said this was a time to help each other and stand together as "beneficiaries of their [the soldiers] sacrifice".
Youth speaker Ngakohu Walker took audiences back to wartime, sharing an emotional speech on how children were likely affected just as much as those soldiers in wartime.
Losing a family member in war would have left many broken for their entire lives and he said it was important to pay a memory and tribute to them too.
The Rotorua Boys' High School Head Boy said the rippling effects that war had on New Zealand as a nation would always be felt.
He said it was important as a community to remember the legacy left behind by those who lost their lives in battle.
It was not about celebrating war, but instead reflecting and learning from it, he said.
Koutu resident Adrian Macpherson headed down his driveway with his walker in hand this morning at dawn to commemorate.
He said he was out there for his uncle who lost his life at war, but also for all his brothers and uncles who fought in subsequent wars over the years.
Macpherson was a returned serviceman himself, who fought in Borneo for a number of months.
He said he appreciated the fact that people headed down their driveways this morning as it showed how "so many people respected those that served".
Nearby, Kingi Biddle and his family held their own Anzac Dawn service on their front lawn.
Biddle wrote a speech as it was his way of "acknowledging" those lost soldiers, he said.
Many families in the Koutu area had been "directly affected" by war and he said it was important to remember them on this day "irrespective of Covid-19 constraints".
Biddle had never missed a dawn service and said it was important to show unity at this time.
Bagpiper Taine Harvey marched along his street in Hillcrest at 11am, playing tunes for the people in his neighbourhood in commemoration.
Amazing Grace among other songs echoed through the street as he walked alongside war veteran David Swears.
He said the music was "well-received" with people telling him how much they enjoyed it.
By the end, he said he had gathered quite an audience from their front lawns.
When asked why he believed it was important for youth to commemorate Anzac Day, he said there were "so many important lessons we can learn from events in history".
He said events such as the war "shaped our national identity as we know it" today and the sacrifices made for this was something young people needed to appreciate.
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