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Perth marks 12th anniversary since Bali bombings

Every year Kingsley Football Club member Adam Nimmo hopes October 12 will be a warm morning.

Though it never is, he bears the pre-dawn cold at Kings Park and raises a stubby in memory of friends.

It’s been 12 years since the bombing of Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club in Bali claimed the lives of 202 people, including seven of Nimmo’s team mates.

And while crowds at the Perth dawn service have waned over time, there are still those who vow to mark the day.

“I’ll be here every year for the next 20 years,” Nimmo said.

Nimmo clinks his beer with a mate and laughs as he questions his 18-month-old daughter’s fashion faux pas.

“I never thought my kid would wear double denim – the missus dresses her,” he said.

“It’s hard to imagine it all wouldn’t have happened if I’d gone the other way.”

The mood on the hill is not sombre as the sun rises over the city.

Dogs and children play on the grass, friends laugh as they reminisce and there’s several coolers full of beer scattered throughout the crowd.

Once the flowers have been laid and a few tears shed, people start to make their way up the hill towards the smell of sausages cooking on the barbecue.

Bali Peace Park Association deputy chairman Gary Nash said people used to just turn up to watch the sunrise and go home but the association had worked hard to make it a more formal gathering.

Mr Nash was in Paddy’s Bar when the bombs went off.

He survived with shrapnel wounds and burns to 54 per cent of his body.

Mr Nash said the association was continuing its mission to acquire what used to be the Sari Club so it could be developed into a park.

“A place where people can reflect, a bit of green in Kuta and a symbol to the world that peace is possible,” Mr Nash said.

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