Thirteen years have passed since the Bali bombings claimed 15-year-old Chloe Byron's life, but it "might as well be 13 minutes" for her father and blast survivor Dave.
Mr Byron stood before the families and friends of the 43 NSW victims, including 20 from Sydney's eastern suburbs, at the Coogee Beach Bali Memorial on Monday to mark the 13th anniversary of the tragedy.
He says he wears his purple Hawaiian shirt, bought in Bali just two days before the blast, every year to the ceremony because it would have made Chloe laugh.
"It was so loud and so infectious," Mr Byron recalled.
"I have a choice if I wake up of dwelling on the bomb site, of the photograph of my daughter in all those pieces, or I can grab a happy thought.
"I have 1000 happy thoughts of my daughter, and I've only got to think of them."
The bombings at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar on October 12, 2002, killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
On Monday morning, the crowd embraced each other and laid flowers under blue skies near the Bali Statue, which represents strength in unity through its three intertwined bronze figures.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin was among the dignitaries in attendance, saying the anniversary marks the fateful night Australia lost its innocence.
"It changed forever the way that we viewed ourselves, and the way that we viewed our place in the world," he said.
Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith, representing Premier Mike Baird, said recent acts of terror highlighted the continual need for the Australian community to stand united.
"Sadly, with what we've seen taking place in our country over the last 12 months, there will be more services like this taking place," he said.
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