Little by little, something resembling a more normal life will take shape over the coming few weeks - and the Hunter got a taste of the post-lockdown world when the region's public pools re-opened on Monday.
City of Newcastle's five public pools - not including the east end and Merewether ocean bath facilities - have been closed since April because of the COVID-19 Delta outbreak across NSW.
But the swimming centres at Beresfield, Lambton, Mayfield, Stockton and Wallsend re-opened this week.
It comes as temperatures in the city are tipped to stay in the mid 20s into the weekend - reaching 27 degrees on Friday.
"The importance of exercise can't be understated during the extended stay at home orders, so I'm pleased that Newcastle's swimming centres are able to safely re-open to swimmers," Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.
"As the weather continues to warm up, people have flocked to the city's beaches and ocean baths, which have remained open throughout the stay at home orders.
"Re-opening outdoor pools will provide more options for swimmers across the entire local government area, not just at the city's beaches and baths."
Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said the re-opening of public pools gave people a glimpse at what life returning to normal, post-lockdown, would look like, without large crowds.
"Some of our residents have got great access to the coastline and our ocean baths, whilst those in the western suburbs in particular haven't been able to access outdoor recreation of the pools," he said.
"Health advice is pools are safe as outdoor locations provided the COVID-safe measures are followed, so we've installed signage at all of our five pools and our lifeguard teams are all briefed on the maximum number of people in different areas to make sure that it's done in as safe a mode as possible."
Some of the pool facilities have had a spruce-up during the shut-down.
"Mayfield and Wallsend pool have both had significant playground upgrades, there's a new changeroom at Mayfield pool as well," Cr Clausen said. "We've also re-painted Lambton pool. I was there on Saturday and it's looking pretty schmick."
