Early-morning coffee on the waterfront, a healthy spike in accommodation bookings and a relatively normal school-holiday period on the horizon — regional Victoria has emerged from the shadow of pandemic restrictions.
Many Victorians viewed Thursday as something of a "freedom day" given that they can now leave home for any reason, dine-in at restaurants and cafes, and have up to five visitors from another house
In Mildura, customers were eager to embrace the relaxed rules with some sitting down for coffee as early as 7am on Thursday morning.
"People just want to be able to sit and chat and talk," Michael Shipsides, who operates a cafe a stone's throw from the Murray River, said.
"We have been lucky in that we are here and people are exercising and walking so we've been really steady anyway.
"[Today's change] enables us to broaden our menu so that we can offer more, which is great."
He is eager for other nearby cafes to also reopen, saying it would draw more foot traffic to the Mildura riverfront.
"It creates a nicer atmosphere," he said.
With regional Victoria in step three of its coronavirus roadmap to recovery, Premier Daniel Andrews has been at pains to say the changes were possible because the daily average for new cases in regional Victoria had fallen below five and there had been no mystery cases for two weeks.
The news is not as positive for Melburnians, however, with the Premier introducing a new $5,000 fine for any Melburnians trying to sneak into regional Victoria to avoid the lockdown.
'It's very exciting'
Rhylla Morgan, from Mount Buller Resort Management, said Alpine businesses were excited to welcome tourists back after a terrible year.
"Businesses in this region have pretty much been stalled since the fires back in January," she said,
"We're really hoping this is a turn in the corner, and that we're on our way to some better days for local businesses in the area who are dying to welcome people back."
"It's an exciting morning for regional Victoria.
"The only people that have been on the mountain since back in August have been us residents.
"So just the idea that even locals can hop in the car and come for a drive is small and simple, but it's very exciting."
Despite there being little snow after a disappointing season, Ms Morgan said the area was still worth a visit.
"It's obviously just absolutely beautiful to come up for a walk and take in the views," she said.
"But we do have a tiny bit of snow if you really need to get some snowball throwing out of your system.
"This is probably one of the only places you can do it."
Inundated with calls
In south-west Victoria, boutique accommodation providers were inundated with calls on Thursday.
Anna Wagg, owner-operator of cottage accommodation in Port Fairy, west of Melbourne, said her phone started ringing as soon Mr Andrews announced regional Victoria was moving to the third step.
"I was getting a phone call an hour and then later on in the evening people were booking online," Ms Wagg said.
"Then there were two bookings an hour, then again this morning as well."
The school holiday period is booking out fast for Ms Wagg, who said the second lockdown period had weighed heavily on her family.
"Just not knowing when he was going to open up travel was stressful," she said.
"Coming into our busy period, we need to make most of these peak periods.
"This is our only form of income. If things kept on going and getting worse with COVID we'd have to look at getting another job."
A' big relief' for the community
Communities along the New South Wales-Victorian border also woke up on Thursday to the news that the NSW Government would consider a staggered approach to allowing Victorians to cross the border again.
Previously, border permits could only be used for work and education, to get essential goods and services, for care and compassionate reasons or to move house.
Member for Albury Justin Clancy said it was "a big relief" for the community.
"Our community has done a fantastic job and it's been challenged and to get this sort of relief is really important now. It is a big relief and it's a positive step forward," Mr Clancy said.
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