A year ago as we welcomed 2020 the state's attentions were firmly focused on the devastating bushfires burning up and down the east coast - and many parts elsewhere - as on a daily basis we breathed a suffocating mix of smoke from the east and dust from the west.

The water level at Ben Chifley Dam was recording new lows each week and strict water restrictions had killed off most homes' lawns and gardens.

Bathurst Regional Council was furiously putting together urgent water security plans to try and stave off a disaster that was just months away if the skies continued their refusal to open up and rain.

As the new year started in a blaze of fire we suspected it would be one we'd long remember, but the world had no idea what was really coming.

More than any economic crash, more than any natural disaster and even more than any world war, the COVID-19 pandemic has touched every single life on the planet.

It has changed the way we work, the way we learn and the way we interact. We haven't been able to travel so we've learned to better appreciate what - and who - we have at home.

Watching the pandemic unfold across the planet has been painful, frightening and confusing, but also a triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

2020 was not without its wonderful news stories for our region - after all, we started the year with Sir Elton and ended it with a set of quads - and Bathurst continues to endure the pandemic in better shape than most cities across the world.

But it's a year most of us will be pleased to farewell and even if 2021 begins still clouded by uncertainty, the promise of a vaccine on the horizon gives us hope that there are better days ahead.

Happy new year, Bathurst.