A SNAP five-day lockdown across Victoria last weekend was just another reminder of how fortunate we have been living here in Bathurst for the past 12 months.
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The whole state was again put on stay-at-home orders as health authorities scrambled to trace the contacts of people exposed to the COVID-19 virus in the latest outbreak from the hotel quarantine system.
It was a painful, stressful reminder of the 15-week lockdown that Melbourne endured last year but, thankfully, a short, sharp lockdown appears to have down the trick this time round and life has again returned to something more normal down south.
In stark contrast, though, life for Bathurst residents has emerged relatively unscathed from the pandemic.
The virus may have wrought great damage on the nation's economy and learning to live with the virus tested our community in new ways last year, but as the first Australians to start receiving the long-awaited vaccine, it really feels like day-to-day life in Bathurst is already close to normal.
We might be signing into shops, cafes and restaurants using QR codes - something unheard of this time last year - and might have shelved any thoughts of an overseas holiday for the next year or two, but that's about it as far as changes go.
And the number of major events planned across our region over the next few months will also go a long way towards helping us put the worst of the pandemic behind us.
It all starts with the inaugural Bathurst 500 at Mount Panorama next weekend while plans for this year's Bathurst Cycling Classic, Gold Crown carnival, Royal Bathurst Show and annual NRL clash at Carrington Oval also well advanced.
That has us gearing up for a year that looks much more like 2019 than 2020, and thank goodness for that.
It's now been more than 300 days since we've had an active case of COVID-19 in Bathurst and we can put that down to a potent mix of good luck and good management from the whole community.
Australians, in general - and Bathurstians, in particular - have shown great sense in responding to the health crisis and we've been well led by health authorities and government officials.
It feels like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel but we just have to keep going a little longer yet.
But the way life's been going in Bathurst at present, that shouldn't be too hard.
