Within half an hour north of the centre of Cronulla, there's a place that symbolises all we've missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the hopes for our future. A flying red kangaroo touched down there on Monday, bringing with it a planeload of emotion.
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Grandchildren delighted at meeting their grandparents for the first time. Bereaved family members estranged by distance got to grieve together; lovers separated by oceans, reunited.
Whether you're going on a Boeing, or receiving relatives from across our state, there's no denying that the people of NSW did the hard work of earning these freedoms - and the people of the Shire as much, if not more, than anyone.
The work was getting vaccinated, encouraging our families to do the same and where possible persuading those hesitant about the vaccine to make a decision to protect themselves, their families and immunocompromised people in our community.
The work was enduring months of lockdown, zoom schooling, masking up and keeping physically distant. With vaccination nearing saturation and case numbers coming down, freedoms are returning.
Not only have the international borders opened, fully vaccinated NSW residents can start again exploring all the wonders our state has to offer, or just catch up with a country cousin you haven't seen for ages.
We've done so well with vaccination that freedoms scheduled for 1 December have been brought forward for the fully vaccinated to next Monday 8 November. Our homes can be open to all we invite. We can gather outdoors in our hundreds (up to a thousand) with no restrictions. We can just splash around at the pool instead of just following that black line up and down (not that there's anything wrong with that).
It's true, the unvaccinated will have to wait until they can enjoy these freedoms. But the greatest freedom in this pandemic is to be free of the virus. So if you still haven't vaxxed, get the jab done.
