Then, nearly three months ago, on August 12, Canberrans entered Lockdown 2.0, and, well, hasn't that been fun? But now it's, mostly, over.

The shops are open. Many kids will be back at school on Monday. Although, still a week of home school for many others.

And still with the masks for those aged 12 and up. The government was from October 29 due to lift the restriction on wearing masks outside. Fingers crossed on that one.

And there are still social distancing restrictions everywhere.

Lockdown finished-ish.

Nevertheless, I still hate lockdowns and border closures. Still think they are cruel and so casually and obscenely discriminatory.

Famous actor or footy player? Come on in, the borders are open for you. Child wishing to be with dying parent in their final moments? Computer says 'No'.

Fully-paid, Netflix-watching, Uber-Eats-ordering, working-from-homer moving the computer mouse occasionally to show the boss you're hard at it? Lockdown not too shabby. Small business owner unable to earn a living and sees life's work go down the drain? Lockdown shameful.

We most definitely were not all in this together. Some paid a far, far higher price than others.

Look at Victoria - businesses broken, kids missing 35 weeks of school, families separated for months on end. For what? To prevent the inexorable march towards death? To save people from what was likely to happen anyway, from pneumonia, heart attack, diabetes, dementia? Old age?

Love him or loathe him, Tony Abbott nailed it when he wrote the pandemic response "often seemed an over-reaction from people who'd forgotten the inevitability of death and the importance of living each day to the full".

Having said that, my stance on lockdown, has softened a bit. Especially, now that we are out of it. LOL.

And also because Chief Minister Andrew Barr has suggested, with the ACT's mega-high vaccination rates, another lockdown would be highly unlikely, although, of course, he could "never rule anything out in COVID". And ain't that the truth?

Britain, for one, is in the throes of more COVID chaos as The Sun reported this week the country had passed 50,000 infections in a day for the first time in three months, but the number of deaths were down. The UK government is talking about more restrictions, a winter lockdown perhaps, unless people get their booster jabs. Will it ever end?

So, while Australia starts to open up again to the world, thank goodness, and to shake off its Hermit Kingdom status, there is much to look forward to. So, see ya lockdown. Hope you don't come back any time soon. But thanks for the memories.

NOT HAVING TO RUSH ANYWHERE

With lockdown, children's extracurricular activities went out the window, and wasn't that bliss? Not for the kids. Soz. But for parents, it was great. No belting around Canberra trying to get to netball training here and footy games there was actually pretty good.

A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOODS

The other day on and around our local oval, there were girls practising netball, kids riding their bikes, teenagers playing basketball, dogs being walked, toddlers racing across the grass and women and men doing some sprint training to tunes from their phones. It was beautiful.

I've loved seeing families wandering around on their evening walks. In non-lockdown times, you see a lot of mums with kids, not as many dads. That changed in lockdown. Both parents had the time to be with their kids. And that was wonderful. Let's hope it continues.

HOME SCHOOLING

This gets a place on each list. I did enjoy getting a glimpse into my kids' life at school. It felt good to see them get something after you'd explained it. Or Googled it.

Yep, that's it.

THE DAILY COVID UPDATES

Great that everyone stumped up day after day to deliver the numbers. Really good work. Now, let's move on. There must be something else to do at 11.45am each day.

KIDS BEING ISOLATED

Yep, super hated this one. Even the novelty of Zoom calls to friends eventually wore off. Nothing better than seeing kids playing with their friends again.

HOME SCHOOLING

As much as it worked sometimes, there were also plenty of meltdowns. On both sides.

EXTENSION CORDS

(See above). Home school and WFH meant powerboard city, connecting all the necessary Chromebooks and laptops. I'm glad to see the end of tripping over extension cords.

COVID BEING USED AS AN EXCUSE FOR ANYTHING

We saw this week Phillip pool is not opening this summer, partly because of COVID. Whaaaat? Please. The lockdown preventing essential maintenance is a problem. But let's not use COVID per se as an excuse for everything. This is exactly the kind of facility we need to be open post-lockdown. It's outside. In the fresh air. There is ample space to social distance. This is a valuable community asset that allows people to enjoy being outside in the sun beside a pool. How is being at an inside, steaming pool, crammed with people safer?

THE UNOFFICIAL COVID POLICE

Last time I checked, it wasn't particularly easy to eat or drink with a mask on. But don't people love to tell you what to do? Especially on social media.

Keyboard warriors? Calm the farm and stop having a go. That's all.

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