Walking provides a far better view of what's going on and allows you to get a much better understanding of the Bendigo CBD and its surrounds.

There's an incredible amount of building activity going on around town at the moment, and it's impossible not to contrast this to this time last year, when Bendigo, like most cities, resembled a ghost town.

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While the haunting scenes of 2020 and the pandemic might never leave us, the hive of activity that is taking place at building sites throughout the CBD bears witness to the recovery that's currently in full swing.

The new law courts, the GovHub site, the Bendigo TAFE complex are the major projects that rightfully spring to mind.

But there's a huge amount of work going on at many smaller building sites as property owners look to get the hard work down in order to create the premises they and their optimistic tenants dream of.

For all the incredible hardships we endured throughout 2020 and the first few months of this year, it's a welcome change.

Car parks are slowly filling up again as more and more workers make their way back to the workplace, and foot traffic is noticeably up.

Coffee shops and restaurants are busy again, and on weekends - particularly when the weather is fine, they are pumping.

People want to be happy and to return to the way things used to be, to the extent that this is actually possible.

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More of us have returned to the office here at the Addy, and we balance some time still working from home with stints in the office where it's been great to see colleagues face to face in lieu of the Google hangouts that have become a twice daily routine for us all.

The return to sport was always going to be a huge milestone in regional and rural communities where particularly the winter sports are such an integral part of those towns and districts.

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It's impossible not to acknowledge the efforts of those clubs and organisations that pull together the sporting competitions the rest of us get to enjoy.

It's always taken a huge number of volunteers to keep our sports in play - and never more so than in this weird almost post-COVID environment we are in right now.

Without the unsung heroes of so many sporting codes, we would not have sport to play or enjoy.

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And we all know we are only ever a sneeze or to away from the threat of a return to tighter restrictions should COVID-19 make its way out of the hotel quarantine system and into the community.

It's a constant we must learn to live with, to acknowledge and ultimately accept for as long as we continue to bring Australians home, and afterwards, when international travel does return.

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Annoyingly, there's a frustration with government over some of the delays, confusion and changes that have accompanied the rollout of our nation's vaccination program.

We did as good a job as practically any other nation in combatting the pandemic when it erupted 13 months ago, a circumstance no doubt helped by our geographical isolation and being an island nation.

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But a series of stumbles and concerns about the timing of the rollout and supply and logistics issues have combined to create a significant problem for the federal government.

When we need our leaders to be at their absolute best, as a nation we have been let down.

Perhaps we should have expected things to change, and maybe to change again, given the past year or so has been about change at every turn and when we often least expected it.

During the Easter break as my family and I travelled interstate, it was interesting to observe how many people wore a facemask in the airports we passed through.

There were plenty of signs requesting people to do so, but very few of us who actually obliged.

My best guess is, it was mostly the Victorians who are the most accustomed to the pandemic and its potential to disrupt our lives, that did the right thing. Our learned experience has been far harsher and brutal than those of our fellow Australians in any other state.

Those memories alone are enough to drive us to do whatever it takes - and within our abilities, to prevent the chance of a relapse.

It's our shared hope that everyone else does too.

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