Last week, Echuca’s central business district was like a ghost town.
The only people in the streets were people madly sandbagging their businesses or emergency services workers keeping an eye on river levels and operating pumps to get rid of rain water.
On Monday, the first vestiges of businesses in High and Hare streets tentatively opened their doors and joined the few shops that have operated this whole time.
By Tuesday, many more had pulled back the sandbags and thrown open their doors.
While many are operating with reduced hours, it almost looked like a normal day by lunchtime.
Almost.
There were piles of sandbags beside shop doors, and many more still lined along the front of businesses that were still closed.
But there were cars parked in the street, and some people wandering. There was almost a buzz among those who had ventured back into the streets
One of the first businesses to re-open its doors on Monday was Beechworth Bakery.
Located in High St, with the Campaspe River immediately behind it and the Murray River only one street away, it was one of the most vulnerable.
It had been closed for an entire week, with staff members stripping the bottom floor of as much as they could, including the ovens pies are baked in.
On Monday, October 26, they tentatively pulled back the sandbags from one door and opened to the public for a few hours.
They had sandwiches and coffees to offer customers, but the plan was to have cakes and pies also available for sale on Tuesday.
General manager Beck Bachelor said the bakery felt it was time to open the doors on Monday for residents to be able to have something available to buy.
She said with the Campaspe River dropping, a wall of sandbags in place and pumps working in the car park next door to pump rainwater back over the wall, she felt confident the business would be okay.
“We’re pretty confident to open,” she said.
Echuca Newsagency returned to newspaper deliveries again on Sunday after several days of papers not arriving at the shop.
On Monday, the owners opened the front door of the shop to customers for a few hours for the first time in a week.
Nearby 7 Beans Coffee, also in Hare St, opened on Tuesday morning.
Owner Kyle Bartlett said the time had come to re-open.
“We can’t just stay closed,” he said.
“We’ve been closed for five days.
“Nothing has happened and the river has reached its peak.
“And the SES and CFA have done their job well. It’s why we are not under (water).
“And it gives you more confidence to open if they’re there.”
While he has cleared the sandbags from the front door, he is not getting rid of them yet.
“We’ll still have sandbags on standby,” he said.