With Greater Sydney in lockdown, Huskisson business owners who rely on busy weekend trade from visitors are hurting, describing Owen Street as a "ghost town".
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One business owner said it's hard to walk down the once-bustling main street without tearing up.
"The weekends are very quiet, it's quite shocking. It's really difficult to walk down the main street without crying," said Esther Ramm, who helps run her family-owned holiday apartment, 62 Owen at Jervis Bay.
"When people from Sydney can come, the town is a buzz and we're usually giving way to the visitors when we're walking down the street.
"But now I feel like Huskisson is holding its breath. And hopefully we can all breathe that sigh of relief as soon as possible."
Esther said 62 Owen at Jervis Bay has lost the majority of its bookings since the June school holidays when the Greater Sydney lockdown started.
"This weekend a couple was due to come from Canberra. So even regional areas who do have the freedom to move around are a little bit nervous to do so, which is understandable," she said.
"It's gotten to the point where I'm too nervous to check my phone, because it will either be a ping from a booking or another cancellation."
And with lockdown extended by another four weeks, businesses owners are holding on to hope to get through on the other side.
Annie Aldous, who owns Aquatique clothing stores with her husband Arnold, described trade in the Huskisson store as "flat as anything".
"The Huskisson shop is usually quieter in winter but the weekend trade is what we rely on," she said.
"We don't have the day trippers who come on the weekend which is what keeps us going through the winter."
Business owners said despite the disappointment of slower trade, it was good to see people doing the right thing and staying home - for the most part.
"It's good to see everyone wearing their masks when they're walking on the street," said Sammantha Cruickshank, licencee of the Huskisson Hotel.
"But every couple of days, we still get people trying to come down from Sydney and saying 'oh it just says Sydney on my licence'. And we have to refuse entry.
"A lot of the time people kick off about it and say they've been holidaying down here and they've been here for a certain amount of time. But at the end of the day, we've just got to protect our staff and the community," said Sammantha
In comparing this year's lockdown to last year's, the business owners agreed that this is the quietest they have seen Huskisson.
"Last lockdown, once everything opened back up we were quite busy and were able to recover," said Sammantha.
"I'd say this year with trade, being winter and having COVID restrictions together has just been so hard.
"I've been here for three years, which has been across the bushfires, COVID and all the rest, and this period is definitely the quietest I've ever seen it.
Annie said having JobKeeper last year helped alleviate some of the stress last year, and that news of the targeted lockdown financial package, which extends beyond the Greater Sydney hotspots, brings a bit of relief.
"Last year was challenging and very stressful because it looked like we were going to have to let everyone go. And my staff are like my family," said Annie through teary eyes.
"It was horrible, we were all here crying and crying. But with JobKeeper, we were able to keep pretty much everyone except for a few casuals, which we managed to get back."
"JobKeeper helped people spend in the town, too. This year there isn't any JobKeeper. There are things to help but people have to reach out if they want the income supplement so it's a bit harder for people to get help."
Support local
While businesses are hurting, most agreed that now is the time to spend locally and explore our own backyards.
"People aren't working as much as they're used to, so it can be hard for them to go out and spend money in their own backyard. But for those in a position to do so, I would say support local as much as you can," said Sammantha.
"If you've got the weekend off, get your coffee from down the road, get pizza from the pizza shop, come to the pub for a beer - whatever you can to help."
Esther has even found a silverlining to the slow trade.
"A couple weeks ago, we had a beautiful couple from Nowra come and stay for a couple of nights. And that was that was the first time in 10 years we've had somebody from so close by come and stay," she said.
"So for us as a family as a small business in the town that this really lifted our spirits and it was just it was really special."