"I used to swim here as a little girl," Mrs Graham said, as she scanned Little Beach, where she was enjoying a picnic with her two daughters, her mother, and a friend and her daughter, all from Sydney. "Coming up here, I'm making new memories, living old memories."

But in this unforgettable year, Port Stephens has offered another attraction to the Sydney resident: a sense of escape in the face of COVID and all the restrictions applied around the pandemic.

"We want normalcy," she explained.

Kelly Graham and her family have been holidaying at a unit they own just across from the beach. She had noted she was hardly the only Sydneysider relaxing in Port Stephens.

"I think we're all coming to escape the lockdowns," Mrs Graham said. "I'd say it [Port Stephens] is just as busy as ever. We're busting at the seams."

Kelly Graham's observation of a busy Port Stephens tallied with the views of local tourism-related providers.

"Business has been outstanding; it's been the best December ever," said Andrew Macdonald, Chair of the tourism business organisation Destination Port Stephens and owner of the Hotel Nelson and the Little Nel cafe.

Andrew Macdonald said business for both the hotel and cafe had been up by about 40 percent on last year. A lot of that trade had been driven by people making the most of COVID restrictions easing.

"It's felt like Christmas holidays since September, but now it's gone up another notch," he said.

Many of the visitors have been from Sydney. The recent COVID outbreaks in the harbour city had impacted on accommodation bookings in Port Stephens - but only briefly, according to Andrew Macdonald. About five percent of his hotel's bookings were cancelled, but those vacancies were quickly filled by guests from other areas, desperately seeking a holiday destination they could travel to.

Andrew Macdonald said his experience applied across Port Stephens, as business boomed for accommodation providers: "Everybody is up."

Frank Future, who has been at the helm of Imagine Cruises for 25 years, has noticed the impact of all those "No Vacancy" signs in town.

"Nelson Bay Road is bumper-to-bumper coming in, because of all the day trippers; there's no accommodation," Mr Future said.

Frank Future said there was usually a "calm before the storm" at Christmas, but this year that pattern had changed, with the busy period starting earlier.

However, while COVID had encouraged people to look to Port Stephens for a holiday, the pandemic had also stirred up hesitation and uncertainty, and that was affecting businesses, such as Mr Future's.

He noted some people who had booked online for a cruise were cancelling or not turning up.

"There's obviously some people who are locked down and not coming," he said.

Moonshadow-TQC Cruises has also been riding peaks and troughs due to COVID.

"It's become exceptionally unstable," said business development manager Mel Turner.

The impact of COVID in Sydney has been felt on the water, and on the bottom line, in Port Stephens. Mel Turner said the company had received more than 100 cancellations in the past couple of weeks.

As it is, COVID restrictions have led to a decrease in passenger numbers allowed on board.

"We're now running at 55 per cent occupancy," Ms Turner explained.

On board the company's biggest vessel, Moonshadow V, where there would have been about 280 passengers on a cruise during previous Christmases, this year there were 150 people.

Frank Future said his boats were running at less than half their capacity, "but at least they're running". And the longer busy period had been good for making up for the losses earlier in the year, when the boats were shut down for about three months.

"At the moment we're 'as busy as', but we're living day by day, with what comes out of the health department," he said.

As well as attracting holidaymakers to the water, COVID had helped drive others to wine - or, at least, to the Hunter Valley's vineyards.

Bruce Tyrrell had observed the effect at the cellar door of his renowned Pokolbin winery. He recently looked out at the visitors' vehicles and noted "the average price of a motor car has gone up $25,000".

Many of those stepping out of the expensive cars are from Sydney, and they are apparently keen to drive away with a boot filled with cases of wine.

"A lot of people have said, 'This is the money we were going to spend overseas, so we've come here to spend it'," explained Mr Tyrrell.

While visitor numbers at Tyrrell's Wines had dropped a little this week, following the Sydney outbreaks, cellar door sales had been about double of what they were for this time last year, when bushfires and extreme heat wreaked havoc. Bruce Tyrrell said the strong cellar door sales "helped fill the holes" in other parts of the business during the year, particularly with COVID hitting restaurants, pubs and clubs.

Not far from Pokolbin at Wollombi, David Allwood, co-owner of boutique accommodation venue Somewhere Unique, said COVID had presented a double-edged sword for his business.

On the one hand, Somewhere Unique's two self-contained cabins on the fringe of the popular tourist village had been in big demand.

"We're looking to have the biggest January we've ever had," said Mr Allwood.

He said about 98 per cent of Somewhere Unique's guests came from the greater Sydney area, and they were looking for an escape but wanted to be close to home, should they need to return quickly.

"So with the perfect storm of circumstances, it's an ideal getaway for people," Mr Allwood said of Wollombi.

However, the recent outbreaks in Sydney and the restrictions applied meant Somewhere Unique was having to deal with rapidly changing plans.

Both cabins were fully booked for the period between Christmas and New Year's Day, but the guests had to cancel. One couple was from Avalon, and the other was from North Sydney.

So the cabin owners are waiting to see what impact COVID has on their January bookings.

"It's very much a day-by-day thing," David Allwood said.

Lake Macquarie City Council's holiday parks have seen a slight dip in occupancy rates due to COVID.

The four facilities were usually full at this time of the year, according to Lake Mac Holiday Parks Coordinator Garry Ellem, but they had been operating at about 86 percent capacity.

He said that drop was due to cancellations, including holidaymakers unable to travel because of "stay at home" rules, and some interstate guests cutting short their vacations because they were concerned about changes to restrictions. But the parks had been accommodating more local people.

"Our Lake Mac Holiday Parks team have welcomed more visitors from within the Hunter region as a result," he said.

Those involved in regional tourism hope that one legacy of COVID is that now more people's eyes have been opened to what is in their backyard, they will holiday locally more often.

Destination Port Stephens' Andrew Macdonald said the area had been showcased during this time. He hoped that would mean more visitors for longer stays, as they viewed Port Stephens as a destination for "an annual holiday rather than a weekend getaway".

Mel Turner, from Moonshadow-TQC Cruises, said even contending with the ongoing uncertainty, she took hope whenever she saw the smiles on passengers' faces.

"How can you step onto a boat with wild dolphins to be seen, excited crews and beautiful surroundings, and not enjoy it?," she said.

On New Year's Eve, the company had three boats heading out at "COVID capacity", with about 230 guests all up.

"Even though there won't be all the razzle dazzle, we're still looking forward to our passengers welcoming 2021 on the beautiful waters of Port Stephens," Ms Turner said.

Vigneron Bruce Tyrrell said he hoped more people would come out of the COVID experience with a better idea of what regional NSW was like, and that they thought, "maybe we don't need to go overseas".

For Wollombi's David Allwood at Somewhere Unique, this is the second summer of uncertainty. Last year, it was bushfires keeping potential guests away.

"We're much better off than we were then," said Mr Allwood. "But it would be lovely to have no dramas."

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