Hollywood hero John Rambo famously claimed 'to survive war, you gotta become war'.
How does one become isolation?
Melburnians will all have different answers to how they survived the longest lockdown in the world - a war within themselves.
For now, the isolation is over.
But not for all. Friday wasn't so much 'freedom day', but 'a small step to getting back to normal' day.
People enjoy a sit down coffee at a cafe on Lygon Street in Carlton on Friday after enduring the longest lockdown on earth
Melburnians flocked to barbers and hairdressers as soon as they could on Friday, with waits of up to four hours at some city barber shops
Dine-in was back on Lygon Street in Carlton after 77 days of take-away in its latest lockdown
Melbourne's CBD returns to what has become its 'Covid normal' status over the past 18 months
As the sun rose in spectacular fashion, many young Melburnians would have been sleeping off a well earned hangover.
Victoria officially lifted its stay-at-home orders at 11:59pm on Thursday after the beleaguered state passed its 70 per cent Covid vaccination target.
Pubs and clubs that had been forced shut for the past 77 days finally swung open their doors.
Strict density limits at licensed venues saw lines of people snake down the road.
But they were together, talking to friends and strangers alike.
It is something Melbourne had been known for in the decades before Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews shut the door on it and sucked the life out of it like a thief in the night.
On Friday morning long suffering cafe owners smiled as they set up tables and chairs on the rocky alley along Hardware Lane.
Friday had begun much like any other day in lockdown.
It was quiet.
To someone who hadn't been to town since the pandemic began, they might think it all looked a bit creepy.
This is new Melbourne. Old Melbourne is dead.
K-mart on Bourke Street in Melbourne's CBD was one of only a few retailers to open-up on the street
Shoppers grab a bargain off the outdoor racks at a K-mart on Bourke Street on Friday
Thor the cat went for a walk on the Bourke Street Mall on Friday
Salon owner Joey Scandizzo of Joey Scandizzo Salon works on a client's hair in Melbourne on Friday
Across the suburbs, mop-topped people could be seen lining up in the streets outside barbers and hairdressers.
On Hardware Lane, dishevelled men waited anywhere up to four hours to have their locks lopped.
And wait they did.
Sat outside across the lane from a cafe that happily served them coffees while others enjoyed a civilised breakfast.
Around the corner, up the Bourke Street Mall, the signs of Melbourne's wretched predicament slaps city dwellers in the face.
It's still very much locked up.
Despite people being able to sit maskless in a cafe and pub or wait about to have a haircut, Melburnians cannot walk into Myer and buy a pair of jocks.
The mall remains locked in Covid hell.
Retail remains closed across the city.
Melbourne Central, QV, the city hat shop, they're all stuck in online limbo.
Melbourne shows the love for Sisto Malaspina who was killed by a terrorist on Bourke Street just outside his iconic cafe
Bourke Street Mall on Friday where all of the shops remained firmly closed despite the supposed 'Freedom Day'
