Victorians hit Melbourne before six weeks lockdown for COVID-19

Melburnians have converged on the CBD under magnificent winter sunshine to farewell their lives as they know it for the next six weeks. 

Beers were flowing across the city as people congregated as part of a civilised society for the last time.  

For many restaurants and bars, it will be the last time they open at all, with many already struggling. 

Along Hardware Lane, towards Melbourne‘s court precinct, friends and families queued up outside restaurants for a seat. 

People continue to shop prior to the general lockdown in Melbourne on Wednesday. Melbourne’s streets were busy with people doing last minute shopping and socialising 

Caitlyn Teresa (Right) and Di Pasquale Teresa are seen dining out at Vons Restaurant and Bar in Hardware Lane in Melbourne's CBD on Wednesday

Caitlyn Teresa (Right) and Di Pasquale Teresa are seen dining out at Vons Restaurant and Bar in Hardware Lane in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday 

Panic buying gripped some of Melbourne on Wednesday with people stocking up on toilet paper and other staples

Panic buying gripped some of Melbourne on Wednesday with people stocking up on toilet paper and other staples 

Many were seen embracing and openly flouting the public distancing requirements that have doomed them to confinement.

On Degraves Street, in the heart of the city, cafes served their last lunch time customers. 

Flinders Street Station across the road was bustling with activity, with drinkers enjoying their last tipple inside the iconic Young & Jacksons. 

Along the Yarra, pint met pint as work colleagues drank away the afternoon. 

From burger joints to  Asian restaurants, crowds were seen lining the streets to sit down among friends and enjoy a simple meal. 

On Wednesday, Melbourne had come alive. 

Thursday would be dealt with come tomorrow. 

As the sun beat down, some Melburnians dared to strip off to their wastes and for a moment pretend it was warmer. 

It will be practically spring by the time most venture back onto the streets of Melbourne again. 

For all that is known, it could be summer. 

Underlying the joy of simple pleasures is the simple fact that the streets of Melbourne will be mostly deserted again. 

Customers line for burgers outside a popular burger joint on Elizabeth St in Melbourne on Wednesday

Customers line for burgers outside a popular burger joint on Elizabeth St in Melbourne on Wednesday

A drinker enjoys one final glass of white in the once-thriving Degrave's Street in Melbourne's CBD on Wednesday

A drinker enjoys one final glass of white in the once-thriving Degrave’s Street in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday 

Friends gathered on Degraves Street for a final lunch together before lockdown kicks in

Friends gathered on Degraves Street for a final lunch together before lockdown kicks in 

Hardware Lane was also bustling with activity on Wednesday. Some businesses are resigned to never open again after the latest lockdown

Hardware Lane was also bustling with activity on Wednesday. Some businesses are resigned to never open again after the latest lockdown 

And the businesses that have embraced today will be largely closed. 

Their employees – many of whom had only just returned to work – will be back on the COVID scrap heap. 

Vons Restaurant and Bar manager Richard Gardner said the business would be lucky to survive the latest lockdown. 

The previous one had almost destroyed it.

Hardware Lane, where the restaurant competes in a competitive market, is popular with tourists traffic.   

Rent along the strip is high and any reduction in business is potentially deadly.

‘This could end us,’ Mr Gardner said. ‘I think it will be the end for quite a few businesses. It’s very, very sad.’ 

At a nearby table, sisters Caitlyn Teresa and Di Pasquale enjoy a birthday drink.

The wine bar along the lane is heaving with customers. 

Come tomorrow they will be washed away like tears in the cold Melbourne rain. 

In the suburbs, people caught up for a coffee and something to eat together at their favourite cafes. 

Men and women got their done and people rushed into the gym.  

Take away coffees and order-in food will all too soon become their lives again. 

At supermarkets, the ugliness of lockdown was there to be seen. 

The hoarding had kicked off hours after Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Wednesday afternoon that he was locking down the best part of the state.

Cole’s and Woolworths were quick to implement restrictions on ordinary household items. 

Just ‘panic buyers’ … or a coordinated raid? Shoppers spotting buying up household essentials at several supermarkets in Melbourne COVID-19 hotspot

A family of shoppers were spotted buying up essentials at supermarkets in Melbourne's western suburbs

A family of shoppers were spotted buying up essentials at supermarkets in Melbourne’s western suburbs

Daily Mail Australia watched the shoppers visit one supermarket, load up, and then do the same at another

Daily Mail Australia watched the shoppers visit one supermarket, load up, and then do the same at another

Melbourne returned to panic buying across the lockdown zones on Wednesday. 

In Werribee, some shoppers took it to low extremes not seen since March when hoarders caused chaos for ordinary Victorians, and indeed, Australians. 

A team of female shoppers, which included a youth, were spotted by Daily Mail Australia buying up products that had already been restricted by supermarkets. 

The group were seen going from supermarket to supermarket, filling loading up on toilet paper and other essential items before loading them into the car. 

On Wednesday, supermarket chiefs condemned the hoarding of household products. 

Coles chief operations officer  Matt Swindellstold Melbourne radio that shoppers had no need to panic buy products. 

He said if people continued to plunder shelves they could be forced to implement specific shopping times again for the vulnerable. 

‘It is really all the same behaviour across toilet paper, pasta, rice , flour. So what I would kind of describe as non-food essentials and pantry staples,’ he said. 

‘And it’s all the products that everyone worked so hard …  over the prior months to rebuild those stock levels and get us back to a normal position.’  

Melbourne was bustling with people in the CBD before lockdown on Wednesday

Melbourne was bustling with people in the CBD before lockdown on Wednesday 

Iain (right) Maggie (Centre) and Romy (left) are seen enjoying a drink at Young and Jacksons in Melbourne's CBD on the last day before stage 3 lockdown

Iain (right) Maggie (Centre) and Romy (left) are seen enjoying a drink at Young and Jacksons in Melbourne’s CBD on the last day before stage 3 lockdown

Richard Gardner, manager from Vons Restaurant and Bar in Hardware Lane in Melbourne's CBD on Wednesday

Richard Gardner, manager from Vons Restaurant and Bar in Hardware Lane in Melbourne’s CBD on Wednesday

The supermarkets called for sanity, but the message was largely lost. 

Again, the go-to products were toilet paper, mince, chicken and items that the supermarkets would ordinarily be quick to restock.

Fresh vegetables flew off the shelves and slabs of beer from the fridges. 

Lines of people stretched outside of supermarkets across Melbourne.

Elderly people clambered for supplies in the hope they would not need to come back again for some time. 

But others were just downright nasty. 

Blatant hoarders were at it again, scooping items from various supermarkets. 

At the high rise commission towers just outside of the city, residents hoped for an end in sight to their lockdown nightmare. 

They have been unable to even leave their units since last Saturday. 

Food gathering for them has become a cruel mind game at the hands of their keepers.

Ugly footage from within their concrete walls has flooded across social media. 

As the sun set across the West Gate bridge, city commuters sat in what would be their last traffic jam for the foreseeable future. 

Unlike the last lockdown, Melburnians are not headed into the unknown. 

There is no novelty about it. 

This time around it is pain. 

A city barber is seen cutting hair before stage 3 lockdown restrictions come into play

A city barber is seen cutting hair before stage 3 lockdown restrictions come into play

Crowds of people are seen walking through Melbourne's CBD and the Bourke Street Mall on the last day before stage 3 lockdown

Crowds of people are seen walking through Melbourne’s CBD and the Bourke Street Mall on the last day before stage 3 lockdown

Crowds at the Bourke Street Mall on Wednesday. Tomorrow it will be a ghost town

Crowds at the Bourke Street Mall on Wednesday. Tomorrow it will be a ghost town 

Grand parents tonight will hug their grand kids on their birthdays and kiss them goodbye for maybe the last time. 

This time it seems senseless. A blunder most place at the feet of their Premier Daniel Andrews. 

Former detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles probably summed up best what many people in the city were saying. 

The world-renowned detective had his fair share of dealing with government bungling during his long and decorated career. 

‘Most of this started from Hotel quarantines,’ he wrote on Facebook hours before lockdown. 

‘People left without being tested. Who was in charge, the Government. Now a Judicial inquiry as to how this happened. Lets not spend the money surely someone can put up there hand and accept accountability.’