As the Victorian border slams shut, the Queensland border is set to reopen.
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From Friday NSW tourists will be able to head on a Sunshine state holiday for the first time since March.
But that won't mean an end to the border checkpoint, with police and soldiers set to remain in position across the frontier for the forseeable future.
Tenterfield Mayor Peter Petty, who lives just a kilometre from the border, said patrols had been if anything stronger over the last few weeks.
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Mr Petty, who lives on the wrong side from his favorite pub, said he thought the checkpoint was a prudent policy that could even be kept up even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I support the border closures because I thought it was the only way that they could control [the virus]," he said.
"I was really surprised that NSW didn't close their side so both sides were getting checked.
"At the end of the day it's a border crossing. In other countries they patrol them with guns! But not in this country.
"As far as security goes, especially biosecurity, livestock whatever, it's a checkpoint. That's what it should be is a checkpoint."
He said he expects the COVID-19 checkpoints to remain for another three months at least.
A spokesperson for Queensland Health said from July 10 anyone from any state except Victoria can go north, so long as they've not been to Victoria in the last fortnight.
Travellers will need to make a simple online declaration about their movements and other information.
"On arrival at the border, you will need to present your Border Declaration Pass and photo ID," the spokesperson said.
People who try to enter Queensland who have been to a coronavirus hotspot in the previous 14 days will have the option of going into quarantine at their own expense of be turned around.
Mayor Petty said on Wednesday that he was sympathetic to the plight of communities in the south of NSW, but that the disruption of a closed border will gradually decrease.