See the eerie streets across Australia's east coast during lockdown

But it's a sight many of us haven't actually seen - stuck at home, or at least within a five kilometre radius of it, we aren't wandering the main streets of our cities CBDs as usual.

With COVID-19 cases showing no signs of stopping any time soon in some communities, hopes now lay with the vaccine rollout so that we'll be able to walk the pavements of the shopping strips and browse again.

Above are photos that showcase the quiet that's fallen across towns and cities in NSW, Victoria and the ACT as the lockdowns roll on.

Keep reading to check out the pre-pandemic photos of many regional centres juxtaposed with how the very same streets looked most recently.

In Canberra, it's an eerie sight with the main streets void of cars, compared to the bustle before lockdown hit.

And if that wasn't stark enough evidence of the change a lockdown can bring, try the Australian Institute of Sport Arena. Once a mecca for athletes and sports fans, now a completely different feel as it has morphed into being a vaccination hub.

Sat in the New England region of NSW, the Northern Daily Leader captured the streets of Tamworth. Normally a major regional hub, it's been very quiet of late with barely a person to be seen.

Tamworth recorded its fourth consecutive day of mystery positive sewage test for COVID-19 on Saturday. There are no known cases in the country music capital but the community remains on alert.

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Having been declared part of Greater Sydney, the streets of Wollongong have been quiet for more than 10 weeks. The usually thriving CBD district, particularly Crown Street mall, is a dim memory of its former self.

Usually Albury's Dean Street is full of activity - retail, business and social. And the odd character dressed for another time and place. But right now, as yet another lockdown bites, the shadows are imposing.

In Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid-North Coast a general measure of activity is the breakwall walk. Generally a haven for strollers, walkers, joggers and fisherfolk, the emptiness is symptomatic of the times. Yes, Por Macquarie is in lockdown, too.

Liebig St in Warrnambool is generally a great measure of activity in the south-west of Victoria. The once busy centre of town in now a shadow of its former self as the impact of another lockdown reverberates.

Newcastle's Darby Street is well known as a lively, bustling hub in the heart of Newcastle, NSW, with a diverse mix of stores, cafés, bars, restaurants and businesses. And while it's still all those things, it's just not quite the same during lockdown.

Meanwhile in Tasmania ... it's business as usual. And that probably doesn't mean the mass movement you may have expected in other major centres. This is Launceston's Brisbane Street Mall. It is important to point out the photo on the left is from June 2021. The one on the right was taken in March 2020.

Dubbo, in western NSW, has been hit hard by the latest outbreak of the Delta variant. On Saturday the city recorded a further 22 positive cases of COVID-19, making the Western NSW total now 759.

Louise Thrower from the Goulburn Post snapped these images of the town's Auburn St pre-pandemic and most recently last week in the midst of lockdown.

Here's how the Ballarat Courier told the story of the most recent lockdown. As news of the imminent lockdown leaked out so did traffic onto the city streets as people prepared. There were queues trying to get into carparks and shopping centres but as quickly as they formed on August 23, they disappeared.