After "frustrating" and "confusing" weeks watching their businesses forced to stay shut while pubs, clubs and beauty parlours could open, indoor sporting facilities were given a sigh of relief on Tuesday.
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The NSW government announced further easing of restrictions at 12 noon on Tuesday, allowing gyms, dancing studios and indoor centres to open from June 13, with junior sport given the all-clear from July 1.
Orange Tenpin Bowls owner and manager Marisa Belmonte said she was "delighted" to have the chance to reopen and welcome people through the door.
"We're ready, we're biting at the bit and people will so happy to have people walk through the door," she said.
"We've missed familiar faces, there are people who've been bowling here every week for 30 years so we're very excited.
She said is had been "hard to understand" why pubs and clubs could open but not the tenpin bowling centre, and while more clarity was being sought by Tenpin Bowling Australia about whether competition could resume, social bowls would reopen from June 13.
"We're hoping to find out if that can resume from June 13 or from July 1, but we're hoping it'll be back up and running very soon," Mrs Belmonte said.
"We're non-contact, socially distant, people have their own equipment they don't share," Mrs Belmonte said.
We've missed familiar faces, there are people who've been bowling here every week for 30 years so we're very excited.
- Marisa Belmonte
"We're already very sanitised up here - we clean the shoes, there's always been plenty of hand sanitiser up here and we clean down the balls and lanes before the next group so taking that next step of cleaning will be easy for us.
Mrs Belmonte had been confused as to how other places such as nail salons and hairdressers were able to reopen without any ability to be socially distant, and before the restrictions lifted said she wanted as many places back open as possible.
"Especially when we have a space which is so easy to have socially distance - people don't have to be in other people's space," she said on Tuesday morning.
"Why not have these regions where there's been no virus or hasn't been a case of the virus for weeks open back up?"
The Belmontes have been using the time productively, doing maintenance and painting and cleaning in the longest stint being closed in the nearly four decades they've run the bowling centre, but they'd much rather have people on the lanes.
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