Albury hit a high of 41.8 degrees at 2:25pm on Saturday, bypassing the previous November record set in 2019 when the mercury climbed to 40.9 degrees.

But the heat didn't stop residents from enjoying the weekend of freedom, with many flocking to Noreuil Park.

Jack Fletcher decided to get to the river early with daughter Matilda.

"I was surprised, I got down here at 9am and most of the seats in the shade were already taken," he said.

While the border checkpoint is now a thing of the past, he admitted it had become second nature to expect to be stopped.

"You get ready for it and then it's not there," Mr Fletcher said.

Maree Harper also decided to start Saturday at the river with children Alex and Phebe.

However, she had some more festive plans in mind to stay out of the sweltering afternoon heat.

"We're going home to put the Christmas tree up," she said.

"Normally we wait until the first of December, but we thought there's no rules this year."

Ms Harper, who lives in Albury and works in Wodonga, said it was great to have the two towns united again.

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Further down the banks, John Martin was offering some relief.

After opening Foxy's Ice Creams at Norieul Park a month ago, Mr Martin said he's seen an increase in the amount of foot traffic.

"There's more people around," he said.

"In that first month things were pretty quiet, but things have picked up in the warmer weather."

After falling ill last year and giving up his job, Mr Martin bought the van anticipating a busy year at festivals before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but instead struggled to get a permit to trade.

"Just to get somewhere to trade has been hard," he said.

"Financially we've taken a really big hit over this last nine months."

Mr Martin said mango-passionfruit and lemon-lime appeared to be the flavours of the season.

The weekend also marked a special reunion for siblings Emily Sarroff and Lizzy Delarue, with Melbourne based Ms Delarue finally able to visit Albury.

"It's been a long while since we've seen her," Ms Sarroff said.