As we reach the end of 2014 it is time to look back at the year that has been.
What a great year it has been. We only started The Kuringai Examiner around Easter, but since then we have published over three hundred stories and had more than 20,000 different people drop in for a look.
We have big plans for 2015, but let’s take a look back at some of the interesting stories of 2014, the quirky stories and the ones that will have an impact way in to next year include:
Announcement of North Connex The North Connex Tunnel will be a game changer, linking the M1 and M2 motorways and bypassing the gridlocked and frustrating Pennant Hills Road, |
Renaming of the Pacific Highway The Pacific Highway through Hornsby has been renamed to Peats Ferry Road. The change recognises George Peat who was one of the key characters in the area. On Peat’s suggestion, the government constructed Peats Ferry Road between 1847 and 1852, joining his ferry wharf to Pearces Corner in Wahroonga. |
10/50 Regulations The 10/50 regulations which relate to the rights of a property owner to remove trees from around their property have been a hot topic in the area. We live in a highly forested region of Sydney which has a high fire danger. However, not all residents have used the regulations simply to manage fire danger on the property. |
We met and spoke to a number of local identities including:
Matt Kean Matthew Kean is Member for Hornsby and Parliamentary Secretary for Communities in the NSW Parliament. This interview was conducted at the offices of Matthew Kean prior to Christmas 2014, in the same week as the siege of the Lindt Chocolate shop in Sydney CBD. |
Paul Fletcher Paul Fletcher is the Federal Member for Bradfield and Parliamentary Secretary to The Minister for Communications. He holds a BA, LLB and an MBA from Columbia University. Paul is a tireless traveller and frequent user of Twitter. We managed to grab the chance to have a one-on-one interview with Mt Fletcher in his electorate offices in Lindfield. |
Jennifer Andersen In a wide-ranging, two-part interview Mike meets with the newly elected Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Jennifer Anderson as she takes office for the third successive term. |
Local politics were not always simple, with the NSW Police and Hornsby Council disagreeing over the levels of graffiti in the area. https://www.kgex.com.au/police-council-disagree-graffiti/
We ate at (reviewed) many restauarants. The ones that stand out include:
Hux Bar and Grill Jay Huxley invited us around for a steak at his restaurant in Roseville. The steak is called “The Tomahawk” which is 1.3kg in size and slow-cooked “sous vide” in a 55 degree water bath for 1.5 hours before Jay sears them on his grill for a minute each side to bring out the flavour. |
Maslows Maslows is a really new, funky cafe in Pymble. Julian Yin ran a video interview and review of Maslows. |
Taste of Texas BBQ Our review of Taste of Texas had a huge reaction. For some reason it was one of the biggest stories of the year being shared more than forty times and having thousands of readers. Probably because they’ve got good food and we really liked. One of the great finds this year. |
We drank craft beer at the Willoughby Spring Festival and we reviewed craft beer from some good, local suppliers.
 Competing with the Willoughby Spring Festival was the St Ives Medieval Fare as well as the Festival on The Green and the Wahroonga Food & Wine Festival. |
And then there was sport.
 The football fans saw Willoughby Dalleys win the Premier League and Kissing Point win the NSFA Cup. Berowra got floodlights for its home ground and Harry Kewel ran a master class at Lindfield. |
 In Subbies rugby Brothers and Newport shared the 1st Grade Barraclough Cup, but Brothers were the stand-out club being promoted from Div 2 to Div 1 where they will meet teams like Knox Old Boys next year. |
 SNORC successfully ran the inaugural Old Man’s Valley Bike Festival at Hornsby Quarry. |
When we started The Kuringai Examiner we thought we were going to have to work hard to find a continuous thread of interesting things to do, see, experience, sample and visit. Wow, we were happily mistaken! There is so much going on and so much more that we need to see, visit and talk about.
I’m looking forward to 2015!
