TAKE your place for an unparalleled view of the Sydney fireworks this new year’s eve at a top class party at Kurrajong Hills.
Loxley on Bellbird Hill is hosting a big party to celebrate not only the turning of the year, but Loxley’s 185th anniversary.
You can survey the whole of the Sydney basin from this spectacular venue halfway up its rim, so other than Sydney Harbour, it would be hard to think of a better spot to make it a memorable way to see in the new year.
Host Paul Maher promises a night full of fun, fashion, free prizes, and fabulous food and is asking revellers to dress either in their flashy finest, or in an historical costume from anytime since 1833, when the property first began.
Loxley’s award-winning chef is preparing a buffet of seafood, various meats and delicacies that date from 1833 right through until now.
Music will be provided by the Hawkesbury’s own Blake Morrison, who ran Blake’s Music Centre at Thompson Square in Windsor from 1983 for 21 years. He also played for Beatles tribute bands The Beatnix and The Australian Beatles Show.
Loxley’s long history has an esteemed pedigree due to its connection to Sydney’s Botanic Gardens. Local historians Kathy McMahon and Greg Upton researched the property’s history, published in the Millstone newsletter in 2005. They said the original 50 acre grant on which Loxley was built was made to William Townsend in 1833. He named the property Mt Pleasant.
His sons later sold it to the director of the Botanic Gardens, Charles Moore, in 1859. He had visited Kurrajong in 1850 on a plant-collecting trip. At this time it was farmed by Thomas Arkinstall,who also worked at the Botanic Gardens. He is thought responsible for many of the old plantings including an ancient kauri pine.
Thomas Arkinstall stayed on when it was sold to Richard Holsworth in 1863. He later on named it Loxley and in the late 1890s donated a portion of the property to help establish Kurrajong North Public School.
Cost of the event is $130 a head, from 7.30pm-1am. It’s at 93 Bells Line of Road, phone 4567 7711.