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Photos and Video | Illawarra Mercury

Photos and Video

As 2018&nbsp;comes to a close, we take a look back at the year to see&nbsp;what made you click. This year’s top stories include&nbsp;out-of-control trucks, sex on trains, and a great white shark’s ‘test bite’ off Wollongong. Flick through the gallery to see the top stories of 2018. Click on the photo to read the online story. The Wollongong bushwalk you need to add to your bucket list 8 of the most&nbsp;haunted places in the Illawarra and South Coast

Flick through the gallery to see the top stories of 2018. Click on the photo to read the online story.

#21
In July, Wollongong's mini-golf cocktail bar opened. The colourful 18-hole mini-golf course, cocktail bar and karaoke rooms have drawn strong crowds over the ensuing six months.
*Click the image to read more*

#20
In October, family and friends farewelled Bellambi mum Kristie Powell. The 39-year-old was found inside her home with serious injuries on October 5. Her baby boy was found uninjured only metres away.
*Click the image to read more*

#20
After her death, Kristie's brother Ryan said the family were taking solace in the baby boy she left behind. "A mother was what she wanted to be. She was in her element... She never left his side. And she had that for five months," he said. 
*Click the image to read more*

#19
In March, CCTV captured a quick-thinking dad save his baby from a lunatic driver who tore through red lights at two of Wollongong’s busiest intersections.
*Click the image to read more*

#18
In November, a three-hour siege at Fairy Meadow ended after a 23-year-old man, who had barricaded himself in a residential property on the Princes Highway, was tasered and taken away by an ambulance under police escort.
*Click the image to read more*

#17
In August, former Bulli High School student Corey Ring, 25, suffered unsurvivable injuries while travelling as a passenger in a 4WD that plummeted off a 20-metre cliff at a remote coastal location.
*Click the image to read more*

#16
In March, Illawarra police made a chilling midnight find in a 'soundproof' van. Barrack Heights man Benjamin Hart later pleaded guilty to guns, drugs and child porn charges.
*Click the image to read more*

#15
In April, Oak Flats Roller Skating Rink closed over threats leveled in the aftermath of an allegedly homophobic incident. The skating rink was inundated with online abuse and phone calls after a same-sex couple reported they were asked to leave the venue.
*Click the image to read more*

#14
In June, a P-plater who led police on a dangerous, high-speed chase from Gerringong to Sutherland (travelling the distance in 37 minutes) was jailed.
*Click the image to read more*

#13
In March, it was revealed that a woman allegedly caught on camera performing oral sex on a fellow passenger on board a Wollongong train was a well-known petty criminal with a history of having sex in public.
*Click the image to read more*

#12
In July, House Rules renovated the Woonona home of Chelsea and Koa Dunley after they lost their husband and father, Wayde, in a fishing accident at Bundeena.
*Click the image to read more*

#11
In May, a 39-year-old was fatally stabbed in a targeted attack outside a Wollongong methadone clinic.
*Click the image to read more*

#10
In July, horrific crimes against a girl by her parents were detailed for the first time in court. Those who sat in on the 12-week trial described it as the worst case of child abuse they had heard.
*Click the image to read the story*

#9
In November dashcam footage emerged of a P-plater making an idiotic U-turn halfway up Mount Ousley.
*Click the image to read more*

#8
In May, the Illawarra rugby league community was shocked by the death of young Dapto Canaries player Tory Brunning, who collapsed at a league game.
*Click the image to read more*

#7
In November, there were scenes of chaos at Fairy Meadow where an out-of-control truck ploughed through multiple cars and into a unit complex fence.
*Click the image to read more*

#6
In October, the M1 Princes Motorway was closed for hours at Gwynneville after an overheight truck hit and damaged the overpass at University Avenue. Crews worked throughout the night to repair the overpass.
*Click the image to read more*

#5
In May, the Prime Minister vowed to build a four-lane bridge over the Shoalhaven River at Nowra and committed $155million to the project.
*Click the image to read more* 


#4
In January, a freediver walked away shocked but unscathed after a 3.5-metre great white shark snatched the fin from his foot, in waters off Wollongong’s Five Islands. 
*Click the image to read more*
Picture: Mitchell Scanlan-Bloor

#3
In July, a man walking his dog discovered a body on the fringes of a sports field at Shellharbour. The man was later identified as Brian Garcia. His death was not considered suspicious.
*Click the image to read the story*

#2
In February, two Aussie surfers revealed their rubbish bin for the sea invention. The Seabin is fitted with a pump to draw in nearby floating trash.
*Click the image to read more*

#1
In March, a randy Wollongong train traveller caught on camera engaging in a “free” sex act with a fellow passenger was convicted.
*Click the image to read more

As 2018&nbsp;comes to a close, we take a look back at the year to see&nbsp;what made you click.

This year’s top stories include&nbsp;out-of-control trucks, sex on trains, and a great white shark’s ‘test bite’ off Wollongong.

Flick through the gallery to see the top stories of 2018. Click on the photo to read the online story.

<a href="https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5556487/the-wollongong-bushwalk-you-need-to-add-to-your-bucket-list/" target="_blank">The Wollongong bushwalk you need to add to your bucket list</a>

7760a46e-1cce-405c-9528-7142ee62fdc1.jpg

<a href="https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4815089/8-of-the-most-haunted-places-in-the-illawarra-and-south-coast/" target="_blank">8 of the most&nbsp;haunted places in the Illawarra and South Coast</a>

Illawarra Mercury's 21 most-clicked stories of 2018

The Illawarra’s 21 most-clicked sto...

We take a look back at the year to see what made you click.

The Illawarra’s 21 most-clicked stories of 2018

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