Cowra Japanese Garden

Having left Wombeyan Caves early in the morning, we stopped in Taralga for coffee, then again in Crookwell for pie and cake. From there we took the road via Binda and Bigga to Cowra. It was ok in the sun, but chilly otherwise. At one lookout point along the way there was even a patch of snow by the side of the road!

First stop in Cowra was the visitors centre. This has a fascinating exhibition about the WWII prisoner-of-war camp and the Japanese POW breakout in 1944 -- Camilla watched a brief holographic narration, while I read the displays.

The Japanese Garden in Cowra is superb -- the most impressive garden of its kind I have seen. It's huge, covering some 5 hectares, but we had it almost to ourselves and it was really peaceful.

There were birds feeding on the grass and in the trees: as well as more mundane Galahs and Eastern Rosellas, we saw our first Red-Rumped Parrots. Many of the trees were bare -- it would be nice to see the gardens when they have leaves, and if one could pick the right two weeks of the year when the cherry blossoms were blooming... In addition to the garden proper, the buildings at the front had a small collection of bonsai plants, a collection of cultural artifacts, and a rock garden.

We stayed in a simple motel in Cowra town centre and had dinner in one of the pubs. Camilla had a steak, which was quite decent, but I made the mistake of ordering fish and chips.

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