Tuesday 20th September

We woke to a perfect Cowra day, cloudless be and with a prediction of 22 degrees. It was indeed the perfect conditions to visit the Japanese Gardens.

The 5 ha garden was established to recognize and develop the historic and ongoing relationship between the people of Cowra Shire and the people of Japan. They were opened in 1979 and like most Japanese Gardens they are a place of beauty and serenity.

This week was the perfect time to visit as the annual Cherry Blossom Festival is on next weekend. The majority of trees were in full Blossom and everything was perfectly prepared.


Leaving the gardens we drove on to the Cowra Common which has a walk through it called the Garrison Walk. Another thing that was never mentioned was the presence of an army garrison during WW2 and there are several remnants of buildings and even the  Garrison Entry Gates...who knew!

One thing I remember well was the new Civic Centre where our Year 10 presented the Pirates of Penzance...I was support crew!

The building now has some artistic murals on one wall.

I felt the town and surrounds were looking very prosperous and tidy except for the main street. Chatting to the Van Park proprietor she noted that the mayor had been in forever and no-one seemed keen to make any changes, sad really.

Wednesday 21 September

Happy Birthday to my big sister Bev and looking forward to the weekend celebrations.

Unfortunately today's weather is the polar opposite of yesterday's...wet and miserable. Considering the current weather reports I decided to check in to the van park at Lake Cargellico before we set out. Lucky I did as the rather flustered woman who answered the call said it was raining very heavily and she wasn't booking anyone in to the park...so back to the drawing board?

After some deliberation we decided to head to Griffith with our first stop Grenfell, Henry Lawson Country ( although Mudgee seemed to claim him too). He was looking a bit lonely on his park bench but it was far too wet to keep him company.


The pouring rain meant the streets were pretty quiet but the Chrysler Museum was open so we spent an hour on a personal tour with the owner. It was more interesting than I expected and I think he appreciated talking to someone who knew what he was talking about...that wasn't me!


He also pointed us in the direction of the silo art before we continued our journey.

The rain continued until we were about an hour from Griffith so spirits lifted...prematurely as it turned out. As we approached town we were greeted with an angry looking front ahead of us. By the time we reached our campsite it was 'plug in the power and we'll worry about the rest tomorrow.' Fortunately the rain wasn't accompanied by wind so it wasn't too bad.







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