Aussirose Travel and Photography: Cowra, Koorawatha & Grenfell

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COWRA

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Cowra is quite a large country town. From the lookout it looks similar to Tamworth. If I didn't have to work, we would have only stayed for 2 full days. There is not a lot to do in Cowra. The water tower art was ok, another one to add to our Silo Art Trail. Bellview Hill Lookout was definitely worth the effort to walk up the rock steps. They have a huge Japanese Gardens but they wanted $20 per Adult to enter. I just took a photo from outside and one through the fence, and we spent our $40 at the pub instead. 😀

Whilst I was working, hubby went into town and ended up in the Library finding out about his heritage. We went there the next day so that he could download all of the information on a hard drive. They spent so much time locating more and more family history, from way back in Scotland, coming out on the boat etc, etc.... that I decided to go for a wander down the main street.

The Information Centre is pretty clinical. Didn't have the charactor that I have seen in other Information Centres. I bought a chilli chutney that has a definite punch. Will be nice with a sharp cheese and a good red. Opposite the Info Centre is a beautiful big rose garden. We stopped to smell the roses. And next door to the Info Centre is a beautful shady Cafe which looked to be popular.

Cowra has a lot of visitors that are interested in WWII. There is now an affiliation with Japan, after they forgave eachother. I don't like war at all, so I was not interested in learning anything about this.

On the way to Cowra, hubby was concerned about a slow leak in the caravan tyre. I didn't want hubby trying to jack the van up to check so I quickly googled a tyre place and found Tyrepower in Cowra. So I called them and they said they could fit us in. Well turns out it was probably just to do with the tyre valve. Well that was a relief, but best bit was that they did not want to charge us. I was willing to pay, even $50, but the lovely guy didn't want to take anything. Well that was worth me giving them 5 stars on Google. What amazing service!

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COWRA HOLIDAY PARK

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One word to describe Cowra Holiday Park. Rundown.

I chose this caravan park as it has a pool. After 3 years living in the cold, I needed to stay at caravan parks with pools. The one in town looked better but didn't have a pool. In hindsite, we should have stayed in town instead.

The pool was the best bit. The rest..... well, I'll let you decide from the photos. BBQ area totally ovrrun by spiderwebs, yukkk. The owner must have a train station fettish. There were old train station seats and memorabilia everywhere as well as train signals. Check out the tiling in the bathrooms. lol. Toilets didn't flush. Bore water, but a tank if you wanted to fill the kettle. BTW, the tank water didn't taste real good either, so we used our water in our tank instead.

Grant, the host was nice. He gave us a good discount on the $40 they charge here, so at least that was a bonus. The caravan park is located about 3 k's out of town. On the way there, we spotted camels, so just had to stop for a quick photo.

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GRENFELL

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The above photo was taken in 2022 when we drove through Grenfell from Forbes to Young. This time we drove through Grenfell on our way from West Wyalong to Cowra. This time we parked just behind the main street and had lunch at the Cri, local lingo for the Criterion Hotel. They had $15 lunch specials so we chose the burger & chips. Totally recommend. Very tasty indeed. Tookie was a hit here with the locals.

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Walking up the little main street, I came across a little antique shop full of amazing stuff! Tip Finds Redesigned was a great visit. Full of all sorts of crystal, carnival glass, amber glass and other antiques. It was here that I found a bowl for our salads and also couldn't help but buy a little amber glass one for our cheese platters. It's a shame they do not have a website, just on facebook. Otherwise I would have given a google 5 Star.

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KOORAWATHA

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I love bush walks. Koorawatha Falls is a nice place to spend some time. Unfortunately the falls were not falling but there were still plenty of photo opportunities here.

Koorawatha is about 35min out of Cowra. We had planned to visit the recently renovated Pub in town, but on the day they were closed. So much for false advertising. Seems that the Pub is again up for sale, so I am guessing there is not a great deal of passing traffic here.

Heading out to the falls, you will need a 4x4 or at least a car with high clearance. It is a very rocky track in parts with big rut holes, so we took it easy. The walk in is easy for most parts. Hubby assisted me on a couple of occasions.

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AUSSIROSE STORY

We nearly lost Tookie!

I took Tookie out of his backpack to check out his surroundings. Tookie climbed up on my shoulder for a better view. Hubby was taking a video from around the corner of the swimming hole.

It was then, that Tookie decided to take flight. Maybe something spooked him, I have not idea, but he decided to fly over the water. I freeked, hubby freeked, Tookie definitely freeked, glided low over the water and came in for a landing in the drink.

What happened next was a blur of panic. Hubby drove into action, running over the rocks, heavy camera gear and all. I wanted to enter the water, but hubby yelled no! By this time, the bird had swum over to the rocks on the other side and was trying to crawl up. Hubby entered the water and swam over, rescuing Tookie who clung onto hubby's finger for dear life and he swam, one handed back to our side to give Tookie to me.

See video below where the very moment Tookie took off, was captured by hubby on video.