The commercial centre of a strong agricultural area that covers horticulture, aquaculture and viticulture (it has numerous boutique vineyards), Cowra has a fascinating military history.

Where is it?: New South Wales: Central West. Cowra is 365 km west of Sydney on the Lachlan River at the junction of the Mid Western and Olympic Highways.

Events: the history of the town has led the town to focus on and promote the values of pacifism and internationalism, which are at the centre of the annual Festival of Understanding.

Lookouts: Bellevue Hill Lokout good views of the town, Lachlan River and surrounding countryside. At the bottom of the lookout there are playgrounds and free barbecues with lights that come on at night for evening barbecues.

In 1944 more than 1,000 Japanese prisoners of war attempted to escape from a local internment camp. The breakout resulted in the deaths of 231 prisoners and 4 Australian soldiers. Cowra has since forged a remarkable friendship with Japan, and there are many tributes to this relationship around the town, including a Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre, Prisoner of War Theatre and the World Peace Bell.

Things To See and Do

The Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre was erected on a 5-ha site as a symbol of the historical ties between Cowra and Japan. It was funded by the Australian and Japanese governments and by private donations but is maintained on a non-profit basis by tourism. The garden was designed to reflect the total Japanese landscape. It was also designed to blend in with the indigenous environs, consequently gum trees surround the garden. A traditional tea house sits on an island.


Australia's World Peace Bell, a replica of the original which hangs in the United Nations Building in New York, is located in Civic Square, Darling St (just off Kendal St). It was bestowed upon Cowra due to local efforts to foster peace and international understanding.

To the north of the Cultural Centre are remnants associated with the Prisoner of War Camp associated with the Cowra breakout of 1944. A memorial cairn and a monument to the many Italian POWs marks the locality. From the memorial cairn there is a walking track that takes in the remains of the campsite.

The Japanese POWs who died in the breakout were originally placed in mass graves. In 1964 a war cemetery was established to which the remains of all Japanese POWs who died in Australia were transferred. It contains 522 graves, including Japanese nationals who died during the attack on Darwin, and Japanese civilians who died in internment camps.

Surrounding area


Lachlan Valley Railway Society was set up to restore and maintain steam locomotives and rolling stock. It is open on weekends; steam-train rides operate on the second full weekend of each month and on long weekends from March to November. Ph (02) 6342 4999.


Wyangala Waters State Recreation Area covers over 2000 ha, making it the third-largest state recreation area in NSW. The lake has a storage capacity of over one million megalitres and a surface area 2.5 times that of Sydney Harbour. It is surrounded by timbered slopes with granite outcrops.