Cowra - How the World can Change

We were happily heading on our way to Melbourne to get the repairs done on the caravan. First stop was Cowra, about 4 hours south east of Sydney. We did manage to get in a little sightseeing done, before our precious April took sick.

Part of the war cemetary Cowra.

Cowra was the scene of one of Australia's most significant home based events of World War II, the Japanese breakout from the Cowra POW Camp. By the time the breakout was quelled, more than 200 Japanese prisoners and 5 Australian soldiers were dead. It was hushed up at the time, in the interests of National Security, but after the war, things changed a lot in Cowra.

Japanese Carden in Cowra.

Cowra has quite simply become Australia's centre for world peace. Cowra is where the Japanese War Memorial in Australia is situated. All of the Japanese servicemen killed in or over Australia, are buried in  this war cemetary. Australia's Peace Bell, presented by the United Nations, sits proudly in the city centre, able to be rung by anyone, in the name of world peace. Yes, we gave it a good ring! On the outskirts of the city, quite near the scene of the breakout, is the most beautiful Japanese Garden, set over 5 hectares (approx. 13 acres). It is magnificent, and whilst mid winter isn't the ideal time to visit, it is still quite something to see.

Parked at one of the
many churches in Carcoar

Nearby, are the old rural and mining communities, such as Carcoar and Canowindra. They have some magnificent old buildings, many of them churches, and all in various states of repair. Thankfully, many of them are enjoying a rebirth as either cafes, galleries and gift shops. In fact, in Canowindra, we found a gallery of works from an artist, Melissa Bauer, we had purchased our "Poppies" painting from. Apparently she is becoming "known". Go Mel! Get really famous. 

We also took a drive out to Young, cherry capital of Australia. On the  way, just outside Young, we came across some roadworks, where a large truck, choosing to ignore the reduced speed limits, threw up a good sized rock. It hit our windscreen with one of those "crack" sounds that you feel in your teeth, and left a big ugly star fracture. Thankfully it didn't split, but instead of sightseeing, we spent a couple of hours at the windscreen repair shop in Young. Still, Young seemed a nice town, and much bigger than Cowra, which surprised us.

We drove home via Boorowa, another quaint town, all the way looking at some lovely farming country, and a fastly fading puppy.

The rest of our stay at Cowra has been documented. Urgent trips to Sydney with April. April's sad passing, then a trip back to Sydney to see family and friends, and collect her beautiful little paw print urn, so April can continue the journey in spirit.

A special thanks to all of you, who have supported us through our sad time. We still have our moments, but the support has kept us going. Thank you all.

Back In Town

The blog is a bit like us at the moment, all over the place!
Before Shellharbour, we spent a couple of weeks back in Sydney, catching up with family and friends. This time we found a caravan park at Rockdale, which was able to fit us in. We had thought that this was a park for permanents only, but to our pleasant surprise, they do take a small number of casuals. It is very 1 Star, but it is clean and very central to our needs.

First stop was at mum's for a catch up and Chinese fix at the local Narwee chinese we have been going to for years. (Best lemon chicken in the universe!). After that it was a constant round of engagements.
We had dinner with Mark & Geoff and Robyn at a lovely Italian restaurant in Ramsgate. Those boys really do know how to find a good restaurant! We had to fit in visits to the doctor and the dentist, for some minor work and some major extractions from the wallet. The dentist was telling me about his recent golfing holiday to New Zealand. I asked if he had played at the now famous Cape Kidnappers Course. He said no, because it was very expensive. I got the bill, and told him Cape Kidnappers is on me, and I hope it blows a gale!!

On the score of golf, John teamed up with his old Wednesday partners at home club of Moore Park, and won the C Grade with a respectable 41 points, amid friendly jibes of burglar, and when are you leaving again? It really got up their noses when I backed up and won the Saturday C Grade with 42 points!!

Birthdays for 5

The long weekend included a family get together at Neil & Adrienne's house. The weather had turned horrible (again!), so the planned picnic had to be moved indoors. It turned into a 5 birthday celebration, with belated birthdays for John, Carol and David, and early celebrations for Neil & Erin. It was lovely to catch up with everyone, after a few months. Jenny & Dave had just returned from a lovely garden holiday through Italy, England and France, with a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show a highlight, though I was a little disappointed that we didn't get a Will & Kate Coffee mug!

Winning the Schnitzel Challenge

Tuesday night we revisited our Tuesday Schnitzel and movie night with Jill. It was lovely that Tracey & Dan, who we had missed at the family do, due to them being on holidays in Queensland, came as well. Dan was up to the Giant Schnitzel Tuesday Challenge, that comes with a schnapps reward. The movie was The Lincoln Lawyer, which we all enjoyed. So it was a great night of food and film for all.

Wednesday night, celebrated the Blues great victory over Queensland, with dinner and drinks at Keith and Nancy's. Finally had something to crow about, and hope that we now are a real show in the decider.

Lunch with Barbara at Grand Bouffe

Friday we enjoyed a lovely lunch, at our old favourite restaurant, The Grande Bouffe at Rozelle, as the guests of our Lilyfield friend and neighbour, Barbara. She is such a sweety, and we had such a lovely lunch, talking over old times, our travels, and her soon to happen house renovations. We had also taken the time for a catch up with our other neighbour Marlene. What a character she is. There is definitely only one Marlene!

Everyone at Mark & Jodie's

For the weekend, we were off to Camden for a lovely couple of days with Cheryl & Chris, and their sons Josh, and Mark and fiance Jodie. They had given John dinner at his favourite Camden Italian restaurant, as his 60th Birthday present. So it was off to dinner, and how good it was. Thanks guys! Sunday, after a hearty Cheryl breakfast of Carol's favourite savoury mince,  we took a drive with Cheryl & Chris down to Picton and later went to Ruane Winery, which is a lovely horse stud as well. The owners are the most friendly people, and literally throw open their home on the 3rd Sunday of each month for wine tasting and sales. The wine is good and very well priced, so our supplies were restocked. We also took a visit around to Mark & Jodie's new house, to check out all the new landscaping work, since our last visit. What a transformation.
All too soon. it was time to head back to Rockdale, to pack up and head for Shellharbour. Tuesday morning we were on the road again.

From Shellharbour we started our journey north. We got to Newcastle on Monday night 27th June. We arrived at the Teralba Lakeside Caravan Park, which was a similar 1 Star establishment, to Rockdale! Teralba is an outer suburb of Newcastle, and it is a little bit of suburbia that time has forgotten. A walk into town, was a walk back in time, but it was only to be a short stop, whilst the caravan was serviced at 7th Street Caravans, the place we purchased our van.

Next morning we towed the van into 7th Street Caravans, and our world started to turn upside down.
Firstly, the water damage around 3 of our caravan windows, which we had reported months ago, but were to be fixed at our first service, had deteriorated to the stage that it was now suggested the caravan must go back to the manufacturer in Melbourne, for the work to be done. It is now such a big job, and as it is to be done under warranty, we had no choice, so it seems our plans for travel north are now on hold, and Melbourne here we come again.

Secondly, our precious little April, had suddenly developed a nasty cough and was very short of breath. A visit to a local vet hospital, where we received wonderful help, told us how gravely ill she was, and filled us with dread. We called our own vet in Sydney, and Kathy told us to get back to Sydney and get April over to SASH at North Ryde, a specialist vet hospital. On Wednesday night April was in hospital, and as I write she is back at home with us, at our 1 Star Rockdale Hilton. The staff at SASH have been wonderful. She is very weak, and mostly sleeps, and we now know that she is not immortal. We just hope and pray we have a little more time. We will keep you posted.