cowra

Cowra, NSW
Site of POW Camp & Japanese Garden
December 23,1999

Arriving at the site of the POW Camp at Cowra I didn't know what to feel other than confused. Brian had supplied me with tapes on the historical facts which I watched before arriving in Australia to lend me insight to the history and facts of war we never learned in school. The facts of this story are that on August 5th 1944 the largest prisoner of war breakout in modern military history occurred at Cowra. Over 1000 Japanese prisoners launched a suicide attack on their Australian guards. The mindset of the Japanese prisoner was that their disgrace of capture could be overcome by dying in battle. 350 made it to freedom.

There were several remembrance places at the site and throughout the city itself. A truth in life never to be forgotton is that people die in war supporting their beliefs reguardless of how varied their truths are. Honour and respect have no equal in the heart of a man while defending their country.

The gardens did have some beautiful blooms and unique arrangement of buildings and samples of Japanese living space. I enjoyed walking the paths and discovering the small bridges and walkways connecting the various segments of the garden. After the days journey it was a relaxing time with a frequent sprinkle of rain. Water played an important part in the design of the park as it started at the top with a small waterfall and flowed down as streams and to the pond area.

The Japanese Garden at Cowra was so lovely. The welcome centre at the garden had many types of souvineers with a japanese look to it as well as books that had been written by POW's who had lived thru the escape telling their story and explaining why it happened. The Gardens are a result of a joint effort between two countries people to establish a beautiful connection of remembrance and respect.

Colourful mounds of flowers were seen springing from the well manicured lawns. The variety and mix of the green groundcover and the flowers was extremely eyepleasing, as I stood at the top looking down it was easy to see what area I wanted to visit next in the park. My mind trying to remember all but knowing the names of all the plants I was seeing would be lost on me but their beauty would never be forgotton.

The serenity of the streams as they calmly passed by traditional japanese design ornaments was so relaxing. The sound of the water passing over the rocks as it trickles and then splashed it 's way down the hillside of the park as it rushed to it's final tranquil moment of the pond with it's natural flow of recirculation of life giving. The small irrigation system set up with the bamboo directional feeding system kept the garden green while using the simplicity of what man has discovered without the distraction of sprinkler water systems. We concluded our tour of the gardens with a trip by the bonsai trees. The petite trees with the time consuming trimmings were beautiful and so well planned I enjoyed seeing the trees in bowls in a great work of nature and art combined.

We ended our time at the Gardens by visiting the museum with all it's beautiful displays of japanese items. As we wandered along the colourful displays of exquistely designed costumes for various ceremonies we paused looking at garments of different periods of time represented. The tools and weapons as well as dishes and household items were on display. The museum was wonderfully put together with a mix of space and design of the display that made it easy to follow and relaxing to visit. I enjoyed my time at Cowra as we finished the day with a relaxing walk to an oriental restaurant where we sat and relaxed in a pleasant atmosphere. I had looked forward to my visit to the Japanese Botanical Garden and the city that supported it and I wasn't disappointed at all. But then again Australia and disappoint do not belong together in a sentence.