Back in April I did a trip to Canberra with the run group I’m in to take part in the Canberra Times Marathon Festival (I did the 10k event) and combine that with a small detour on the way home via Cowra to visit the Japanese gardens there.
On the way to Canberra I stopped in Goulburn, however deviated from my normal go to cafe (the Paragon) and chose Cafe 5911. I’d seen this on a previous strip and it caught my eye as a potential worthy stop. Quite an interesting little place started by an Indian immigrant a few years ago, the cafe gets its name from a vintage tractor.
First stop in Canberra was the National Museum where the was an exhibit on Egypt from the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities.
Post run, we visited two wineries, both of which I’d highly recommend, Clonakilla and Four Winds Vineyard. Four Winds is setup with a pizza restaurant.
Staying in the suburb of Barton in Canberra, my go to cafe there is “Little Bird” where they do a superb breakfast and lunch.
Leaving Canberra, I had an overnight in Cowra where I visited the Japanese Gardens and Japanese POW camp site from WW2. Was here on a weekday and it was way busier than I expected. For those that are unaware, in WW2 captured Japanese prisoners were held here and on August 5th 1944, 300 escaped during a breakout.
The gardens are beautiful however I think the most impressive items were the bonsai on display.
Not far from Cowra is Grenfell, that has some wonderful painted grain silos and an historic railway station. It’s only approx, 60km from Cowra and is well worth the detour.
Leaving Cowra the next morning I grabbed breakfast and a wonderful coffee from the Kendal Street Cafe. Situated in a lovely older brick building with lots of space. Wasn’t too busy whislt I was there.
Coming home through Bathurst, I couldn’t help but do a lap around the Mount Panorama race circuit. This is unusual in that it’s a two way public roadway (with a 60km/h speed limit), but setup as a race track, which is closed to the public on race days. Can’t think of anywhere else in the world such a setup exists, it’s not like the Nurburgring in Germany which is a tolled public raceway. Here in Bathurst the speed limit is very much enforced with regular police presence.
It's all about the coffee 