100 Towns

Wyangala dam on the Lachlan River was built between 1929 and 1935 and is used for irrigation, flood mitigation and water supply for the large town of Cowra 20 kilometres west. At the foot of the dam wall there is a substantial village with houses (some I assume are weekenders), church, conference centre, school, community hall and country club with 9 hole golf course, tennis courts and lawn bowls.  At the dam itself there is a large number of cabins and camping spots to the whole area has a holiday feel about it. An information centre, kiosk and petrol station serve the campers and local community. Apparently there was an older village of Wyangala lost under the waters of the dam.

Woodstock is a beaut little country town (population 200).  A backwater with many of its old buildings intact.  Its brief period of prosperity came with the gold rush and arrival of the railway, today it seems to  snooze in the western sun.

Cowra (population 9,500) is a typical substantial western NSW country town.   Its history is as so many of the others, some gold, arrival of the railway in the 1880s eventually settling down to being a rural service town. It does however have some unique aspects to its history.  It was the site of prisoner of war camp during World War II where Japanese prisoners attempted a mass breakout in which over 200 Japanese died.  Their graves are beautifully maintained at Cowra cemetery. Today Cowra remembers this part of its history with a magnificent Japanese garden, seeks to promote international peace and hosts an annual celebration of International Understanding.