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COWRA , on the banks of the Lachlan River, 107km southwest of Bathurst along the Mid-Western Highway, is famous as the location of the Cowra Breakout during World War II. The breakout of August 5, 1944 saw the escape of 378 Japanese prisoners of war armed with baseball bats, staves, home-made clubs and sharpened kitchen knives - those who were sick and remained behind hanged or disembowelled themselves, unable to endure the disgrace of capture. It took nine days to recapture all the prisoners, during which four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese died. The breakout was little known until the publication of Harry Gordon's excellent 1970s account Die Like the Carp (republished as Voyage of Shame ).

You can see the site of the prisoner-of-war camp, now just ruins and fields, on Sakura Avenue on the northeast edge of town. The graves of the Japanese, who were buried in Cowra, were well cared for by members of the local Returned Servicemen's League, a humanitarian gesture which touched Japanese embassy officials who then broached the idea of an official Japanese War Cemetery . Designed by Shigeru Yura, the tranquil burial ground is further north, on Doncaster Drive. The theme of Japanese-Australian friendship and reconciliation continued in Cowra with the establishment of the Japanese Garden (daily 8.30am-5pm; $7.70) in 1979 with funding from Japanese and Australian governments and companies. The large garden, designed by the internationally known Ken Nakajima to represent the landscape of Japan, is set on a hill overlooking the town, on a scenic drive running north off Kendal Street, the main thoroughfare. Cherry and other flowering trees blossom and their leaves change colour with the autumn, mirroring the northern hemisphere's change of seasons. It's very peaceful and idyllic here: cooling on a hot day, with the shade and the sound of the stream burbling through the garden. A further anti-war symbol in Cowra is the World Peace Bell in Civic Square; and the planting of an avenue of cherry trees connecting the war cemeteries, the POW campsite and the Japanese Garden. The introduction of the POW Theatre , at the Cowra Vistors Centre, is another attraction explaining the war years, the breakout and the reconciliation process since then.

For more information on the town, and accommodation options if you want to stay, head for the very helpful Cowra Visitor Information Centre , at the corner of Grenfell and Boorowa roads on the Mid-Western Highway (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6342 4333 or free call 1800 023 082, www.cowra.org ), near the large riverside park. An interesting alternative to the usual motels and campsitess is the Woolpack Backpacker's Farmstay (tel 02/6385 8433, www.backpackers-farmstay.com.au ) at Riverslea Station in nearby Wyangala Waters State Park; their five-day packages cost $370 per person and include your first day's horse riding in serene countryside, with moon parties, candlelight, and a very chilled out vibe thrown in for good measure.

There are lots of vineyards in the Cowra area - actually more than in Mudgee - but no wineries; instead, grapes are sent off to large wineries elsewhere to be made into wine. Their origin is often revealed by their names, such as Richmond Grove Cowra Wine. The region is best known for Chardonnay: to taste the product of the local grapes, head for the Quarry Cellar, 5km from Cowra on the Boorowa Road (Tues-Sun 10am-4pm; tel 02/6342 3650); the attached restaurant (lunch Tues-Sun, dinner Fri & Sat) also does Devonshire teas and inexpensive light lunches of pasta and salads. If you're interested in the possibility of some grape-picking work, contact the Employment National (tel 13 3444).