Canowindra
Canowindra is a village in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is known as the Balloon Capital of Australia. It is a town with considerable charm but unlikely to be as popular as its neighbours Bathurst and Orange as it is down on the plains rather than up on the hills and so is much hotter.
Get in
[edit]
Map of Canowindra
From Canberra, use the following routes in chronological order: A25, M31, then quickly turn onto B81 until you hit Canowindra. From Sydney, use the M4, A32, and B81 until you hit Canowindra. There's no buses or trains to Canowindra.
Get around
[edit]The town is small enough to be walked. However, if you want to get out of town, you'll need a car, although that shouldn't be a worry since the only way you could have got in was by your own car.
See
[edit]- 1 Age of Fishes Museum, 129 Gaskill St, ☏ +61 2 6344 1008, aof@colourcity.com. Daily 10AM-4PM (except Christmas and ANZAC Day morning). One of only two fish fossil museums in the world. A large number of prehistoric fish from the Devonian period are on display. Educational programs and tours are also held. Adults $10, Concession $8, Junior Students $5.
- 2 Canowindra Historical Society & Museum, Gaskill St, ☏ +61 433 130 859. W, F, Sa, Mo 10AM-2PM Closed other days.
Do
[edit]- 1 Balloon Joy Flights, 752 Longs Corner Rd, ☏ +61 2 6344 1819. 8AM-7PM Daily.
- 2 Canowindra International Balloon Challenge, cnr Rodd St &, Browns Ave. Late April to Early May. An event that displays some of the most luminous hot air balloons.
- Walk along Gaskill Street. The most interesting part of this street is the 500 metre stretch that contains numerous heritage listed buildings with wide verandah's looking pretty much as they would have in the early twentieth century. The street is undulating so there are also good views of the surrounding hills.
Buy
[edit]- 1 Canowindra Trading Post, 46/50 Ferguson St, ☏ +61 2 6344 1529. 8AM-5PM Daily. Gift shop.
Eat
[edit]- taste Canowindra, 42 Ferguson St, ☏ +61 2 6344 2332, info@tastecanowindra.com.au. Every day, 10AM-4PM. taste Canowindra is a cafe and cellar door, featuring local produce and wines from the Canowindra, Cowra and Orange areas. The lunches are both large, quite tasty and reasonably stylish; this is a cafe aimed at visitors, not locals. Lunch $15-30.
- 1 Délice Coffee, 18 Tilga St.
- 2 Finns Store, 35 Gaskill St, ☏ +61 2 6344 1638.
- Garden of Roses Cafe, 72 Gaskill St, ☏ +61 2 6344 2016.
- Perennialle Plants Nursery, 29 Gaskill St. This place is not just a nursery it also has a good cafe very popular with the locals and rightly so.
Drink
[edit]- 1 Rosnay, 510 Rivers Rd, ☏ +61 2 6344 3215. 11AM-3PM.
- 2 Windowrie Estate, Winery Rd.
Sleep
[edit]- 1 Blue Jacket Motel Canowindra, 4 Bridge St, ☏ +61 400 363 620. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM.
- 2 Canowindra Riverview, 3 Tilga St, ☏ +61 2 6344 1633.
- 3 Rosnay Farmstay, 'Rosnay', 510 Rivers Rd, ☏ +61 2 6344 3215. Check-in: 2PM.
Connect
[edit]- The local code for Canowindra is (02) 6344.
- Telstra has a good 4G network in Canowindra
- Optus and Vodafone do not.