GUEST BLOG – A big thanks to Kay for sharing her experience travelling to Cowra in NSW’s Central West region. It’s fantastic to see good wheelchair accessible accommodation as it’s often difficult to find in smaller country towns.
Kay says, “I was travelling to Cowra with my husband to attend a national BSA motorbike rally in Cowra, NSW. As a disability person, I require an accessible room in a motel, and we found one at the Services Club Motel in Cowra.
The motel appears to be reasonably new, with good access, with an open and spacious layout (there are two accessible rooms), and a well laid out bathroom.
The king size bed can be made up as singles. We had them made up as singles, but as they were on castors, pushed them together for more stability.
It has a square bathroom with rails in shower and near toilet, but no lifting devices. The floor space drains well and there is some shelf space around the basin for necessary items.
I found the quilt a little warm, and requested a single blanket and also asked for softer lower pillows, which were provided. Breakfast is brought to your room. I took several photos of room and bathroom to give an idea. The Services Club is 50 metres down the hill (which is a little steep) from motel, so we drove down the hill to the disability parking space near the front door.
You can read more about the Easy Access rooms at The Services Club Cowra here.
COWRA & THE JAPANESE GARDENS
Cowra has had more rain then the coast, it would seem, as the colours of the canola fields were lovely – from darker green, to lighter green, to the yellow flowers. Everything looked greener and more lush than the south coast of NSW where there has been little rain. On the same road as the motel, further up the hill, are the Japanese gardens. These are well worth a visit!
The approach to the entrance is quite steep and, as we took a lighter push wheelchair, my husband needed to put in extra effort to get me up to the door. Although the gardens are on a hillside, there are two golf buggy carts that can be hired. It may well be an idea to book a cart ahead of your visit, if needed, as the beautiful and peaceful gardens are very busy on weekends. October was certainly a good time to visit, as the cherry blossoms were out and other flowers were coming into bloom. We hired a cart and drove around everywhere we could, stopped now and then to take pictures (I took about 20), and listen to the water, watch the ducks, and enjoy all the various aspects of the garden. Every path has turns and little climbs up a rise and around some rocks and another pretty view. A water fall, and expanse of lawn, and interesting plant and all so beautiful. There is a nice café there as well for a cuppa and view of lawns and gardens.
My husband enjoyed his 3 day motorbike rally, and we both enjoyed the gardens very much!”
Thanks Kay for taking photos of the motel and the Japanese Gardens. We would agree with Kay’s appraisal of the Japanese Gardens. There are steep hills and we found it a bit tough going in areas with BJ’s manual wheelchair. Using a power chair or a golf buggy would definitely make the visit easier and more enjoyable. The gardens are stunning. We visited in April several years ago as part of a bigger trip to the Central West which included the Canowindra hot air balloon festival and Dubbo Zoo.
And the sunsets in the Central West are stunning.
Leave a Reply