Monday 27th February 2023
Packing took longer than I expected but it gave Molly time to adjust to the idea as she watched with her saddest look. She even tried to sit at my car to express her desires but I couldn't be swayed. Saying goodbye is the worst part of travelling. My one friend is wrapping up her life to move to a new career opportunity and today she reached out because it's hard. I thought a lot about farewells while leaving Johannesburg and reflected on some of my more difficult ones.
Near the outskirts of the city, the horison opened up and I found myself sighing out loud. The vast expanse of wild open veld, clear blue skies and the odd cow here and there made me smile. My drive only took 55 minutes but because there was the openness, it felt like I had driven longer.
After checking in my lovely hotel, I punched in 'cemeteries' and ended up driving to the new one first. There's a monument for the lost lives during the Boer war in the concentration camp and I didn't stay long there. After a quick lunch I drove to the Kloof cemetery where I knew that the graves of HB Marshall and his wife Anna's two young infants were there. I just didn't have the exact location nor what I was looking for.
This cemetery is right beside the security entrance to a exclusive housing estate on the nature reserve. The security guard opened up the gate and remarked on never having seen the heritage map I showed him. He's been a 40 year local resident but he did show me where Poet, Dr A G Visser's family site lay. The cemetery isn't as maintained as the new one and I walked carefully through the longer grass, rousing different kinds of birds. I smiled at how much I like cemeteries and the stories from the stones are interesting. A life, a story and a loss depicted by each grave.
I found my way to the older graves and I stumbled on the commemorative stone of the one's I was looking for. I felt so comforted in a strange way, that I'd found them. Rachan, the Scottish ranch that the surviving family returned to, etched on the column.
I returned to the town and had an early supper and stopped by at the wonderfully restored home of AG Visser. Everything feels so nearby and I am glad to have a full day tomorrow to explore everything on my list. A fascinating little town that is buzzing with life- (despite me spending so much time in cemeteries!)
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