Mount Cole Cemetery

Driving along a back road, I came upon, quite by accident, a tiny cemetery in the Mt. Cole area. It could " Be " the Mt. Cole cemetery for all I know... it wasn't identified in any way. The gravel driveway in-clined up through the gateway, and some of the graves sat companionably close to the fence line.

The day was one of those perfect late Autumn days when it seems that Winter will never come. 

This little gem of a cemetery drowsed peacefully in the warmth, its noiseless tranquility only ruffled by the occasional passing over-head of raucous - voiced flock of white cockatoos.

It's obvious that the rabbits play here, and perhaps that's what helps keep under-growth to a reasonable level. It also seems to have a familial exclusiveness... the same names recur... the Padgetts, the Allenders, Howells, Kneebones, Ords, Shalders and McGuinesses to name some, indicating that generations of these families have lived and put their roots down in the surrounding district.

Most of them seemed to have achieved a reasonable fullness of years too.

There was only one epitah here that was significantly different. It was of Catherine, beloved wife of George Martin Thomas. She was buried with her little son Alfred who had died in 1873, aged 2 years and 9 months. Catherine was aged 36 at her death on 15th January 1887, and her epitah reads:

"She is gone like the flowers, cut down in full bloom

From the sunshine of life, to the shade of the tomb

But death cannot sever, the chain of our love

Or steal the fond hope, we shall met her above"

At the good old age of 85 years, George was laid to rest with his wife and child, and so they sleep together. 

If only one could choose one's final resting place quite regardless of costs, ties, etc, I couldn't think of a much nicer spot either!