The cemetery

There are a couple of memorials of significance to us in the Lorne cemetery, so each year we pay a visit. However, we weren't impressed this year to find that it has been transformed from a pleasant rural resting place to a something more akin to an urban landscape, as the paths, which were previously gravel, have now been paved. There are wide expanses of white concrete between the plots, quite changing the appearance. No doubt the change makes it slightly easier for funeral hearses to travel the last 50 metres or so of their trip – but at such a cost to the whole atmosphere! Just who is represented on these cemetery trusts (Lorne is administered by the trust based in Geelong)?   Did the paving really need to be quite so wide? Was anything thought given to softening the harshness of the bare concrete by toning it down by making it grey or some other tone more in line with the surroundings?
 

In addition, some eucalypts have been planted. Not such a bad idea, except that the variety chosen (E. caesia, or gungurru) has obviously been selected for its somewhat “weeping” appearance. The catch (so I am reliably informed) is that it's originally from the deserts of Western Australia, and is hardly likely to thrive in a location exposed to the salt-laden winds coming off Bass Strait.   And anyway, would not it have been preferable to have something from the local region?