Roasty's Roadhouse: Worth the Journey to Fourways

Eighth in my “Roadhouses of Gauteng” series. Browse all of my roadhouse posts or view a map of the roadhouses I’ve visited.

I am not easily convinced to drive to Fourways, an outer suburb about 30 minutes north of central Joburg. And when I first started my roadhouse series, it was my intention to focus solely on “old” roadhouses that opened in the 20th century and stood the test of time.

A Jacaranda Walk Through Rosebank

On Saturday morning, I hosted a jacaranda walk through Rosebank with Johannesburg In your Pocket and the Radisson RED Johannesburg.

Jacaranda outside the Radisson RED hotel
One of the best purple clouds in Rosebank is right outside the Radisson RED, where our jacaranda walk began. In case you’re wondering, that angel wing installation is called "The Mundane and the Magical" and was created by artist Usha Seejarim.

The jacaranda blossoms aren’t peaking yet in most of Joburg’s inner suburbs. There’s some speculation this could be an off-year or, more worryingly, that Joburg’s jacarandas might finally be reaching the end of their life spans. But my unfounded panic last year – which turned out to be a great jacaranda year despite a late-ish start – taught me not to count the jacarandas out too soon.

Cleaning Up the Brixton Cemetery

On Sunday I stopped by a cleanup event at the Brixton Cemetery, hosted by the Friends of Johannesburg Cemeteries. The volunteer group regularly organizes cleanups at different cemeteries around the city, picking up rubbish and restoring the older headstones.