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On a nice afternoon in Wellington, I am perched on top of a hill, gazing down the slopes covered in dense native bush. Kākā squawks overhead, on the way to Zealandia Ecological Sanctuary.
“It’s a pretty nice sight,” says my guide. “If you like looking at many graves.”
kevin stent / Stuff
Guided tours of many New Zealand cemeteries are possible.
Many could be insufficient. I’m on a tour of Karori Cemetery, New Zealand’s second-largest cemetery covering 100 acres and the final resting place of some 85,000 people, home to everyone from postmen to prime ministers, stillborn babies to soldiers.
My guide is Barbara Mulligan, who has lived next door to the cemetery for the better part of a decade. As she walked her dog through the extensive public grounds, she was intrigued by the lives of its inhabitants. An inscription that caught his attention read “he met his death while throwing himself into the sky.”
READ MORE:
* The tales behind the tombstones
* Ghost tours become popular with Kiwis
* The beauty of cemeteries around the world.
Siobhan Downes / Things
The Karori Cemetery is an unlikely attraction.
“I passed it day after day and then I finally thought, ‘I have to go and find out what the story is.’
The story was that of the unfortunate Jack Riddall, who met his untimely death at age 32 in April 1919, after falling out of the window of the Willis Street hotel where he worked.
Mulligan realized that there were many more regrettable stories to uncover, and in 2013 he came up with the idea of organizing a guided walking tour, with the support of Wellington City Council.
It now offers multiple tours, each of which covers different topics. The one I’m on is called “Murder and Mayhem,” which Mulligan says is by far the most popular offering.
Over the course of an hour and a half, he points out monuments dedicated to characters from all walks of life, those who would never have crossed his path, now lying shoulder to shoulder in death.
We see the burial sites of the victims of the 1918 influenza pandemic, more than 600 of them are buried in Karori, a sobering vision that has acquired a new resonance in the time of Covid-19, as well as the graves of those who they drowned. in the wreck of the inter-island ferry SS Penguin in 1909, a few kilometers from where the Wahine would sink 60 years later.
One of the most fascinating stories is that of enterprising Emily Cope, who sold candy and tobacco in the front of her store, and was even busier in the back bedroom.
In 1916, she was murdered by her jealous boyfriend, who was poisoned immediately after committing the crime. She is, Mulligan tells us, one of the few murder victims in the cemetery with a monument. It was erected by her sister, who wanted to make sure she was not forgotten.
Kevin Stent / Stuff
Barbara Mulligan organizes guided walks through the Karori Cemetery.
Only a few people are present to hear his story on the Wednesday night I attend, just me and two Ukrainian cemetery enthusiasts, who had taken another of Mulligan’s tours earlier in the week and enjoyed it so much that they decided to return. for more.
One woman carries a small camera and stops every now and then to capture a gravestone that catches her eye – one has a bold checkerboard pattern, while another houses a particularly serene-looking angel.
I ask him why he visits cemeteries. She says she feels it is important to pay her respects to the dead. She also appreciates the rich heritage within them.
“And to be honest, I just like the atmosphere.”
It takes me a while to figure out how I feel about the vibe. Initially, I feel extremely aware of what is under my feet as we trudge along the neglected paths. But my discomfort turns to fascination when Mulligan points out details I never would have noticed before, like the clasped hands symbol that appears on many monuments to married couples, and how the hand on top (you can tell if it’s the man or the woman next to the cuffs of the sleeves) represents the person who died first.
Or how some people, especially those who were in public service, have their job titles on their graves, etched in stone like a resume for all eternity.
Time flies, and at the end of the tour I feel so comfortable with the whole thing that I find myself wondering where I would like to be positioned and what characteristics I would like to have on my own tombstone, in the same way. I would think about choosing furniture for a new apartment.
To some, the idea may sound morbid, but cemetery tours have become increasingly popular in recent years, as more people have become interested in their local and family history.
Many local cemeteries across the country have conducted special tours as part of Cemetery and Cremation Week, which takes place every year in November.
In Southland, the Bluff History Group is gearing up for its second tour of Old Bluff Cemetery this weekend.
They were impressed by the success of last year’s tour and spent much of last year researching for this year’s.
John Hawkins / Stuff
Jan Mitchell next to the grave of former Prime Minister and Bluff resident Sir Joseph Ward in Old Bluff Cemetery.
“We were absolutely overwhelmed with the number of people that turned out,” says Jan Mitchell, president of the history group.
“It was a beautiful sunny day and there were about 100 people. For something new, we are delighted with the answer. “
This year’s tour will focus on the drowning deaths, many of which occurred in the harbor overlooking the cemetery. Mitchell, a former real estate agent, will lead the tour.
“I loved touring the old houses that he sold. The thought always ran through my mind, ‘if only these houses could talk’. So the same thought started to come up every time I visited the cemetery. “
Supplied
Andrew Smith tours the North Cemetery and Old Port Chalmers Cemetery in Dunedin.
For Mitchell, a cemetery can tell a lot about a city and its residents.
“You walk into Old Bluff Cemetery and you know it’s loved, this is a city that cares about its heritage.”
Of course, for other tombstone tourists, it’s more about the macabre appeal.
Andrew Smith in Dunedin runs a hair salon during the day and Hair Raiser Tours at night.
On the website, his “ghost tour company” seems to be geared more toward thrill seekers than history buffs, with their tours of the North Cemetery and Old Port Chalmers Cemetery, nicknamed “Six Feet Down. Under Grave Walk “and” Sea Ghost “. Walk ”respectively, which takes place after dark.
But he insists it is not a “scary, cheesy thing”; their tours are still firmly grounded in historical fact, with local notables such as William Larnach of Larnach Castle fame, beer baron Charles Speight, and Thomas Bracken, the writer of New Zealand’s national anthem.
“The ghostly side of this is kind of appealing for them to learn about history that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” he explains.
“A lot of people will say, ‘wow, I never knew this was here,’ or ‘there are so many interesting people, I have to go back during the day to take another look.’
Smith, who has been doing his tours since 1999, says he now makes sure to visit cemeteries during his travels.
“Personally, I find it extremely motivating, because it reminds you of how lucky you are to be alive. All your dreams, hopes and aspirations are there.
“People think, ‘It’s a strange and morbid place to go in’, but I find the opposite. I think it’s an opportunity to realize that one day, that’s it, right? “
More information: karoricemeterytour.com
