We grow up splashing in rivers and oceans, eating kiwifruit and kumara from our fertile soil and exploring Aotearoa. Likewise when our bodies pass away, we go back to the ground that raised us.

Reflecting nature and the cycle of life and death, Auckland Memorial Park is a cemetery unlike anything you’ve ever seen: a beautiful final resting place for loved ones to rest easy according to their preference, traditions and relationship to the environment.

Take the new lakeside plots which have recently been released after numerous enquiries from the public. Overlooking the water, each pair of side-by-side plots will be marked by headstones and a native tree of your choice, creating a quiet peaceful spot for friends and family to visit and reminisce.

General Manager, Graeme Cummins, says these beautiful plots are a first for the Park, but reflect our ability to meet the demand for premium sites.

“We already provide ash plots lakeside, but this is the first time we have done this for the full burial.”

Graeme also notes that part of our brief is to be “needs focused”- such as opening up the lakeside plots or creating the special consecrated area for the Russian Orthodox Church.

“As opposed to larger cemeteries where you get buried in a line, we’re able to cater for different needs with a range of services. Births, deaths and marriages: they all bring people together and so often people bury the hatchet and come together for funerals. Here in this special parklike environment, we also meet the Kiwi need for gardens and the sun.”

Auckland Memorial Park is a sanctuary that is flexible, caring and connected to nature – in both life and death.