On an early bike ride this morning I stopped off  at the Martinborough Cemetery in Puruatanga Road. It was a lovely morning – completely calm and the sun was just coming up. On an earlier visit I’d spent most of my time in the older, more ‘historic’ side of the cemetery, but today I went to the newer, northern half and took some photos with my Nexus 5 phone.

I enjoyed the Maori graves. They’re different. There’s a real effort to celebrate the life of the departed, and the gravesites are festooned with items  associated with the dead person’s life. It looks rather mawkish to my Pakeha eyes, but there’s no doubting the sincerity and love on display.

The older part of the cemetery. The newer graves are in the background, past the trees.