First Burials Tour

Please note: This tour contains content and stories from two of our previous tours City and Nation Builders.

From 1840 to 1900 Wellington went through an extraordinary period of development and change.  A small rugged beach under cliffs was transformed into NZ’s major port, NZ’s largest commercial centre and the seat of government.   The Friend’s walking tour ‘First Burials – an introduction to the oldest parts of Karori Cemetery’ visits the graves of the industrialists, merchants, artists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, politicians, engineers, architects and scientists who made all this happen. We bring to life the early history of Wellington by telling the story of their experiences and exploits.  The tour visits the old Public, Anglican, Catholic, and Servicemens Cemetery sections that lie at the centre of the Cemetery.  This is a relatively compact area and the tour, though taking up to 2 hours, does not involve any difficult terrain.

To book your ticket, please visit our ticketing website:

https://events.humanitix.com/friends-of-karori-cemetery-first-burials-june-2026

Each tour is $10 per person (plus non-refundable booking fee). Children under 12 are free.

Our tour has a maximum capacity of about 15 persons. If there are insufficient tickets remaining for your party, please email us at info@friendsofkaroricemetery.co.nz to check if we can accommodate you.