Wanaka Residents’ Association President Roger Gardiner puts a last lick of paint on the new Wanaka cemetery structure before the official opening this Sunday. PHOTO:KERRIE WATERWORTHThe dream of a Wanaka gravedigger to provide shelter for mourners will officially become a reality this weekend when the Wanaka cemetery’s new lychgate is formally opened. Wanaka Residents’ Association president Roger Gardiner said several years ago the association was approached by gravedigger Don McKinlay about providing a shelter for mourners in winter and a structure for contemplation for visitors to the cemetery. A lychgate is a roofed gateway to a churchyard and can also be used to shelter coffins. It can also represent the transition from this world into the next as the coffin passed from one side to the other.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 20, 2017 20:15 UTC