Funerals

People die in New Zealand like any other country in the world.

Your usual options, depending on how close the person is to you is either send a card with a personal message written or attend the funeral. The way you find out about the death is either word of mouth or the death notice published towards the back of your daily newspaper. This death notice will give you the church or funeral home the funeral will be held at and the time.  
Anyone can attend unless the notice has 'private service'

After the service the deceased is either buried or cremated (The cremation occurs in a 'crematorium' consisting of one or more cremator furnaces or cremation 'retorts' for the ashes. A cremator is an industrial furnace capable of generating 870-980 C (1600-1800 F) to ensure disintegration of the corpse. A crematorium may be part of chapel or a funeral home, or part of an independent facility or a service offered by a cemetery).

After the funeral service you will be directed to a location so you can eat, drink and share stories about the deceased. You can also offer your condolences to the family.