Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes (40 minutes Sumner to Taylor's mistake)
Distance: 6.23 km
Start: Clock Tower, Sumner
Finish: Same place (it's there and back)
Date: Friday 8th May 2020
Day 11(?) of Level 3 Covid19 Pandemic lock down. Time to head to the hills.
Actually, call it pandemic lethargy if you will, but it was hard to leave the house this morning. I checked the surf (yeah-nah), slowly donned my tramping boots, packed an apple and some nuts, procrastinated a little more and then eventually drove to Sumner. I parked at the clock tower and once I was out of the car I was so happy to have made the effort. A beautiful blue sky day in Christchurch (yet again) with a stiff easterly breeze.
I headed on up Whitewash Head Road towards Nicholson Park. There was a moment at the end of the road when I came to a 'Danger Hazardous Area DO NOT ENTER' sign. It looked serious. I peered over the side, straight down to the ocean. An undercut possibly? Well, I certainly wouldn't want to live on
that street. Nice views though. I glanced furtively behind me to make sure no-one was watching and then sidled around the sign and picked up the track again just around the corner. No worries.
At the top I crossed the road to the Taylor's Mistake Track. This track used to run closer to the coast but the 2011 earthquake put paid to that with part of it falling into the sea. Luckily it is now re-routed where it needs to be. It is fetchingly twisted in places, zigzagging around the coast, with steep drop offs down to the sea. It smells like seals. Or perhaps the crap of one thousand shags. Surprisingly, not unpleasant just slightly hectic.
It's only about 40 minutes from Sumner to Taylor's Mistake. I walked the length of the beach and admired those cute baches. The ones under the overhanging cliffs are on their last legs (another earthquake legacy). The tide was out and there were hardly any people. Some brave soul went for a (brief) swim. I hadn't brought my togs (yeah-nah).
I returned to Sumner on mostly the same track. Just the last section was on the Flowers Track, zigzagging down the hill through the houses into Sumner. No flowers at this time of year but very pretty all the same. You get to look into interesting back yards and wonder how these people get their shopping home. A small price to pay for stunning views everyday.
At the clock tower there was a crowd of people waiting for coffee so I flagged that and instead checked out the Common Ground pop-up cafe at the Bridge Street roundabout. They had been so busy that they had mostly run out of food. They were absolutely chuffed at this and so happy that the local community are supporting them. Nice to see.
I got my flat white, newspaper and the last bliss ball (highly recommended) and headed home to do the cryptic crossword.
Actually, call it pandemic lethargy if you will, but it was hard to leave the house this morning. I checked the surf (yeah-nah), slowly donned my tramping boots, packed an apple and some nuts, procrastinated a little more and then eventually drove to Sumner. I parked at the clock tower and once I was out of the car I was so happy to have made the effort. A beautiful blue sky day in Christchurch (yet again) with a stiff easterly breeze.
I got my flat white, newspaper and the last bliss ball (highly recommended) and headed home to do the cryptic crossword.
