Time: 1.5 hours (one way)
Distance: 4.5 km (one way)
Start: Sign of the Bellbird, Summit Road
Finish: Sign of the Kiwi, Summit Road
Friday 27th November 2020
The 20 km Crater Rim Walkway (CRW) goes all the way from near Gebbies Pass to Godley Head, sidling along the edge of the now extinct Lyttelton Volcano. This volcano complex was formed 11-6 million years ago (pretty specific) and Lyttelton Harbour is what is left of the crater. Our plan is to walk it in six sections, today being section two.
CRW 1: Ahurihi bush to Sign of the Bellbird
CRW 2: Sign of the Bellbird to Sign of the Kiwi
CRW 3: Sign of the Kiwi to Mt. Vernon
CRW 4: Mt. Vernon to Mt. Cavendish
CRW 5: Mt Vernon to Evans Pass
CRW 6: Evans Pass to Godley Head
At 8 am the city was blanketed in a thick fog. But by 9 am, when we met at the Sign of the Takahe, it had miraculously lifted to reveal beautiful blue skies. We travelled in one car to the Sign of the Bellbird car park where we immediately got our cameras out to record the "magestical" scenes below: the crater rim with its peaks and outcrops stretching into the distance and a blanket of fog in the harbour below. Fog horns were resounding up the valley.
We set off along the Crater Rim Walkway practicing our elementary Te Reo: greetings, plurals and counting one to ten. Kia ora e hoa ma (hello friends!). This section of the track is regenerating after the Port Hills fire in 2017 and the tree skeletons can be seen sticking up above the regrowth which is mostly vibrantly yellow flowering broom and red flowering harekeke. The sun was beating down and we shed layers of clothing. Summer had arrived.
After about 1.5 hours of very pleasant chit chat (I can now count to ten) we arrived at The Sign of the Kiwi where we sat outside in the sun with coffees and hot chocolates and a most delicious raspberry and hemp slice (is that even legal?). A perfect day so far.
Suddenly there was a roar and the wind whipped up vertically from the bay below. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees in 5 minutes and the sun disappeared in the mist. We donned jackets and headed up the hill in a howling gale which was to last for most of the return journey. Winter had arrived.
In places we could take a slightly different route and at one point we climbed Mt Ada, hoping to bush-crash off the top. But the regenerating gorse was too thick and we retraced our steps back to the Crater Rim Walkway.
We arrived at the car with hair sticking up like a mohican without the super glue. It had been (almost) four seasons in one day but truly majestical.
