Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Distance: 4.82 km
Gosh. Now this is a wee gem of a trail - one that has only recently registered on my radar, shattering my irritating delusion that I know every single track in Christchurch. It starts near the Governor's Bay Jetty - a small marked path heading north (ish) along the coast.
At the very start it's worth pausing for a quick look at the jetty. It has a wayward middle section, fabulously buckled during the Christchurch Earthquakes and now the subject of the local"Save the Jetty" campaign.
We set off along the path, hugging the coast but also meandering through bush and prettily flowering weedy patches. A strong smell of eucalyptus pierced our nostrils and at one point we were momentarily on the beach. Kingfishers flitted about.
After about 15 minutes we were at the aptly named Sandy Bay. The tide was on its way out and tiny milky waves were rolling in across the mud flats. We vowed to return at high tide on a summers day for a swim. I did in fact have my togs with me but ... yeah nah.
We continued on to Maori Gardens. This involved a last minute dramatic decent down the rock face (not really but we hammed it up for the photo) to a beautiful sandy beach with quaint baches and wonderfully scented roses. No electricity, no road access. What exactly were the Maori Gardens and where are they now? Pithy questions. But Google searches proved fruitless. A passersby with some local knowledge suggested that fish were trapped here.
We decided to rock hop further on around the coast. Under steep cliffs and past one or two interesting caves. We leapt from rock to rock like gazelles, recalling our youth and admiring the Neptune's necklace and noticing the weird geological formations of volcanic origin. An artists inspiration. This trail is part of the Head to Head Walkway. An aspirational (but possibly delusional) idea of a few keen folk who envision a network of coastal trails connecting Awaroa (Godley Head) to Te Piaka (Adderly Head).
Our return journey back to the jetty seemed quicker somehow. Was it because of a warping of time or because we were covering such a wide range of pithy topics? We chatted about (amongst other things) Guinness shares, Fourier analysis, the joys of crocheting and the possibility of sympathetic humanoids living on Arcturus.
Before we knew it we back at the car and unanimously hungry. Without further ado we headed straight to the Harbour House Cafe (the cafe formerly known as "She") for well-deserved coffee and victuals.
