Time: 1.5 hours
Distance: 6 km
Start: Governors Bay jetty
Finish: Same place - it's there and back
Date: Friday 15th July 2022
Gosh. The end of a turbulent week! But, a shitty rainy Friday forecast had been belately upgraded to "partly cloudy" and, rather suprisingly, here we were, standing in beautiful bright sunshine ready to embark upon the Governor's Bay Foreshore Track. Yay! This track was once the main road, built by prisoners from the Lyttelton Gaol in 1857 and used first by horses then coaches. Nowaday's it is a popular walking/biking track.
We parked up the hill near Harbour House Cafe (formerly known as She Cafe) and wandered down to the jetty, pausing to look out to sea and a scene brimming with grand photographic fodder: a pictureque jetty (all twisty and turvy from the 2011 Earthquakes); a yacht - framed by a majestic harbour and the dinkiest little waves rolling in.
The foreshore track is wide and breezy. It's only about 30 minutes from the jetty to Allandale Reserve but we were dilly dallying today and there is plenty to see. First up, a memorial seat and plaque for the famous children's author Margaret Mahy. She was a Governor's Bay local who passed away in 2012.
Next up a "Special Bird Nesting Area" (not sure which bird that is) in between two fabulously rocky volcanic formations - swirly and curly. The geographical origins of the "Ōhinetahi Caverns" (think "overhangs" rather than "caverns") are described in the Rod Donald Trust Governors Bay Harbour, Hills and Heritage Walks pamphlet: "..the trachyte rocks have weathered into these circular shapes, part of the system of dykes radiating out from the extinct Lyttelton volcano." And what exactly is a dyke? I searched "What is a dyke?" on Google. Well, after a bit of sifting, it's a ditch apparently. The pamphlet also postulates on some pre-European history "..the original fortified Ngāti Māmoe pā may have been on the promontory above the caverns." Ka Huru Manu (the Ngāi Tahu mapping project) confirms this: Ngāti Māmoe occupied the pā until approxiamtely 300 years ago when it was overtaken by Te Rakiwhakaputa of Ngāi Tahu.
At the far end of the rocks we stopped to touch the maori sculpture: A smiling face with a phallic nose looking out to sea. We wondered who (sculptured it), what (was the symbolism), when (was it created) and what (was it made of - fibreglass, plastic or wood)? I emailed the Governor's Bay Community Association asking about the sculpture and which birds are nesting. They duly replied that the bird nesting area signs are for little blue penguins/kororā that sometimes nest in crevices under the rocks by the sculpture and further around the corner towards Allandale in penguin boxes. The scultpure is a female wooden carving "Ōhinetahi" (the one daughter of Manuwhiri (son of Te Rakiwhakaputa)) from the Whakaraupō Whakairo (Carving) Center.
A little further on is the historic Ohinetahi Homestead (built 1863) with its manicured gardens and sculptures behind a closed gate. Not accessible from here. I have never visited the homestead and it has a bit of a snooty feel - especially if you look at the website. But the gardens were lovingly created and the homestead restored by architect Miles Warren, who eventually gifted the whole shebang to the nation -so I like the philospophy of that. They are open to the public for tea and scones in the summer months.
At Sage Reserve there is a steep 10 minute loop track - which me missed. That will have to wait for another day. The regenerating bush here is home to kereru, kingfishers and korimako/bellbirds. We stopped to listen to them and we watched the kingfishers flitting to and fro between the trees and the purpose built pole in the lowtide zone.
The Allandale Reserve picnic area was our turning point. Sharyn showed us how to make a fairy toothbrush from a periwinkle and we took a side track for a bit of adventure. This seemed like a good idea to me at first (the others were pretty dubious) but the track quickly degenerated into patches of swampy mud. Luckily we popped back onto the main track before it got too grim.
The way back is always quicker. In the meantime the tide had gone out and the yacht was listing to one side on the mud. We headed up to the Harbour House Cafe (formerly known as She Cafe) for fabulous views, cakes and coffee.
