Time: 3 hours 40 minutes - (1 hour and 20 minutes car park to Sugar Loaf)
Distance: 10 km
Start: A small layby near 106 Holliss Avenue, Cashmere
Finish: Same place, it's there and back, more or less
Date: Friday 1st August.
Another week, another spur. Latter's Spur Track to be exact. Named after Edward Circuit Latter (1830 - 1896), an early settler with an unusual middle name. Strangely enough, I have never walked this track before. I think it's because this area, so close to town, is on my hoa rangatira's list of "Walks I Don't Do". The chances of bumping into other people are way too high.
Meanwhile, we were pfaffing around with 10-point-turns, trying to get two small cars into the parking layby near the top of Holliss Avenue. Just up from the layby, a nifty wee walkway winds higgledy piggledy through the midst of suburbia, down a wooden staircase, past peoples back gardens - eventually we popped out onto Longhurst Terrace. Here we should have crossed the road to the start of Latter's Spur Track, next door to Villa Rosa (number 90). In fact, there are at least three entrances onto Latter's Spur Track along Longhurst Terrace - but today we managed to miss all of them. We were zipping along the footpath chatting about drag queens and not paying any attention whatsoever to our surroundings. Before we knew it, we were standing at the corner of Victoria Park Drive. We realised our mistake - but there was no going back.
Luckily, there were
lots of people milling around to ask for directions - but alas, nobody knew exactly where Latter's Spur was. The advice was sound though - "just follow your nose and head to the top". Nicole knew her onions and guided us back on-piste and beyond: past the dog park; through some native bush; past the rock wall where Mark Pickering (author) once flourished a pen and signed my copy of "
The Port Hills, the complete guide to all the walking tracks"; up to a junction where a gazillion bike and walking paths collide; through the gums and the pines.
We crossed Summit Road to the car park just under Sugar Loaf - Te Heru o Kahukura - the comb of Kahukura. The offical end of Latter's Spur Track. An icy wind blasted us and we rugged up. A few minutes along Cedrics Track, we were out of the wind, admiring the views of Lyttelton Harbour and getting a few snaps. Gilpins Track was sprinkled with spring flowers.
We got a seat in the sun at Sign of the Kiwi cafe. Coffees warmed us up from the inside. We drank water out of metallic goblets and ate the "Best Date Scones in Town". It was all so cosy and comfortable that we contemplated hitching a ride back down to the car. But common sense prevailed. Outside we checked out the momument with an actual sign of a kiwi. I had never noticed that before. 
The sun came out. The plan was to try to stay on the Latter's Spur Track all the way back down to Villa Rosa (number 90). Leave Harry Ell for another day. We almost pulled it off. We got into the dog park and through the "private" gate to the track which ran behind the flash houses. Weeds proliferated and we stopped to admire the wacky banana passionfruit flowers and their scrotoid fruits hanging down like ball sacs (#menarefrommarsandwomenarefromvenus). At some point we exited the track too soon and walked the last bit down Longhurst Terrace to Villa Rosa (number 90) and the higgledy piggledy track which returned us through suburbia to the cars.
