Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes (could be shortened by starting at Livingstone Col)
Distance: 6.1 km
Start: Evans Pass
Finish: Same place (it's loopish)
Date: Friday 10th July 2026
Warning: This track is closed due to rockfall danger.
Mātariki meanderings with my hoa rangatira. It actually ended up as an unintentional adventurous off-piste sojourn to a rock climbing destination which (we found out later) is called the Jane Fonda Workout Wall. Go figure. If ropes, ladders, and scramblings are your thing, then this one will be right up your alley.
The original intention was to walk some of the Crater Rim Walkway - specifically the Evans Pass to Godley Head section. So we parked in the layby at Evans Pass/Tapuwaeharuru and stepped out into a brisk southerly wind. Icy cold it was and blew into all our nooks and crannies. I put on my Ruapehu beanie and puffer and gloves. We climbed the first hill with the morning sun shining directly into our streaming eyes. It was good to be out.
From point 329 trig, we were mostly walking on the Lyttleton Harbour/Whakaraupō side. One hour from the car park we approached Māhoenui/Livingston Col where the track meets Summit Road. A few cars were parked and a multitude of people were milling about. Horrors! Luckily we had noticed an unknown but seemingly well trodden track below us. We decided to explore.
We stepped off the Crater Rim Walkway in an off-piste fashion and cut acrosss the grass. The unknown trail was good at first. We sidled along an easy contour for a wee bit. But soon we were negotiating a steep rocky gully. Kindly souls (a.k.a rock climbers) had installed a rope "handrail" which was most helpful. We had figured pretty quickly that we were in rock climbing territory. The bolts gave it away.
The path lead us to the base of a fabulous rocky slab known as the above-mentioned "Jane Fonda Workout Wall". Climbing folk have a penchant for whacky names. We didn't know it at the time but we were bypassing individual climbs known as: "Meat injection","Polish the cucumber","Knights in white lichen" and "Spanking Wendy". Sadly, "Snotgobblers revenge" was destroyed in the
2011 Christchurch earthquake. The path was slippery underfoot with a drop-off just enough to cause damage if you tumbled off. We slowed our pace.
At the end of the wall, there was a grassy gully where we were hoping that we might be able to loop back up to the top. We pottered around trying to find a suitable route but the rocks were just a bit too slippery and steep, and so we retraced our steps. If we had kept on going around the corner we would have come to
Wobbly Wall. Next time. To the south across the harbour, a rainbow was hovering above Teddington.
Back on top, the track rejoined the Crater Rim Walkway at a gate with a "Track Closed" sign. Oops. From Livingston Col, we decided to take the mountain bike track back to Evan's Pass. Old codgers were doing track maintainence and a murmering of starlings passed above us.
The mountain bike track follows the road and at some stage we decided to shorten the walk by going in a more off-piste straight line. We startled a sheep. It would have been the perfect photo. That stunned look and, just above its left ear, the cresent moon setting on the western skyline. But it lurched away.
Back at the car it was just starting to drizzle. So we headed to the warmth and cosiness of
Dot Com Cafe in Sumner for caffeine and Thai pumpkin balls with satay.
Mānawatia a Matariki e hoa mā.
