hiking the port hills

last weekend, being unable to resist the fantastic easter sales at the outdoors stores, we gave in and bought daypacks, excusing the splurge purchase with the rationalization that we needed a smaller luggage option for our upcoming trip to australia. and since we now have these handy new packs, we figured we'd try them out on a day hike in the nearby port hills on the south side of the city. the fantastic thing about this area is that it seems to spring from nowhere out of the flat city, so great hiking is available with the purchase of a $2.80 city bus ticket, not $100 with a private track transport company.

we couldn't have picked a better day for the hike - though it's clearly been fall for a few weeks now, this particular friday escaped from summer and snuck its way in. in total we covered just shy of eight miles in four very leisurely hours, having nothing in particular hurrying us along except the prospect of fish and chips in lyttelton at the end of our trip. our route was the central section of the crater rim walkway, which follows the summit road along the ridgeline, branching into multiple trails as it passes through prime mountain biking territory and then merging again later on. we wouldn't have had any idea that these great trails existed had it not been for a well-placed brochure at the city library, as the department of conservation either doesn't manage the trails or doesn't promote them very well. i think the trail management is jointly shared between DOC and local parks, but i could be mistaken. the expansive park that formed our starting point, victoria park, is famous for the parker-hulme murder of 1954, which was made into the movie heavenly creatures by peter jackson.

as usual, our hike offered fantastic views - looking west from the ridgeline we could see the region of canterbury stretching out before us all the way to the mountains halfway across the country. looking south we could see the city of lyttelton and the harbour, christchurch's earliest european settlement and a hot spot for early 20th century antarctic expeditions making their way south to the ross sea. and looking east we could see banks peninsula jutting out into the ocean and the curvature of the land as it stretches up towards the north island. we weren't the only ones enjoying the views - we came across a wedding party taking what must be gorgeous photos in a rocky spot overlooking the harbour.

wish you could be here to see what we're seeing! how will we ever come home?

-rachel