Gondola Nature WalkwaysChristchurch Gondola lifts you with ease right to the top of the Port Hills, where there are many walks suitable for all fitness levels. Enjoy the panoramic views, exploring the Crater Rim at your leisure. All the walkways offer wonderful photographic opportunities.
CRATER RIM WALk, SUMMIT TO SURF (Self-guided Walk)
Expand your horizons with a walk among the Port Hills! Glide in the Gondola to the Summit Station, where you will begin the 2.5 hr Crater Rim Walkway, a moderate walk along well-formed tracks. There are magnificent views over Lyttleton Harbour, the city and the Canterbury Plains. At the finish you can enjoy a well-deserved drink at Sumner, the seaside village at the foot of the Port Hills, then board the bus for your ride back to the city. Be sure to wear good shoes and bring warm clothes.
Package includes: Gondola ride, self guided walk, drink and return bus fares - $35
Visit our staff at the Gondola Base Station or the Tram Shop, Cathedral Junction, Worcester Street.
Short Tracks for Self-Guided Walkways
Enjoy the freedom of a self-guided amble along one of the well-marked tracks around the Summit Station:
Pioneer Women’s Memorial Track – 50 mins return
The Pioneer Women’s Memorial celebrates the early settler women who arrived in the Christchurch area via Lyttleton and the Port Hills in the mid-nineteenth century. The memorial is a small stone shelter, facing the pioneer track with the inscription: “They Passed This Way”. It has two plaques, the “original” plaque, which depicts women and children arriving in the district, with the following text:
'On this spot the pioneer women of Canterbury and their children rested after their climb from the Port of Lyttelton and gazed with awe but courage upon the hills and plains of Canterbury where they were to make their home.'
The second “Centennial” plaque was installed in 1939 in a ceremony that marked the centenary of settlement.
The memorial is at the Junction of the Bridle Path and Summit Road.
Bridle Path – 1 hr (one way)
Walk this section of the Bridle Path when returning to the Gondola Base Station. Rich in local history, the Bridle Path was the original link between Lyttleton and Christchurch. Built in 1850, it was the main route between the port and the city, and families travelling to Christchurch had to bring all their household goods over this track. The steep haul to the summit meant that pack horses had to be led by bridle, which has given the path its name. In early days, refreshment stalls selling ginger beer to the thirsty travellers were sited at the summit and the Heathcote Valley end of the path, where the Gondola Base Station car park is now sited.
This path is used by walkers, runners, mountain bikers and occasionally by vehicles.
Cavendish Bluff Lookout – 30 mins return
A short walk to the Mt Cavendish Reserve Lookout, which has fantastic views out over Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains. This walk is suitable for visitors with limited time and family groups with young children. It’s a perfect picnic spot where you can experience the best of our “clean, green” outdoors.
Mountain Biking
Take the Gondola to the Summit Station, then bike down the mountain to the Heathcote Valley along the Bridle Path. Contact us for details.
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