Port Hills

Looking down towards Christchurch from Mt Vernon

Lyttleton Harbour from Godley Head

Just 5km South of Christchurch city centre is a craggy ridge of hills called the Port Hills. Popular with roadies and mountain bikers alike they offer great trails, the quiet Summit Road, some good views and a the famous Sign of the Kiwi Cafe at the top. However the first challenge was to get up to the top. I nearly lost my breakfast clibing up Dyers Pass Road but was cheered up when I hit the rough stuff on the Thomson Track.

Resisting the temptation to descend on one of the many downhill tracks at Bowenvale Park, I traversed around the ridge on some good sheep tracks to Castle Rock where lunch was taken.

The descent from Castle Rock to Jacob's Seat was a great preview of some of the trails to come, but first I had to climb a bit more on Summit Road. The trails at Greenwood Park to Evans Pass were sweet as they come and this took me to the start of Godley Head. As I made my way along the headland the vistas of the aquamarine sea in Lyttleton Harbour and the cliffs to the North did their best to distract me from the primo trail.

A short loop around the head and it was back the way I came to Evans Pass. The final descent was one of those that you wonder if you can ride as you carry your bike up in the other direction. With the saddle dropped an inch and my meagre riding skills tuned in I flew down with a big grin. This still hadn't prepared me for the steep, technical descent on the Captain Thomas Trail from Evans Pass all the way down to the beach at Sumner. Some of it was seat of the pants stuff but all good challenging stuff.

After an icecream on the beach I cruised around the coast to Mount Pleasant and back to the city centre.

This was only a sample of the many great trails in this area. The following week I returned and rode the Serpant, Bowenvale Mountain Bike Track and Rapaki Track as well as having another crack at Greenwood Park and the Captain Thomas Trail.

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