Banks Peninsula


Packhorse hut with my 1 year old

According to Hutbagger, I’ve been to Packhorse hut 6 times. Oh well, I’ve been there only 1 time with my kiddo so perhaps it’s time to visit this iconic Christchurch hut again! Ellič and I…





Port Hills ramble: 1000m ascent, please

The Sunday weather forecast wasn’t favorable for any other parts of the South Island but Christchurch. Well, we’re very lucky that on days like these we have this beautiful sanctuary of ours, Port Hills. The…


Port Hills Walking Marathon: Lyttelton to Lyttelton

Last year I co-organised the Godley to Gebbies walk in the Port Hills which was 36 km long. This year I thought I might push it a bit further, so I came up with the idea of meeting at Lyttelton, taking a ferry across to Diamond Harbour and walking back to Lyttelton over Mt Herbert, Packhorse Hut and Gebbies Pass.


Mt Herbert via Kaituna Valley and Monument Track

The weather forecast was pretty poor for the weekend so I postponed my Mt Norma trip and offered a local Mt Herbert adventure instead. In the morning, we left a couple of cars at the end of Monument Track and one at the start of Packhorse Track where we all started.


Packhorse Hut with a newborn

As fresh parents, everything is still very new to us but we thought that we’d done enough reading and short trips that it was time to tackle the first wee tramp with our little man.


Scenery Nook on Banks Peninsula

Scenery Nook is a wee inlet on the far side of Banks Peninsula. It’s accessible by boat or across private land – as the CTC unfortunately doesn’t own a yacht just yet, we chose to approach on foot.