Kennedys Bush--Governors Bay

Sunday 9 May 2021

On an unusually warm morning, three of us set off from Halswell Quarry Park, using quarry tracks as far as possible to shorten the time spent on the road. When we hit the Kennedy’s Bush Track proper, we met Chris Leaver who joined us for part of the climb to the Summit Road. Once at the Summit Road, we turned right and headed for the bush to reach the Sign of the Bellbird for a welcome morning tea stop. At the Bellbird we had extensive views towards the mountains and were all very pleased to be on the Port Hills, rather than inland in stormy weather.

Heading across the road, we set off on the Crater Rim track and then headed down Cass Ridge through Ohinetahi Reserve, stopping to admire the view over Lyttelton Harbour as we went – although the tide was low, the water was turquoise-blue against the very dry hillside across the harbour. From there, we turned along O’Farrells track, making our way along before starting to head back up towards the Summit Rd. During our lunch stop we were able to watch climbers tackling the rocks in the distance near Mt Ada.

Binoculars would have given us a better view. After lunch, we headed back along the Crater Rim track and down the Kennedy’s Bush track to the Halswell Quarry starting point, greeting mountain bikers, runners and walkers as we went and sharing stories of other tramping and kayaking adventures, as well as the books we had been reading lately.

An enjoyable day out. We were Joy Schroeder, John Jagusch, Alison Maccoll (leader) AM