The first weekend my parents were in Christchurch visiting, we decided to take advantage of the lovely sunny weather to explore one of the local tracks. The plan was to walk a section of the newly opened Te Ara Pataka Track (Summit Walkway) from Gebbies Pass to the Sign of the Packhorse Hut.
Although we had been up to Sign of the Packhorse before, the hope was that by starting our hike at the summit of Gebbies Pass we would cover a good amount of the altitude gain before we started hiking. From the beginning of the track we had great views out through Gebbies Valley towards Teddington and the Lyttelton harbour beyond it, including the back side of the peninsula our house is on.
The track started the gradual climb up towards the Sign of the Packhorse hut through rough scrub and the odd field of sheep. As we climbed higher the track passed through some old forestry blocks, providing us with some welcome shade.
We came to a break in the trees and realised that we still had a good distance left to climb before we reached the saddle where we knew the hut was located. As the trail turned back into the pine trees we started gaining height more quickly until eventually we came out onto the grassy upper slopes of the crater rim.
From the top of the saddle we were able to look out over Kaituna Valley, where we had walked previously. The beautiful clear weather meant that we had great views out towards Lake Ellesmere and the Pacific Ocean to the south east.
To the northwest, we could look out past the historic hut towards Christchurch and the Southern Alps in the distance. We stopped for a while on a grassy knoll overlooking Lyttelton Harbour, taking some time to pick out places that we recognised.
After enjoying the view for a while, we decided it was time to start making our way back down the track. We were all pleased to get back to the house to cool ourselves off a little in the swimming pool. Although the track wasn’t quite as steep, or as long as the other routes to Sign of the Packhorse, it certainly wasn’t the easy afternoon stroll we thought it would be!