New Zealand Sabbatical Journal

NZ Table of Contents

Lyttelton and Diamond Harbor

March 16, 2008

We made a Sunday outing to Lyttelton, Christchurch’s port city, and from there took a ferry over to Diamond Harbour. It was an overcast day; they have been alternating with days of Indian summer. Lyttelton Harbour is a working harbor where freight comes in. (A Greenpeace ship is also anchored there and recently staged an environmental protest, preventing a coal ship from leaving the harbor, that drew all the police officers from Christchurch to control it, causing complaints that the police weren’t covering emergencies in Christchurch. When we were there it was peaceful). Did I say how good the bus system is? And not only the buses. We took a bus from our house to the central bus exchange in city centre, changed to a bus to Lyttelton that wound itself down the steep hills to the harbor (CHCH is flat, but hills are everywhere close by), and then transferred to a ferry—all this with the metro cards we had gotten early on. They give a discount for each ride, and if you come back within two hours, your return trip is free.

Funky house on a typically steep Lyttelton street	Former Harbourmaster's House, now a cafe where we had lunch while waiting for the ferry	Lyttelton Harbour
Research ship	The ferry to Diamond Harbour (on left)

The ferry took us on a short trip across the Lyttelton Harbour to Diamond Harbour, where we took a cliffside track (trail) around half of that part of the peninsula. Again, great views of the water from way up high. These walks are all up and down, up and down, but well-marked. It’s easy to know which direction to avoid! We stopped at one historic house, Godley House, which is now a restaurant, as many are.

Waiting for the ferry	Pied shags (cormorants)	The cliffside trail
Views from the trail
Historic Godley house	The house's garden