On our way to Christchurch we stopped at Oxford for a night to visit our friends Jeremey and Noeleen. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening catching up, then walked over the road to the local farmer’s market in the morning.
By late morning we were parked at the entrance to the Lyttelton Tunnel, with our boots on and our lunch in my day-pack. We walked up the old Bridal Path that all the early settlers used to walk from the wharf in Lyttelton over the hill to the city. The path was designed to be short rather than an easy grade so it is pretty steep.
At the top we were rewarded with great views while we ate our lunch. Felicity found the track down a bit more difficult because of her broken toe, so when we discovered a busker’s festival in Lyttelton we sat on a step and watched for a while.
For a bit of variety we walked back up to the top of the hill via the Major Hornbrooks track, which ended not far below the top of the gondola. Felicity enjoyed riding down a lot more than she would have walking!
By this time we were pretty hot and sweaty, so we drove to South Brighton beach for a swim and a cold shower afterwards. We parked on the edge of the estuary to drink coffee and eat our dinner, then drove over to another friend’s house for more gossip and desert. We spent the night parked in their driveway, and now we are on the road again.
Looking very relaxed both of you ….
Great idea to take the gondola down. Both of you must be a lot stronger now – apart from F’s toe.xx