Cliff walks entice at Diamond Harbour

Press, 28 December 1988, Page 33

Cliff walks entice at Diamond Harbour

the fbeaten 1||1? track

with

Mark Pickering

Diamond Harbour is on the sunny, glittering side of Lyttelton Harbour. It serves as a retirement, commuter and holiday centre, and is an easy, gentle place to visit.

It has some fine walks around the cliffs, interesting pieces of history, and some excellent picnic spots in the general area.

Main road: Tedding-ton-Diamond Harbour From the junction with Gebbies Pass at, Teddington (by the tavern) the road follows the coast, often cutting into banks where the pale yellow pillars of loess are exposed. “Loess” means silt particles deposited by wind.

The turn-off to Orton Bradley in Charteris Bay is well signposted and it is only a short drive to an extensive picnic area by a small stream. Sights include a waterwheel, waterfall, Big Rock, and several short local walks. One end of the Mount Herbert Walkway starts here. After going up to the summit it comes back down into Diamond Har-

bour and the ferry terminal.

The road from Orton Bradley through Charteris Bay, Church Bay and into Diamond Harbour is winding with many blind corners. Houses jostle in all sorts of crannies by the road and you get tantalising glimpses of cliff coastline. A turn-off from the main road leads to the store, Godley House tearooms (in an old mansion), Stoddart Park, cliff walks and the ferry terminal. There is extensive car parking by the store and in Stoddart Park.

The main road swings out of Diamond Harbour and down into pebbly Purau Bay, where there is

a motor-camp, the usual thick cluster of baches, and the junction of the routes to Camp Bay and Port Levy.

Stoddart Point and Cliff Walks

Stoddart Point is named after Mark Stoddart, who had a small, prefabricated cottage built here in 1862. The Point is a rambling, open, grass area of picnic tables, playground equipment (a tower and fort!), big shady trees, toilets and plenty of room to breathe. Up from the park is the Godley House tearooms (built as a proper mansion in 1880 by Henry Hawkins. Down from the park you can walk to the ferry jetty and

get wide-ranging views over Lyttelton harbour.

The Cliff Walks are a delight. Follow the path either from opposite the Diamond Harbour store, or from the ferry terminal road, down to a tiny beach and the start of the Mount Herbert Walkway. A slippery, pine-needle track clambers past some toilets and up and around tall pines, making a delicate sidle between the houses and the coastal cliffs. The houses can usually only be glimpsed, and the track is surprisingly private and intriguing as it meanders along. In spring there is a great mixture of flowering plants: everything, in fact, from garden strays to plants especially adapted for a clinging, coastal life. Many of the side-tracks are false trails to private houses. A couple lead back up to the road, although they are not well marked. The Cliff Walk eventually peters out at a new sub-division, after about an hour’s one-way casual walk.

It is very much an explore-and-experience track as the trails are

vague at times and only marked by the worn path on the ground. Children would enjoy it, but the closeness of the cliffs means they should be kept under tight control. Camp Bay Road This road is unsealed from Purau Bay and it follows the coast in some bends around a big headland to Camp Bay. The

bay itself is full of hostile signs “No Camping” “Private Property” etc., which is off-putting, but the beach is a pleasant secluded spot in summer. There are good views of Ripapa Island on the way to the bay. This is an old fortress built to scare off the Russians in the late 1880 s. The Russians didn’t come and it is now a historical site. Tourist trips are organised from

Lyttelton to view the tunnels and disappearing guns that were never fired in anger. Reminder It should be assumed that permission is always required to cross farm land on Banks Peninsula (with the exception of signposted walkways). The map is stylised and is not a substitute for a good topographical map.