The Port Hills

Recreation and facilities

Godley Head

Godley Head.

This dry land peninsula of tussock and sea cliffs has an impressive network of walking tracks and mountain bike trails. There are sheltered picnic coves and tidal platforms on the north side of the peninsula, and walking access to many historic and military sites, all with superb views over Lyttelton Harbour or Pegasus Bay.

Access

From Sumner, take Wakefield Avenue and Evans Pass Road, turn left at Evans Pass onto Godley Head Road.

From Taylors Mistake there is a walking track to the Godley Head car park.

Facilities

• Searchlight Track: From the carpark, a steep zigzag track leads down the harbour side of the headland, past military relics, through a tunnel to two searchlight emplacements on the sea’s edge. A sidetrack leads to a cliff top observation post.
• Mountain bike tracks: The track below Godley Head Road is suitable for beginners. More challenging are the poled routes heading up from the Godley Head carpark back to Breeze Col. The track continues all the way back to Evans Pass on Scarbough Reserve, above Summit Road.
• Walkway: The round trip beginning at Taylors Mistake goes out to Godley Head car park, around the harbour side of Godley Head and on to Breeze Col, from where a track descends back to Taylors Mistake. Allow 3 – 4 hours to complete.
• Toilet at Godley Head.

Wildlife

Godley Head’s isolated coves, beaches, and cliffs provide nesting sites for spotted shags, and the white-flippered penguin. Red billed gulls and Southern Black Backed gulls can usually be seen flying above the cliffs.

Plant life

Much of Godley Head is covered in exotic grasses, with some stands of macrocarpa and pine trees. In the more sheltered sites such as gullies and at the base of cliffs, some of the New Zealand natives growing include: Carex appressa, tree daisy (Olearia fragrantissima), pepper tree (Macropiper excelsum), adder’s tongue (Ophioglossum lusitanicu), and star lily (Anthropodium candidum).