Port Hills 8-Attack

From the carpark on the Victoria Park Road (opposite dog exercise area), head down the Tawhairanui Trail, popping onto the road and back to the trail before emerging on the road again at the 19th Battalion Memorial and cross the road and go up the wide shingle road with the gated entrance.

Continue along here, past the trail junction and water fountain to follow the Latters Spur track just to the left of the main ascent straight ahead. Rejoin the main ascent and keep left at the fork to go up some broad steps, passing through two spring gates.

Follow the orange poles and then just before Summit Road, hang a right onto Thompsons Track. Follow this / Summit Road around to Sign of the Kiwi. Take the Coronation Reserve trail up the steps to the left of the café and then continue on the Crater Rim to the Hoon Hay Scenic Reserve carpark.

Cross the stile and head uphill to cross another stile. Straight ahead is Faulkners Track. This is a gem of downhill switchbacks – take some time to stop and enjoy the view down Lyttleton Harbour and marvel at the steepness of the hill face below.

Continue on Faulkners all the way to the bottom – watch for the right hand turn to stay on this track about 2/3 of the way down. When you exit the track onto sealed road, look straight across the road for a timber and corrugated iron fenced set of steps down and carry on with a further short section of trail here. You will arrive back on the road and continue to a dead-end where you will see faint wear on the grass at the right-hand side – follow this and continue down the rough road to the main road through Governor’s Bay.

Suck up some pavement to get around to the fire station on Earnest Adams Drive (watch out for yellow signs pointing to fire station and Ohinetahi tracks). Turn right and go past the fire station. The road veers right (Bay Heights) - on the bend, look for a track on the left side through the grass / bush where there is a slightly hidden gate labelled “Titoki Track”. Continue for a short while on Titoki until it forks and take the left-hand track (Ngaio).

First serious dose of vert here! Eventually Ngaio connects back with Titoki - follow this and then continue straight to carry on to South Boundary. This track is akin to passing through the wardrobe into Narnia – this is one of the highlights of the run, with canopied bush conditions typical of many of Governor’s Bay’s best tracks: gloomy lighting courtesy of old Five Finger canopy and dusty leaf litter mixed with roots and rocks underfoot. Thereafter it gets a little more like hard work.

Ignore Duke Street on your right and carry onto Bush Road. This elevates you, at times quite steeply, back up to the Crater Rim. Turn right at the top and after coming down to road-level keep an eye our for a right turn onto the Trig V detour to gain some extra vert and some more stunning harbour views.

Back over the stile to Hoon Hay Reserve and continue on Crater Rim all the way to Sign of the Kiwi. Cross Dyers Pass Road here to the steps heading up the hill (Sugarloaf) in front of you. Take the 2nd right – Gilpins Track – for some more leg trashing vert before catching your breath in some lovely shady bush. Pop out onto Summit Road, crossing the road and stile and heading right on the Bowenvale Traverse. Great views down the valley and Bowenvale Ave to the City.

Next is some good old quad smashing downhill – veer left to take the wide swathe of grassy track that is the Bowenvale Valley track. After a few hundred metres, watch out for the trail marker that guides you left to stay on the Bowenvale Valley Track. You now get some flowing and smashable single track – watch for the next junction where you need to take a right. Cross a couple of footbridges to come out on the wide shingle trail / road.

On approaching a large grove of tall pine trees look for a track to the left (there are two entrances if you miss the first, which is not actually named). This is the East Side Bush Track that elevates you back up to Victoria Park. Pass through shady pine, fir and macrocarpa trees, eventually giving way to Eucalypt and native shrubs as your vert clock heads past 1,000m.

Keep an eye out for the first critical turn – a right hand turn firstly after a set of wooden steps, then left at the next junction, then right again to head back up into the trees. You are almost there when you see a set of stone steps to your left that pop you out in the main Vic Park carpark.

Go up the sealed road straight/left – look out for the trail into the bush on your right not far past the corner. Head down and take a right at the first juncture to continue back to the starting point on the Tawhairanui Trail.