| Leader | Mentor | Understudy | Tail Ender | |
| Standards | Jan Bbr | Bev | Ailsa | Steve G |
| Alternates | Alan | Ray | Ali | Tessa |
Distance 14km; elevation gain 662m; time 4hr 15min
A bright cool day greeted 38 trampers at Bishopdale where Alan stood ready to take us to Sumner. Of those, we had no visitors as Les, David, and Brent have become full members of BTC and joined us on the tramp. Congratulations and welcome! Four other members met us at the Scarborough Clock Tower (bringing our total number to 42), and off we went, the 20 Alternates being taken up to Evans Pass to start, and the 22 Standards starting up the zig zag course up and over the hill. The bus was remarkably quiet once we left Sumner. Just sayin’.
It was a beautiful and relatively cool day with a few clouds and a breeze providing respite from what could otherwise be a quite warm tramp with few trees between Taylors Mistake and Evans Pass. The Alternates’ route took them up, over, and through the Scarborough Reserve where we saw gun emplacements and stunning views of Lyttelton Harbour where two tugboats stood ready to guide a tanker into Port.
We passed the Standards just as we arrived at Godley Head (having taken the option for the longer tramp) for an early lunch at 11:30. Apparently, the Alternates missed the 3.3 earthquake whose epicentre was pretty close to Godley Head as we packed up to continue around noon. Our tramp took us by the Scott House, down the path past Boulder Bay (“I’ve never seen it from this perspective”), the cutoff to the penguin habitat (now fenced off to protect the penguins from trampers), and through the just-past-prime gardens of many baches at Taylors Mistake.
For the Alternates, the last hour was the trek up and over to the Clock Tower at Sumner, not an easy task! Apparently at about the same time, one of the Standards took a slight header as they descended to Evans Pass, but fortunately suffered little damage. The Standards, having finished about 30 minutes before the Alternates, were bused back to Sumner where they had time to admire the architecture of the homes and apartments in Sumner and the wind surfers out on the Bay.
And just because I know you’re dying to know, the cornerstone for the Scarborough Clock Tower was laid 14 December 1934. The clock and tower were donated to the Borough of Sumner by Richard Edward Green, to perpetuate the name of his father Edmund Green who had arrived in Christchurch on 4 August 1859 to install the first telegraph system in New Zealand. The clock, like many others in Christchurch, suffered damage in the earthquakes to both the building and the workings of the clock leading to a restoration process in 2018. Fun Fact: the hands of the clock are manually moved forward and back to accommodate daylight savings time.
A trip to The Valley Inn for a quick refreshment, and we were back to Bishopdale by a little after 4. Another good day’s walk.
Txt by Michelle
