captainpete's experience @ Godley Head
Pacific dawn
Most people in Christchurch have heard of or been to Godley Head. Follow the map up Summit Road all the way around to Godley Head reserve. Walk down the walking track out East until you’ve passed a few trees and a couple of gates.
Old military buildings still stand in what once a giant rocking chair on the porch of the Banks Peninsula from which Kiwi gunners would fire their shots at approaching Nips. Should they make it close to over the horizon the guns that once were here would have been sufficient to reach them.
I have been out there a few times for different reasons. Sight-seeing with family, raves, walks. The place never bores me. Above ground the buildings are pretty wicked looking. Down below there are a few tunnels. There are many buildings in the establishment. Most of the interesting tunnels I’ve heard are hidden away or locked. The place might warrant a proper investigation at some point. Anyone have the blueprints?
If you do check it out I recommend discovering the light house near the bottom of the cliff. Do not decide to go exploring over the edge of the cliff. The cliffs surrounding the place are marked with danger signs for a reason – over the edge there are prickly bushes and very very large drops. You place your self in great danger by going there. If you don’t die then when you discover a lighthouse and fog horn half way down cut into the rock face you’ll feel very stupid when you find out there are stairs leading there down there. Take the stairs.
By the time we made it to the lighthouse the fog had lifted and the sun was starting to rise over the calm Pacific Ocean. We scaled the lighthouse, it was slippery but there is a ladder at the back and a few ‘handles’ on top. After the sun had rised we got a better chance to look around, we found a generator hut linked to a compressor driving a fog horn. Tried to work out the mechanism but were tired by this stage and didn’t bother spending much time on it.
The stairs back up are steep but not nearly as bad as the cliff. Barbed wire awaits you near the top at a gate. It’s easier to go around the North side through the fence on the right side of the lane walking toward the gate. The wire itself isn’t that well set up so scaling is an easy option. Do not try and get under the gate around the cliff side, there is a really dodgy slip there.
On foggy nights, which happens often out there, make sure you catch the full moon. The pine trees casting white rays through the fog and over the trenches is a sight to see. I’ll have to get photos of it next time I venture out there.
Random Photo
Uploaded by warlust
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