Gondola Ride Up Mount Cavendish

Every day of the three we spent in Christchurch was cloudy, rainy, and windy, and our final day in the city was no exception. One of the things we wanted to do was to enjoy the view of Lyttelton Harbour from the top of Mount Cavendish, but the weather wasn't cooperating. The grumpy shuttle driver advised us that the trip was a waste of time because of the weather, but since we had no other plans, we decided to proceed anyway. He drove somewhat erratically, passing too close to bicyclists, (one of whom actually screamed), but the drive was mercifully short, and the employees at the gondola were extremely friendly and welcoming as if they were actively trying to cancel out any ill feelings the driver might have aroused.

The ride up was a bit more exciting than we had expected. The gondola actually stopped for several minutes a couple of times and we felt somewhat anxious as the car rocked back and forth in the gusty wind. Fortunately, a reassuring voice over the intercom informed us that we would soon be on our way. According to Wikipedia, passengers in 2016 were not as lucky when the gondola broke down and left them trapped swaying in the breeze for 2 hours without communication.You can imagine the uproar when the managing director commented that the incident was "no big deal". The intercom system was installed very soon after.

When we did start moving again, we traveled briefly in the opposite direction, but we did eventually reach the smiling employee at the top, and we emerged from the station into a store offering all the usual Kiwi souvenirs. From store level you climb a short flight of stairs to a casual sort of cafeteria surrounded by an outdoor viewing platform.

The strong, cold wind made any prolonged viewing of the scenery unpleasant, so we ducked in and out of the restaurant taking pictures and warming up over cups of coffee.

I briefly entertained the notion of venturing out on one of the hiking paths that cross the hills, but the wind soon drove me back inside.

There is a rather curious attraction at the back of the store called the Time Tunnel. You sit in a high backed seat in a car which runs on a rail and travels through six or seven rooms where various displays present a brief history of the area. Numerous complaints have been made - that the presentation glorifies colonialism and that Māori words (including the word Māori itself) are mispronounced.

To us it just seemed very outdated, and we were glad that we hadn't paid extra for it. The entry cost is included in the price of the gondola ticket.

We kept hoping that the clouds would miraculously clear, but that never happened so finally we boarded the gondola again and descended from the mountain top. The shuttle ride back to town was uneventful.

It was our last evening in Christchurch, so we ventured further from our hotel and enjoyed some amazing Thai food. Although the city still has a decidedly British feel, it seems to be trying very hard to present a very cosmopolitan range of food options. I would miss that wide range of options during the remainder of our trip, but it was time to explore other parts of the island.