Mount Cavendish is located in the Port Hills, with views over Christchurch, New Zealand and Lyttelton. It is part of the crater wall of the extinct volcano that formed

Lyttelton Harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other is Akaroa Harbour on the southern coast. It enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a pred ...

. The Mount Cavendish Reserve displays some of the best examples of lava flow to be seen on the Port Hills.

History

Mount Cavendish was first transferred to the Crown for a Scenic Reserve in 1910, by the Morten Brothers. The mountain was first named Hill Morten in 1912 by Harry Ell, in recognition of the Morten family's gifts of land for the Summit Road and scenic reserves. The name Mount Cavendish was first given to nearby Mount Pleasant (after which a suburb is now named) in 1848, but did not stick and the peak of Hill Morten was named Mount Cavendish after the Hon. Richard Cavendish of the Canterbury Association.

Description

It is 448 metres (1,470 feet) high and falls within the Mount Cavendish Scenic Reserve, which sits at the top of the Heathcote Valley, close to the northern entrance to the Lyttelton Road Tunnel. Mount Cavendish is located approximately 10 km from Dyers Pass, and 4.7 km from Evans Pass via the

Summit Road A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

. On foot, it can be accessed via the Crater Rim Walkway or the

Bridle Path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

(which connects Heathcote Valley and Lyttelton). Access is also via the

Christchurch Gondola The Christchurch Gondola is a tourist attraction service offered bChristchurch Attractionsin Christchurch, New Zealand. The gondola base is located in Heathcote Valley, and it traverses the slopes of Mount Cavendish in the Port Hills. Also known ...

, which has its lower terminal located on Bridle Path Road, in Heathcote Valley. The gondola opened on 24 November 1992. It was closed following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, not reopening until March 2013.

References

{{reflist

External links

Christchurch Gondola web site
Cavendish