Taylors Mistake Walk

Taylors Mistake Walk guarantees stunning coastal views and plenty of fresh air! This Taylors Mistake/Godley Head Coastal Walk has been voted one of Christchurch’s top 5 walks (Stuff, 2014).

We started our walk at the Taylors Mistake car park and set off up Pilgrims Way Track at the far end of the beach.

The kids loved “rock-climbing” up the first section of track. We passed lots of curious baches, including one with quite a collection of jandals. The flowering coastal plants were impressive and there were lots of safe little detour paths to explore. Hang gliders soared above us and we could see several ships out at sea. The track was busy, even though it was a somewhat grey day.

We didn’t make it far along the walk on this trip but will definitely return with the goal of making it to Boulder Bay.

We visited Taylors Mistake in October 2016 (spring).

Track

This first part of the track involved steps and steepish paths but after that the tracks we used were well-formed, reasonably wide, and gravelly. Keep an eye on children as this is a coastal walk with steep cliffs!

If you’re keen for a bigger walk, you can do a 3-hour return trip taking in the Godley Head gun emplacements, historic buildings, and battery observation posts. There are toilets at the Godley Head car park too. See below for more info about doing a bigger walk.

Facilities

There are toilets between the beach and car park. There’s a surf club, but it’s not in use. There’s a small playground and grassy spot out the back where we saw people flying “kites”.