The Sugarloaf Circuit is an easy-going 2.4km loop walk in the Port Hills, starting across Dyers Road from the Sign of the Kiwi Cafe and circling around Sugarloaf, a 496m peak topped by a large communications tower.

The walk connects two or three tracks to form a circuit, depending on which loop you choose to follow: Mitchells, Cedrics, and Gilpins tracks.

The opening stretch on Mitchells Track passes through native bush but offers open views across Lyttelton Harbour from rocky spurs jutting out of the greenery. Where the track emerges into tussock grassland near Summit Road, you’ll also have sprawling views over the city and Pegasus Bay.

There’s a track junction as you come out of the bush, just before the Bowenvale car park on Summit Road – you want to take Cedrics Track as it curves around the northern side of the hill. You’ll then come to another car park, Thomsons car park I believe, and a small hill where we joined a couple of photographers capturing a colourful sunset over the city. From the car park, the track descends through open grasslands back to the starting point.

Gilpins Track, which turns off Cedrics Track just minutes after turning off Mitchells Track is another option to return to Dyers Pass. This track stays on the southern side of the hill until re-emerging from the bush near the cafe.

The Port Hill tracks are popular with runners, mountain bikers, and walkers so you’re bound to meet some like-minded people and, in the evening, quite a few more drive up to watch the sunset over the city and the Canterbury Plains.