Arriving in the middle of the night after a 22 hour travel day was not the ideal introduction to this place. It was extremely expensive to get to by taxi, the path to the house has no lighting, and the futon is hard and uncomfortable, and takes up 90% of the space in the hut. The outdoor shower is challenging in the winter, and the public transportation is limited on the weekends. The view is really all you’re paying for. That being said, it is an outstanding view, and the small town below is charming. We never made it into Christchurch proper (due to aforementioned unforeseen challenges), but Sumner Bay was great to explore. If you have a rental car, are arriving during daylight, and are prepared for a hard night’s sleep, the hut will likely delight you. We’d recommend it to friends who have already had their fill of Christchurch and would like something darling off the beaten path.
Note: the Lifeboat station is directly beneath the Hut and an air raid siren goes off whenever the Lifeboat is activated. It happened to go off at 10pm when we were staying there. With no response from the co-host Catherine, a thorough Google search finally let us know what the siren was and quelled our tsunami fears.