The Port Hills Drive marks the way from the heart of Christchurch city to the summit of the Port Hills, Christchurch's most prominent geographical feature. At the summit of the Port Hills magnificent views can be seen of Christchurch, the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps, Lyttelton Harbour and Pegasus Bay. There are also many sites of geological, ecological and historical interest en route that makes travelling along the Summit Road a unique experience.
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Sign of the Takahe - Completed in 1948, the Sign of the Takahe is a magnificent Gothic-inspired building. A prominent local eccentric, visionary and conservationist, Harry Ell, envisaged a series of roadhouses that would offer shelter and refreshment for those travellers using the Summit Road. The Sign of the Takahe is the first en route and the grandest of these roadhouses. The building is set within the Cracroft Reserve which features native trees, shrubs and tussocks and a plane table that illustrates and names the peaks of the Southern Alps which can be seen from this lookout.