After flying from Wellington to Christchurch to begin our South Island adventures, our first stop was the Kura Tāwhiti Conservation Area, better known as Castle Hill. Before heading into the boulder fields, we made a very fitting “second breakfast” stop at the World Famous Sheffield Pie Shop, which ended up being the best food we had in all of New Zealand – the boysenberry pie alone was worth the detour. Fully fueled, we continued on to Castle Hill, where massive limestone formations stretched across the landscape. Famous as the filming location for the epic final battle in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the area was both cinematic and unexpectedly peaceful. We had an incredible time scrambling over the boulders, soaking in the sweeping views, and exploring a place that truly rocked in every sense

📸 Summary  

Bouldering and Hiking up Castle Hill

We explored many of the large boulders on the bottom, and then made the trek up the steep incline to the top of Castle Hill along the 3 mile Kura-Tawhiti Access Trail to Castle Hill. We actually thought the views from the boulders below were more stunning. If you are short on time, I’d recommend just skipping the hike to the top and spending more time on the boulders at the bottom. The trek down was also really rough on the knees, and it was easier for me run a portion of it.

Castle Hill (Crebain Reenactment)

The top of Castle Hill looked very similar to the LOTR scene where the crebain (Saurman’s large black crow spies) spot the fellowship, and they all hide behind the rocks. We didn’t get to visit the actual spot on Mount Olympus so this was as a great alternative place to get in this LOTR reenactment.

Second Breakfast at Sheffield Pie

The World Famous Sheffield Pie was the best food we had on our trip and served as a great “second breakfast” along our drive from Christchurch to Castle Hill. The boysenberry pie was phenomenal. We also got the peppered steak pie, country chicken pie, Sheffield pastie and Oreo cheesecake.