Built in Norwich for Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s 1910–1913 Terra Nova expedition, this compact three-by-four-metre tongue-and-groove hut was carried to Antarctica as a weather station, brought back unopened, and eventually relocated to Godley Head after surviving the Canterbury earthquakes. While the interior is closed, on-site interpretation boards detail its ties to polar explorers, and visitors can peer through the windows or carefully take the steep, narrow external staircase up to a rooftop viewing platform overlooking the headland and ocean.
Reaching the cabin is an easy walk from the Godley Head visitor day car park at the end of Summit Road, passing through the military compound before taking the track down towards Taylor Battery, followed by a marked five-minute climb. Alternatively, it can be reached via the Godley Head Loop track from Taylors Mistake. Set on the coastal bluffs above Sumner, it makes a rewarding, unhurried stop for a family picnic or anyone drawn to Christchurch’s deep Antarctic heritage. Our pick in Sumner for an atmospheric walk steeped in polar history.