In light of Halloween we’re sharing our Christchurch Gondola ghost stories! Opened in 1992 as the Mt Cavendish Gondola, the Gondola has been a favourite family activity for over 25 years. The top station is sited on top of Mt Cavendish which is located next to Mt Pleasant (the site of a Ngāti Māmoe pā that was captured by Ngāi Tahu). The Gondola was blessed by a kaumātua of the local iwi when it was opened, but there were some spooky goings on experienced at our top station for a while in the late 1990s.
The staff at the top station reported seeing unexplained movements out of the corners of their eyes, feeling invisible hands on their shoulders and feeling that they were not alone when closing up the Gondola at the end of the day. Some staff experienced passing through pockets of cold air in otherwise warm rooms and another spotted a ghostly figure on the hill one evening. It certainly was haunting for a while!
The site was blessed a second time by another local kaumātua after these events were reported and a third time after the Gondola was reopened in 2013 following the Christchurch earthquakes. We’re happy to say that none of our staff have experienced any supernatural events since, so you can rest assured that you won’t have any spooky experiences on your next visit to the Gondola. See you soon!
Cover photo credit: Marianne Lau & Benson Chew