Wellington Walks: Makara Walkway

Something we really love about Wellington is that within a 10 minute drive of the city, you can be in the countryside. This was a walk we did at Makara Beach. Around a 25 minute drive from the city hidden over the hills.

The coast along the Makara Walkway.

Wind turbines at Makara Walkway.

We decided to hike the Makara Walkway, which is an 8km loop that passes up along the cliffs, then down and back along the beach.

jamie doing handstand with wind turbines in background

Getting the obligatory handstand photo out of the way.

A hike along the Makara Walkway.

Leaving the beach for higher ground, and soon the path was taking us through farmland.

The view from the top of Makara Walkway.

Sadly a lot of the sheep run away from you when you come near.

sheep scratching back on fence

We managed to sneak up on this sheep as it was scratching its back on the fence. As soon as it heard us it ran away. Probably embarrassed much like we’d be if somebody noticed us scratching our ass in public!

The Anxious Travelers walking the Makara Walkway.

Oh, and there were plenty of cows too.

A cow and wind turbine in Wellington, NZ.

cows eating grass above the sea

view from inside gun placement makara wellington

Along the cliffs,we came to an old gun placement from WW2. It offers an amazing view of the surrounding water and South Island. Perfectly placed for spotting Nazis (or the Japanese?!)

A sheep and lamb in Wellington, NZ.

It was lambing season when we went back in August and we were fortunate enough to see a couple of lambs, which were ridiculously cute.

new zealand lamb

Unfortunately, we soon realized that the last section of the trail was closed due to said lambs. (For revenge we later ate one for dinner.)

Closed for lambing and calving sign.

If the trail wasn’t closed we’d have come back along the beach, which we walked along most of anyway. It’s a right bugger to walk on as it’s made entirely of pebbles and tide pools.

Bonfire on the Makara beach in New Zealand.

Tide pools at Makara Walkway in Wellington.

Daniel has taken up quite an interest in birds since we’ve moved here. It’s hard not to as they are quite unique to anything we’ve seen back in our home countries. Here’s a little shag with the South Island in the distance, which we will soon visit in the summer time. It seems so close!

Bird sitting on rocks in Makara.

Makara Walkway Information
Start: Makara Beach, 16km north-west of Wellington
Distance: 8km, 3 to 4 hours loop.
Access: Track starts from the west end of Makara Beach at the end of Makara Beach Road, which runs from the south end of Karori Road.
Parking: Along the beachfront at the road-end.
Notes: Part of the track at the West Wind Recreation Area is closed for lambing during the months of August to October. Also, there are no bathrooms along the track, but you will find some at the start near the cafe.

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