73 Above (Makara Beach) Makara Beach, North Island, New Zealand
By Hurricane Luke - adopted by boxhill on 24-Jan-11. Waypoint GC2MWPA

Got this one while out this way today. Just not quite sure its in the cottonwood/tauhinu? Spied it though and all good inside. Many thanks- blustery up here today!

Nice views here. Quick find and cache all good. Thanks

#614Not sure what cottonwood looks like but managed to locate the cache without too much issue. Great views here. Time to head back for lunch!

Apologies to the CO.
I found this cache a while ago but have been very sporadic with caching for a while due to the pandemic, and this find was left as a draft on my app.
TFTC

We were too rushed last weekend to find any cashes on the way from our Makara loop walk but this time we decided to come back and find a few!

GPS was really playing up in that spot so every time we'd move we had to wait a little bit for it to settle to see whether we were coming closer to the cache or walking away from it. But apart from that it was a very easy find! The altitude that GPS showed up was 73m

There was quite a bit of wind today but it was safe enough to get this one! Stunning views! TFTC!

A good walk up from Makara Beach, no wind here today. Thanks boxhill for the cache.

The second boxhill cache today. All safe and dry here I came down from the gun emplacements so will get a reasonable workout on the way back up
Thanks boxhill

Tftc out with friends on a beautiful hot day!

Great view of the old pa site, must have been a tad breezy with no batts in the wall, tftc

Good to go again

New Cache container in place.

Hoping to get out to Makara later next week and get things back in action again.

The COVID-19 alert is now at LEVEL 4. I will carry out maintenance when the situation improves and we can all get out and about and enjoy Geocaching again.

Until then do what you’re meant to do stay home and stay safe,

Cheers Geoff

This geocacher reported that the cache might be missing.

Will disable for now as it maybe a few weeks before I can get out there and check

Spent a very long time looking for this one and couldn't find it. GPS kept on jumping around and after looking under the obvious contender for a long time we branched to a more dangerous (cliff side) location. Still no luck. Based on how long ago it has been since someone else found this, am wondering if the cache has gone missing or needs maintenance.

Today was a really, really scary and frustrating day.

I made the trip back out to Makara Breach as I had a full day and was determined to clear out the are.

The first was the oldie.... and I am NEVER doing anything like that ever again. The ascent was scary, the search fruitless, the descent was even worse.... never again will I ever even attempt another cache like this... 2001 be damned!

The second was the 73m above.... despite the area being a bit close the cliffs (not vertical, but scary enough) I could not find the damn thing.

OK... I need some success.... so I head up to the Wind Recreation area.... and its closed for 'lambing'... only in NZ right.

So, AFter 3 hours in Makara I have bugger all to show for it. OK, I will finish the cool Wherigo instead and then head to the airport.

Looked like a piece of trash in plain view. We moved it a bit next to a plant to secure it. Tftc.

Amazing views! Thank you for bringing us here. Found it with oxplot ️

Found on 11th. New cache container by the looks and log nice and dry. Beaut views, what a cool place - thanks for the stop.

Found on a wonderful sunny Wellington day

Quick find. Stunning views from this location. TFTC.

Makara bike trail is in our sights for today. Get here around 7.30am to be met by some big locked gates. OK its down to Makara Beach and walk in from there. Get up here on a beautiful Wellington morning. The search party was out here before The Seagnoid finally snags this one. Replaced log to keep this one rolling along. Cheers

Friday - day twenty one - Wellington Out with The Seagnoid and Toby to Makara before dropping The Seagnoid off at the ferry.

Its another epic 3+ week geocaching adventure with The Seagnoid, Zara, Toby and William to the Far North. What an amazing place to explore. Lots of walks, gravel roads and sand. Lots of amazing trees, beaches and interesting POIs. Lots of kilometers traveled by vehicle and foot. Vehicle breakdowns, making new friends and catching up with old friends and family. Snagged a couple of FTF's, lots of lonely caches and the odd event along the way. Lots of cache maintenance and replaced caches on this trip. But what an incredible adventure!!. Thanks to all the CO's who have made this trip so memorable..

Got up early and headed to Makara but the main gate was closed, so we headed around to this entrance instead. Alas i have lost my notebook so no notes, just vague memories. We replaced the cache here, which was getting very sub-standard (see earlier logs).

Day twenty-one of an awesome, tiring, long, three week holiday geocaching with Taybeedragon in the upper north. Today: Wellington while waiting for the ferry. The whole trip comprised of hours of walking on sand, sliding down sand dunes, hundreds of kilometres of unsealed roads, car breakdowns, paddling out to islands, lighthouses, dolphins, goats, events, FTFs, weird boulders. You name it, we saw it. Lots of bisons, lots of cache maintenance, lots of sunscreen. A month is enough. I am glad to be back home. Except that now I have to write up my trip. We averaged just 20 caches per day, but that is still a lot of logging!

Happy new Planetary Orbit from the Seagnoid!

Beautiful walk along the beach and up hill. Rescue action going on see photo.
Lid broken. Wet inside. Logbook ok.
TFTC

Heading out to Makara on a mild August day, and it's International Geocaching Day. GPS told me 77m at the top, but figured that was close enough and soon found the cache. As previous funders have said, log is unusable, and container does not seem watertight any more. Added a new piece of paper in a new baggie, hopefully that will last a little while longer.

I hadn't actually planned to come here but I thought I'd explore the track a bit beyond the Makara Beach cache and suddenly I wasn't too far from this cache. Of course it was straight up a hill but, hey. I've been a bit lax on my hill climbing.

The cache was an instant find on arrival due partly to not been hidden in a way that is characteristic of a Boxhill cache (i.e. harder to find than you might expect). While I was signing I kept an eye on what the GPS's altitude reckoning was. I'm sure it was saying 77m all the time but I was also doing a waypoint average of several minutes and, surprisingly (to me) that says 73m. Just goes to show how important averaging is if you want record an accurate GPS location.

Some stunning views up here on an awesome spring-like winter day. TFTC.

I forgot to mention in my find log that the log is extremely wet, all the pages are stuck together and not really signable. I made a mark on the soggy paper but it really needs a new log.

All wet inside .... Great day in Makara. We did Makara Walkway and Opau Loop Track. Found some caches here and some left for another time. TFTC

Attacked this from the bottom as it is lambing season and the top was closed off.
Bit of a search in the wind and found the goodies in hand. Container may require replacing as all the clips to the lid have broken off and the log was quite damp. Jammed the container where it won't get blown away. TFTC

Container may require replacing as all the clips to the lid have broken off and the log was quite damp. The container is safe for now but maintenance will be required in the near future.

Did not really need crampons and was amazed that apparently the stash was windproof. While I was still nutting out the hint, UlmusLynx found the cache. Faster going down the hill than up and the rocks that looked like sheep on the pasture area had not moved. TFTC and the view.

Found with Gilgul on a sunny Saturday with lots of muggles going up and down the main path. Bit of a puff to get up here. Altitude 77 m on my GPS62. TFTC

#2611. Sunday dawned bright and sunny. We haven't been out to Makara in almost 2 years so I persuaded a few of the GSEL team that the time was ripe for another trip to walk the hills in this area. It was blowing a bit harder than in the city but not as severe as some days we have spent in this area. Enjoyed the walk up to the ridgeline. Plenty of hint objects to check and we searched quite a few of them before giving the one closest to the coordinates a more careful search and there was the cache. The container was wet but the replacement log is still dry enough to sign. Replaced the cache as found. Great views. The rest of the family was off uphill by the time I finished signing the log so sorry I missed taking an altitude reading today. Thanks for the cache. (by the way Cape Farewell is further north than Stephens Island)

Amazing view! Found with Donnacha.o TFTC!

Found with Roothiebee, needs a new container, clips have given up the ghost. Tftc!

Nice view. May pay to get a new container - the new logbook is starting to get damp.

So that's what looks like… and without Internet! TTFC boxhill.

p.s. container has 2 broken clips, but (replacement) notebook dry.

Found after searching through some bushes and trying to avoid gorse. TFTC

A nice blustery Wgtn day with a pounding sea and strong winds but managed to find cache OK.

Cache waterlogged as 2 of the 4 catches are broken and lid doesn't seal properly. Unfortunately didn't have spare log or container to replace but hopefully the next person will.

75 metres, but the Oregon 450 is pretty inaccurate sometimes!

The snaplock latch has fallen off - it was keeping dry in its hideyhole but the box will need replacement soon.

Really enjoyed getting here for the view - would have loved to go further to see the gun emplacements, but didn't have time today. Thanks for placing and maintaining this cache, Hurricane Luke & boxhill.

Makara walkway: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/wellington/makara-factsheet.pdf

The pa is a registered historic place http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/6143

A good friend wanted to go for a dive, so went along to keep an eye out, and collect a couple of caches. Great views from up here, and out nearer the point could comfortably keep watch on him diving - being able to see the bottom for a reasonable distance given the very calm conditions. Elevation - 74mtrs. TFTC

73 Above (Makara Beach) was transferred from anzac61 to user boxhill

#344. One of my favourite walks up this hill - the wind was not too bad up here today. Perfect. No trouble at GZ. My altitude reading at GZ was 80m, although perhaps I didn't linger here long enough for it to settle...Tftc.

Nice views, nice location, nice cache, nice +1 from me ... that's geocaching! [^] THANKS!!

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Found it but took about 15 mins. It's very well hidden.

Approached this one from above before doing the Opau loop and had to walk back up the hill after finding it! We were exhausted before even starting the loop! Cache itself was a quick find and the views were amazing Thanks for bringing us here.

Phew! What a walk! Thanks for the cache

Quick find at game zone. My Magellan explorist 110 says I am at 76m. Thanks for the cache.

tftc

A quick find with TregearP and Jojo&Dobby.

My Garmin Montana 650t also had 73m at the GZ .

Tftc.

Quite a challenge on a windy day, TFTC

TFTC

TFTC

TFTC. Ending of a great walk with cache no.2

In amazing day with darcy

Found this today with The Wandering Dragons and Astro Hunter. Quite a climb up here, and saw several baby sheep that all ran away from us. Swapped in a painted rock and took the Ninja. Thanks!

Cache # 709

Did this with The Wandering Dragons and Violet Butterfly. Beautiful clear morning, and pretty calm too. A but treacherous on the hill, and we all slipped together on the way back down. Thanks!

Cache # 142

Cache # 1,963 - a nice way to start Father's Day with a hike together with Violet Butterfly and Astro Hunter. One of the nicest days yet that I have seen at Makara Beach. Good grunt up the hill (always forget how steep it is - 70+ metre climb in 200 metres distance!), and we saw goats and sheep. Easy find there. Agree that it still seems waterproof even missing a latch on the container. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Re-set the GPS at sea level and when we reached the GZ it registered 77 metres.

This entry was edited by The Wandering Dragons on Sunday, 07 September 2014 at 08:56:20 UTC.

Loved the little ninja in the cache and the view of the South Island from the GZ. One clip has broken off the container but it still seems watertight. TFTC.

Found this on the Geocaching app map, but alas, no internet connection available to download details. I got to 0m via the navigator but couldn't tell if I was standing on it or 73m above it! Too windy to chance a look over the side... Ah well, it was a great walk - will look again next time!

Out and about this evening with Anagik took a while to find but came up with the goods in the end ,signed log TFTC

Nice view

I dropped off a trackable from Germany. Has a plastic horse attached to it. Not sure how to log it in my inventory as it is not a trackable type i have come across. I logged it on the website it suggested so hopefully the new finder can move it on again.

Used the stop at Seaside Relic to reset altitude to 0 at the high tide mark and then took the easy path to the top. After finding the cache I let the GPS sit for a couple of minutes and it settled on 77 metres. Retrieved the geocoin and back down the hill again. A very successful morning clearing the last of the West Wind Loop and Makara caches. TFTC !

Found it. Another beautiful wellington day. Got 69m while sitting 2-3m below it. Garmin gps. Great views. TFTC

A fair old climb up to get this one - took a bit of searching too but Br'er Bear managed to, once again, prove that he can find those caches. TFTC

BIG hill. Great views, GPS was off by about 10m but the clue helped, log signed and returned safely to it's spot. Spotted the South Island in one direction and Mana & Kapiti Islands in the other. Wouldn't want to be up here in anything bigger than a breeze, very exposed. tftc

Great to back in the area today despite the blustery conditions. Found under the watchful eye of a jet black goat! Took TB, TFTC, #6479 - gets a favourite, this is my type of cache.

Great views today!

Found it! Good climb up to a great view of the South Island.

77m showing on my Garmin, and exactly 0m showing at the high water line on the coast before I headed up the hill. Not much of a view today with some very low cloud hanging around, a nice little walk however,

TFTC

Nice view

Hi, after returning back to Wellington I went out for my first trip and found a few caches around Makara Beach. Thanks. In: TB.

Good cache

TFTC!
with CaligulaNZ & fiddlefingersNZ

Found it!


TFTC!!

After doing the Loop Track up at the West Wind wind farm decided we still had time to come down and nab a few caches in Makara Beach proper. Weather suddenly started to deteriorate after a beautiful sunny morning and early afternoon.

Cache quickly found and logged, but the howling wind maf=de me forget to gather the elevation information. By that stage we just wanted to get back down to some shelter.

TFTC!
with Comandercon2 & FiddlefingersNZ

My GPS only registered 20m above... maybe I have an inferior brand. Cache in good order - deposited a Cat's Eye (shell) - could see the rain coming - got out just in time.

A bit of a climb that was rewarded with some great views. My Garmin was reading 78m TFTC HL

You didn't say straight up! Took a bit of finding as GPS threw a hissy fit. TFTC

During a day of caching in the West Wind Recreation area, which included this one and others on the Opau Loop. Enjoyed the series of caches very much on just the most superb summer day.
Cache found in order, log signed, then safely re-hidden, just as found.
TFTC found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!

We did penance for our rather pathetic effort on this one a couple of weeks ago (I blame the awful wind at that time). No excuses today, weather was perfect. Wind, what wind? The 'penance' part was the side trip down from the gun emplacements, then back up again to commence the Opau Loop. Slip sliding away on the way down, huff and puff on the up!

Found orginally as part of phasevisitor team, now created own account, re-logging as yorkshirekiwi83.

We are visiting 2kiwis.com in Wellington with Hole-in-one 2, we decided to go for a walk around this area as the forecast was looking pretty good. Steep climb, but nice views, we took 2 GPS's up with us, one gave the altidute reading as 79m (magellan) and the other 74m (garmin). Quick easy find, TFTC

We gave this one the once over and did not find. Would admit that the strong wind was making this a fairly inhospitable place to be, that in itself meant that our search efforts were less than enthusiastic.

We are visiting 2kiwis.com in Wellington with Hole-in-one 2, we decided to go for a walk around this area as the forecast was looking pretty good. Steep climb, but nice views, we took 2 GPS's up with us, one gave the altidute reading as 79m (magellan) and the other 74m (garmin). Quick easy find, TFTC

Team effort by phasevisitor and 2kiwis.com . Steep climb and windy after a short hunt pv came up with the goods tftc

Three of us had a good looking for this one for quite a while. Didn't see hint anywhere. Elevation was in the 70-75m range, depending on where I looked.
I guess the wind was blowing my signal off.

Good walk to the cache. My GPS was a bit away from others showing 77m. Quick find here. SL TFTC

We have been wanting to visit this area for a while, but after 7 @ Makara was published, decided we'd wait until we had the co-ords for it and polish off all the caches in the area while we were here.
We gathered the last of the required info a few weeks ago, and today seemed like an ideal day to visit.

After finding Makara Beach, we continued along the track and it didn't take long before we were at GZ. I'm scared of heights and wasn't willing to go the last few metres to GZ, so the long-suffering StreetWalker had to search by himself while I sat just above the track enjoying the fantastic views.
He then brought me the logbook for signing duties .
Thanks for bringing me here, Luke.

#4418. We took a path en route to GZ that was a bit hairier than if we had stayed on the path in the valley. The cache proved to be well hidden, but I got there in the end. The GPSr 60csx was reading 80m. A great spot for a cache; many thanks.

We were out for a walk on a lovely spring day and enjoyed the warm sunshine! And did some caches of course. My Garmin Montana showed an altitude of 74,4m. Left a Coin here! TFTC

Lovely day for a walk, and lots of people out enjoying the day A great little cache, well hid after logging our find. Sorry I forgot to record the altitude but as a hang glider pilot I would say that the 74 meters is pretty much on the money. TNLN TFTC

Great afternoon for a walk up around the wind farm with a mate Dave. I've been meaning to do these ones for a while so great to get out here and tick a few off. Got a little rain while we were out so a good chance to stop and cook some lunch and a coffee at 'West Wind' before carrying on and returning to Makara beach via the coast with the sun out. Great views all along this coast and a great afternnon out.

Easy find thanks. Nice day for a walk.

As I approached the GZ I feared it may have been on the inland track which is closed for lambing 1Aug to 30Sep. On returning to Makara Beach and re-reading the map it appears this is the case. I didn't cross any fences and there are no signs other than a small paragraph on the map sign but this cache is probably best left until after lambing season.

Beaut spot despite the cloud and wind today.

Took a lovely walk with Mycro Man and the Fairy half up to this cache this afternoon.. The weather was spectacular and the walk a tad bit strenuous with Mycro Man in my backpack. This finally clears out all the caches in the Makara region for us.. Thanks for the cache.

Did with CrystalFairy

Incredible view of South Island, Mana Island and Kapiti Island up here-beautiful! TFTC!

My Magellan Explorist said this was 73m above. Very easy find, beautiful view.

Hi Hurricane Luke,

This cache is my 3433 0th find.
I am now in the process of back-logging all my old finds under my own GC account username of Mat Smith.
This cache was found in the company of lgxkls and possibly several other cachers.

Thanks for the cache.

Mat Smith.