Takarau Gorge (Wellington) Ohariu, North Island, New Zealand
By GSEL on 25-Jul-16. Waypoint GC6P4TH

Easy park and grab if approaching from the correct way (Karori/Makara). Been wanting this one for a while but today was a quiet day, no muggles passed me, and it was an easy quick find. Camo outside had attracted two snails too!! TFTC and the maintenance given the ongoing roadworks on this sneaky twisty road.

Well disguised. Thank you GSEL

A nice quick find. Narrow roads and lovely countryside today. Thanks for placing your cache. Ms_KR and I are heading North again to visit family. Today was just cruising visiting new places, like Makara, and caching where we could..Occassionally signed MK+KR on cache logs, and apologies for the generic logs.Thanks to all CO's for publishing and maintaining their caches.

Found easily with father and cricketlee

Holy moly what a road! I swear every corner we met someone coming the other way! Had to u-turn to get to GZ, but there's a lovely new driveway to do that a wee way down the road. Quick find at GZ and log is in good condition. TFTC

The first cache of our trip around Wellington. Tftc.

I checked the cache today. The bison tube had gone AWOL. I have put a new container out by the fence. Its about 5m from the original coordinates but close enough if you use the hint. Hope this one lasts longer than the previous caches.

No luck even with the hint. I think it’s gone.

Safe to say that I did not enjoy driving here, but I did survive, so that's something. At the cache itself, I attempted it driving east, and was not successful.

Had a quick look but couldn’t find today

A

On my way home after walking up from Makara Beach to walk around the Opau loop. Thanks GSEL for the cache.

July 28 2021. Takarau Gorge Rd is closed and will be for several weeks due to flood damage from the flood on July 17

Thanks for the cache! Should have read the very clear instructions first though (dah!!)
Missed it on our way back from Makara so turned (when we found a safe spot), came back, missing again, this time owing to parking dodgy this side, found another turning spot ( very few fans far between around here - even for a little car!), came back for a final (and correct!) approach, parked safely and found quickly very close by! Log a little damp unfortunately. I love this gorge!

Coordinates changed from:
S 41° 13.578 E 174° 44.745

Coordinates changed to:
S 41° 13.555 E 174° 44.850

Distance from original: 500.5 feet or 152.6 meters.

Cache was moved to better spot a while ago. Can't move position in one step. No response from message sent to reviewer.

Coordinates changed from:
S 41° 13.555 E 174° 44.850

Coordinates changed to:
S 41° 13.542 E 174° 44.880

Distance from original: 158.5 feet or 48.3 meters.

Cache now in a better position with more suitable parking option

Ready to be found once more. Do take care on this very narrow road.

Cache replaced and moved to better spot. Still within the gorge. Best approached from the Makara direction.

The previous hiding spot is being repaired after storm damage. Now within a work zone with traffic lights. Have shifted cache 200m NE up road by spot with better available parking. Will ask reviewer to update coordinates.

Location has been changed. Needs a reviewer to update coordinates.

We found this on on a cycle ride over from Makara over to Oharihu Valley and it was a lovely ride, a great day to be out and about. TFTC

Not my favourite type of cache but I thought it would be quiet this morning. Before leaving home, I sussed out a sort of okay place to park by consulting Google Earth. As it turned out, no vehicles passed while I walked to the cache site, found the cache (instantly) and retuned to my car.

In the area for work, took the opportunity to pick up this cache on the way back to the office. GPS surprisingly accurate in a steep, narrow gorge, soon led me to the correct spot for a quick find. Log in reasonable condition, no problems. TFTC!

We parked right at GZ and kept our fingers crossed no muggles would drive by while we were here. Fortunately it was a very quick find for Mrs Rattll while Mr Rattll stayed in the car.
Thanks for putting this here for us to find.

TFTC
Quick find here today
[?] Found with ***taybee*** [?] Sign log book

**taybee** is caching again with **taybee nz**
easy find here to day log to wet to sign
sign log book as **taybee** or **tb** TFTC Log by Gsak
Cache was find at **2019-12-22 12:46:00**

Luckily I have a nice small car so could get off the road about 50m down the road from this spot, which made it a nice quick find. A nice hide GSEL!

The gorge upstream from here is quite amazing - incredible that they managed to push a road through! They probably couldn't do it these days. The road was still busy on this late Saturday afternoon - lots of cyclists and a few horseys.

TFTC...

Cool - very cute cache!

Duplicate account - found yesterday @theotherphotoguy - See last log
Cool little micro cache, spotted a likely hiding spot on the approach and bingo, cool!

Cool. Small.

Very special landscape out here.
Logbook wet.
TFTC

Heading out to Makara on a mild August day, and it's International Geocaching Day. Once I found a relatively safe park it was a short jog up the road for this one. Log paper was mush, so added a new piece of paper. TFTC

Well that's an intetesting one The only place to park even half sensibly is about 60m down the road But you can be seen easily by other road users TFTC

Yes parking is a challenge. Had to park 200m away and walk back. All good here. TFTC

A good day to tackle this one as traffic was light. We walked back from where we found a place to park and as we approached GZ the only two cars we saw met and had to edge past each other. That achieved the cache was a quick find. TFTC

tftc

Taking the long way home from the wind farm.

Another memory---about 1950 a carrying truck tipped over in that river, My Dad using his bulldozer dragged it up onto the road. No-one was hurt and I had fun getting the paperwork out of the water. Now that river seems a stream but evidence on fences show it can still flood.TFTC

On a road trip with my mum (CNAH) last weekend with the primary goal of seeing where my grandmothers grave is at Makara Cemetery. My mum lived her childhood in Ohariu Valley so it made sense to explore this area en route. Had a fantastic time hearing snippets of her childhood as we travelled these local roads - it brought back many memories for mum.
Originally we were going to just go to Makara via Karori and back again because CNAH isn't so keen on driving through this horrible narrow winding Takarau Gorge. However, we had all day and were in my tiny Sirion car so changed our plan. We were so fascinated with the recent flood debris entwined in the fence we overshot the cache lol. Found a turning around place (phew!) and returned. I was convinced the cache was going to be gone seeing the flood debris but lol ... there it was! A VERY quick sign and replace as the parking was not so nice. Then kept going to find another turning around place to head back in the direction of Makara. Awesome. TFTC. Giving this one a favourite. PS The log was very damp and needs replacing but squeezed our names on it sideways.

#398. Nice easy park, walk & grab on this road which I can't ever remember driving along before. Cache nicely hidden but the log is pretty well munted, falling apart really and a bit damp. Had an interesting 'conversation' with a woolly geo-baa & her lamb just across the stream! Tftc GSEL.

p.s. Parking is available about 55m south of GZ, next to a culvert.

I got very cheap flights to Wellington and back for the weekend, what a perfect excuse to come caching and find some that have been sitting on my to do list, and some more! Not much space to pull over, but the only person to pass me gave me an understanding smile and a wave TFTC!!

On the way back from a funeral of a workmate (very unexpected and tragic) we stopped here on the way home from the Makara Cemetry. Did with a muggle who found the cache easily. Much easier than the parking. For future cachers this is not a park and grab and it's not child friendly either. Glad to have this one of the list on a quiet day.

Cache # 3,799 - did this afternoon with Violet Butterfly. Have been through this gorge many times, and know how narrow it is, so did not want to chance doing this cache in my normal early morning (i.e. very dark) caching time, but during the sunlight hours. Today worked out quite well for us in that regard, so was happy to give it a go. Read the previous log by Trancer, and was pretty sure I spotted the pull-off spot they used, but drove past it anyway. Knew instantly where the cache was, but no decent spot to stop there, so next was finding a place to turn around. 300 meters further on a full construction crew was working on the road. Went through them when they waved me on, found a spot to turn around, and went back. Approaching from the south instead of the north, it was much more obvious that there was room right at the GZ to pull the car over for a few minutes - especially knowing that anyone coming behind us would be moving slowly and most likely delayed. Violet Butterfly hopped out and found the cache, but insisted I come out and sign it too (they didn't like the cobwebs on top of it). All done and dusted and returned to car just in time to move, as another car came from the south. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Consecutive caching day # 1,481

Found this one with The Wandering Dragons today. They have been here before, but I hadn't, and enjoyed it. Glad I wasn't driving, though! Easy find. Thanks!

Cache # 1,288

What an odd place for a cache. It's probably no problem if you're on a bike but you shouldn't be encouraging people to stop their cars here. I stopped in the bay about 200m north of here and jogged back to the cache. Several cars passed during the whole mission so stopping closer to the cache would have been a really dumb idea. At GZ the cache was a quick find so I signed and dashed back to the car. I understand why it's good idea to have a cache along here somewhere but I don't understand the reason for this particular location. TFTC anyway.

Hi Trancer
Takarau Gorge is a spectacular feature of the Wellington region and needed a cache. But as you pointed out its not an easy place to park. I did originally place the cache in a better spot with safe parking but the landowner informed one cacher that whole site was about to be cleared to open up a new access road. The current placement while not ideal is still in the gorge and a quick easy find. While I don't mind being criticised for cache placements if it really is a dumb spot to geocache, I think if you don't like the look of a place, then just drive on by. Plenty of others have enjoyed this placement.
Cheers GSEL

This time Selesi, UlmusLynx and I didn't have to give up due to scarcity of parking and heavy traffic as we had previously. Selesi found the cache. TFTC

Been meaning to do this for a while, so Gilgul, Selesi and I found while in the area. Sealing the road a bit further north and a bit of traffic and cyclists. TFTC

Quick park and grab with Gilgul and UlmusLynx TFTC

A quick find with TregearP whilst picking up a few new caches on the Johnsonville - Makara - Karori loop.

All in good condition even after the recent heavy rain. TNLNSL, TFTC.

Nice wee hide, we were driving through so SJT_NZ decoyed with the car and I used the opportunity to take photos of the gorge. Log a little damp just needs and opportunity to dry out a wee bit. TFTC

Find a park, then grab, cache Quick find and nice to have smilie out here, thanks GSEL.

Parking safely was the biggest challenge with this cache! Fortunately traffic was very light. I had to retrieve the cache as B was scared of spiders.

Another nice find while in the area today.
Weather ended up better than expected and quite walm later in the day.
SL TFTC

TFTC. Last find of the day - glad the road was quiet!

Out and about with Infoferret today in the beautiful Ohariu Valley. Found a spot to park off the road so we could safely retrieve the cache. TFTC.

Thanks for the cache

I took a pleasant drive over to the valley after work this afternoon. Managed to find a spot where I could just get the car off the road and walked back to make the find. I then had to go a bit further down the road to find a safe turning spot. Cheers and TFTC

A bit of a hair-raising stop but didn't have to spend much time at the location. TFTC

Certainly not a park and grab spot but managed to spot a great parking spot just north of cache and easy walk back. Admired the stream below as car drove past but other wise all quiet. Thanks for the cache.

Coordinates changed from:
S 41° 13.575 E 174° 44.176

Coordinates changed to:
S 41° 13.578 E 174° 44.745

Distance from original: 2602 feet or 793.1 meters.
Updating as requested

New coordinates posted. The same cache has been moved up the valley to a new spot. Not as much parking available here so keep well to the left (going up valley).

After the heads-up from gonefishing that the GZ is about to get flattened as a new access road is being made for a house, I rescued the cache today and have shifted it up the gorge.

Good cache...the log should stay dry!

A pleasant excursion to find a few caches in the valley.

The muggle property owner happened to drive by and stop just as I was returning to the car. She advised that this whole driveway area (inclusding the fence) is about to be bulldozed to make way for contractors access to build a house up the drive. She advised relocating the cache to a safe spot further along the road.
TFTC,

Another dot day ticked off, the container was on the ground, but I was able to leave it 'nearly at GL' Otherwise safe & sound and not affected by the flood water. I used to cycle through as prep for the Taupo Chellenge, in fact my first visit was in the mid-1980's when the road wasn't sealed, TFTC

Took me a bit to find - can't be as experienced as the rest. TFTC

Not a road I have much occasion to take but I always enjoy the lilliputian feel of the gorge, and find the somewhat unique and pretty views very nice too. It is so surprising how high the debris is on the fences and road barriers though!

TFTC

Went for a pleasant drive this afternoon around the loop from Karori to Johnsonville. I spotted this one very quickly, the sun was at exactly the right angle and I saw a flash of silver where there wouldn't normally be such a thing. Lots of signs of recent flooding, and I'm amazed at how high the water seems to rise in such situations. Signed log, TFTC!.

#8299. Second to find and first day find. A nice drive to Takarau Gorge Road in Makara. There was some sporadic oncoming traffic. Recent flooding was quite evident all along the gorge. Thankfully, it was sunny and the road was dry today. GZ was all quiet when we visited. Quick find. The cache was in excellent condition, all nice and dry inside. Took nothing, left nothing, signed log.

Thanks for bringing us to the site, and …

.T h a n k s. .f o r. .t h e. .c a c h e.
.M a u r u u r u. .k o e. .n u i. .a t u. .h o k i. .t e. .k e t e r o k i.

[FTF] 11:30 - I had driven this road precisely once since arriving in Wellington eight years ago, just to see where it went. Since then I've never had a need to travel from Makara to Johnsonville or vice versa, and mindful of its nature I've stayed away.

Today was a pleasant drive up the gorge - sunshine, babbling water and little traffic. GZ was easy to find, and a brief search yielded the treasure, thankfully not too close to the dead possum just over the fence.

TFTC

Published