MTB To Makara High (Wellington) Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
By Outward Bound on 15-Jun-06. Waypoint GCWKZ4

Tftc really overgrown getting to it. log a little wet.

Thought this was still worth a shot while passing, and followed the easy trapping trail to a solid wall of prickly gorse and spiny barberry. Pushed through that gaining a lot of scratches, but giving back to the gorse. Replacement cache was an easy find, being overt and per hint. Signed the log and turned around, and the bushes had closed in again Pushed my way back out; and now my arms & legs are itching and pockets full of detritus… but to be fair it is only a short stretch of undergrowth. Good to knock off this DNF-MIA from 2016, and picked a wee reward of blackberries on the way back down to the main carpark. TFTC fozzmiester; interesting trivia about the radio masts.

I was up here again today. Since there is no maintenance being performed on this, please archive it.

Was considering a revisit here but in light of now 3 DNFs and no find since 2019 I think this needs to be checked by the CO.

I’m not sure if this one’s still there

Well I dunno. I had a pretty good bash around in the gorse as I'd come up here expecting all the caches to be gorse bashing affairs (and they were). I thought I would have spotted a regular eventually. The coords and hint seem to conflict with each other so I don't know which is right.

Love the facts supplied on this cache but the hillside that we suspect the cache is hidden in was so gorse-covered when we made our first attempt this week that we had to give up and report a DNF.
Thanks for the trivia any way!

Found with its_smitchell

First time to the top and a relatively easy cache to celebrate! Found with C_storm.

I seem to have found someone's lunch box in the gorse? Emptied some water out but log is still in good shape Thanks Outward Bound

Weed sprayers everywhere! Got it unseen though... "Great place for a whizz eh!!?"... Fooled them all.

9 January 2019 at 12:04

Prickly

# 1214 This was my first foray into this MTB park, and to be honest, i didnt know where I was going as I was in the company of others that were pretty familiar so I tagged along. After much puffing we arrived at what must have been the top! I swapped a muesli bar in return for just a small pocket of time to nip out and get my cache of the day. This one was nearby so that was quite lucky. I only had my phone on me so it was a bit more dancing around than normal but the comprehensive clue helped. After much prickling and biddy bids on the shoes, bum and legs, i found the cache. only a log book inside and so much potential for other trinkets but i didnt have any on me to leave behind.

Thanks fozzmeister for keeping this one alive! its in a great spot and a great reward for the mahi required to get up the hill.

Lots of prickles but got it!!!

Well, the boys were doing a bit of Mountain Bike training in advance of the Big bang next weekend. I had 2 hours to while away at this end of town. So nothing else to do, but strap on my trainers, and wheeze my way up the ziz-zag track from Makara Saddle, accumulating 1.1076 km towards the DGSc and expansive views in the process. Oddly enough, when I neared the Signposts at the top, I was greeted by the same bunch of reprobates that I'd left at the MTB carpark around an hour previous!

The gorse was as fearsome as I remembered it, but as I approached GZ, the newly reinstated bok practically waved at me! Many, many thanks for reinstating this one, it's really good to get the final Cache (that I know about) in this area converted to a smiley. TFTC. I added a pen that was in my pocket to the container, hopefully it'll still be working if anyone forgets theirs.

One final thing, as I was heading back out, I spied and CITO's a full Cycle Science Water bottle. If it's yours, drop me a message, and I'll work out how to get it back to you.

Many thanks fozzimaster for replacing this cache, a welcome sight on a cold morning. An easy find after some of the previous others.

Back to Makara Peak for some more biking today, this time with [Angry Bird II](https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=13ce3f8a-d7f1-4c0c-b1e8-c5d2cb017fd3) to share the fun!

Exploring Makara Peak and we're at the summit! The PQ in the GPS was a couple of weeks out of date so we headed into the prickles and searched for the old coordinates without any luck (ow! ow! ow!). Then heading out by an easier route Mr D spotted the replacement cache, in a much easier place to get to. After the satisfaction of signing off our climb, we went out by the easier route and took celebratory photos from the summit platform. And Peak Flow downhill again is sheer hedonism. Thanks for the fun Outward Bound!

Will try to get up here this weekend

Container replaced

Replaced container.


You will still have to battle gorse and barberry but not as badly.

Cache is under a hebe against the rock wall and approx 5m from the corner of the fence

Given the location i am confident that the container is still where it belongs but a quick search today didn't reveal it. Disabling until I can get back for a proper look

5 people haven’t been able to find, must be time for a check please.

Great spot, got a lot of scratches and picks be no cache

I looked for this one way back in 2014 without success. As we were up here to look at the views and sunset we had another go. Two of us spent about 15 mins searching without success at anything other than accumulating prickles! Also, kinda eerie listening to the wind whistling through the tower - at times it sounded almost like pan pipes!

Must've gone through every gorse bush around GZ with Denomynator, DNF.

Had to get this one on the way back as a biker muggle was standing nearby at first. Didn't take long to find, log book is a bit damp and raggy though. TFTC

So many bikes around today! TFTC

This must get my last favourite (for now) for its spectacular views and setting. It would be a nice place for lunch on a calm day.. With DjaliDjinn and although it is in the bike park we followed a 4WD up most of the way so were in no danger of being skittled by bikes.. who were scarce on a Monday anyway.

Out walking the dogs with Yosser 9. Spectacular views ... I have added this route to my "must show visitors" and "GC Favourites" lists. I really enjoyed the hike from W00T; the path was nice and quiet on a Monday, with just one bike and one 4x4 encountered. Finding the cache took longer, it seemed, than the actual trek to GC. Fortunately I'm pretty skinny as I ended up wriggling through a few tight spots to get to where I suspected the cache might be - I wasn't dressed for tackling gorse, so I chose the path of least resistance, which kept me close to the ground (not too wet, despite the recent rains). Of course, this meant I was now even scruffier than usual - but our post-walk cafe companions didn't appear to mind. As an aside, we didn't have much time for caching today so thought we'd stay reasonably close to the city. Haha ... we somehow took the wrong track on the way down and ended up wandering through the 'burbs to get back to the car. Lots of fun ... a memorable excursion. Tftc!

All good. Tftc.

Found it after a short hunt a little bit further away than anticipated. tftc

Wife and I decided to take the dog up Makara Hill and collect some geocaches along the way. Encountered a great many prickly things so I was glad I chose to wear jeans.

Another cache that required getting past prickly things to get to. Didn't take too long to find, although initially I didn't go in deep enough. Hint is slightly easier said than done... TFTC.

#537. This is my first visit to this peak. Loved the display signs pointing to some offbeat locations around the globe. Took a series of photos but hazy cloud made them look a bit moody. Popped over to find the cache by the tower. Hunted around - nothing. Read the hint again and paced it out. Thorough search and still nothing. Then 2 MTB riders arrived nearby so hunkered down to nibble on some lunch. Read a few more logs. Buttels log is the key one. Had been over there before but it was well beyond 10 paces. Oh well check it out again and sure enough there was the cache. Notebook was still a bit damp and water in the container. It doesn't get checked very often - just 45 finds in 8.5 years. Dried the container and logbook as best I could and left it upside down in the bush in the hope water may not get to logbook level in future. TFTC Outward Bound (and fozzmiester)

After cycling up the hill we went to find this cache. After a bit of struggling with the bush Hermann finally located the container. The cache was quite wet and we poured out about 2 dl of water.
Mums (snack): chocolate
TFTC
Linea and Hermann from Denmark

Last one to find today. Popped down to pick up another one while some mtbers were here. Lucky was quite on my return.

Previous logs helped us in picking up this one. Hopefully the mountain bikers taking a break after reaching the summit did not take too much notice of what we were up to. TFTC

Cache # 1,910 - A brilliant morning for a hike up the mountain. And the views from up here, in all directions, was better than I had hoped. GPS led me straight to the cache - certainly a spot where it should almost never be muggled. Tipped a bit of water out, but contents were fine. TNLNSL. TFTC!

Followed the GPSr to this one - led me immediately to the right spot. That's the fourth cache today that's needed bush bashing! Maybe that's why logged finds are few and far between!

Tipped a bit of water out of the container; log book a bit damp but just dry enough to write on.

10 paces? Hmm may the hint should say something like western side as far away from the fense as it safe? Took me ages looking under all sorts of bushes (it wouldn't be under a gorse bush surely!) befor eI had another look at my GPSr and realised it might just be under that one .... and it was. The cache is safe & sound. Great day for cycling - overcast, about 16deg and absolutely no wind. TFTC

I thought going for lonely caches in one evening was pushing it, so after 10 mins of getting scratched (the prickles get through jeans and the kitchen gloves I keep in my backpack for these sort of occasions), I decided to leave it.

Great day for Geocaching and a great place to do it with the views and some challenging caches too. A fair bit of hunting around for this one but with three of us on the job the caches was soon eventually located. Out with Friends and the dogs. TFTC

Really enjoyed the walk up from Makara road, and the views. It took me awhile to find this one. TFTC OB

Out bowling over some more of the SkyLine Trail series. So decided to carry on to the south. The third 4 terrain rated cache in a row. A bit of huffing and puffing to get here, then quite a bit of low level searching to locate the goods. Note that hasn't been visited for a time. Cache damp, but log signed, then safely re-hidden.
A blustery and wild day up here today.
TFTC found with team cacher Sweet P too
The Turtle strikes again!

Took a while to find this one - it was a bit further West than expected. Was pretty sure I could see Mt Egmont from up here on a perfect evening. TFTC !

Enjoyed the views from up here (although I must say I think the altitude is affecting Broadbridges - first he reckons he could see Egmont, then later there was the incident of the ghost MTBer)
Mucked around a bit before and after we found the cache.
TFTC

Was about to give up after 10 minutes of looking, then went and read the recent log and realised I needed to walk a few mire paces, and there it was.

Thanks, fozzmiester for keeping this cache alive. I always enjoy doing the older ones.

This seems like one where the area has changed over time and the cache is now harder to get to than it used to be.

I have enjoyed my time in this park today. I didn't get as far as I expected to so will return to attempt the other caches from a different starting point.

Coordinates changed from:
S 41° 17.351 E 174° 42.416

Coordinates changed to:
S 41° 17.349 E 174° 42.414

Distance from original: 15.1 feet or 4.6 meters.

Coordinates Updated

I did a quick check up while working on the nearby tracks this morning. The log was a little damp but otherwise in good order. Trimmed some of the gorse and barberry to make it a little easier to get to the cache however there will still be prickles to deal with. I also checked the coords and mine were in line with those taken by -gonefishing- so I will update the listing.

MTB To Makara High (Wellington) was transferred from Outward Bound to user fozzmiester

Only DNF today. Quite a lot of muggel and too much hints around. Might come back. Sherlock Hood.

Ow. How many prickly plants can there be in one place!? Was just about to give up to allow time to get home before it rained. Back down again now...

Ow. How many prickly plants can there be in one place!? Was just about to give up to allow time to get home before it rained. Back down again now...

I found it. Well, only the toilet mess,but not the cache. Looked thoroughly without concerning my personal health:-) before I read the hint, I even climbed to the very top! This was unnecessary, but fun. After an hour of bush bashing and log reading, I gave up on this.

Easy find with gonefishing's coordinates which were spot on. Bit of a gutbuster to get to this cache as was only planning on doing the closer ones to Allington Street took the wrong path. Took me 2hours to reach cache as I was carrying two kids weighing in total 30 kg. Definitely found the hardest way possible next time I will use the road!

TFTC and a chance to burn off some energy/ winter stores.

Found it after a fair bit of grovelling about in the gorse. We bet when it was first placed that the terrain was fairly clear, but not now - gorse and holly abound. Some nasty person had done a big toilet mess not far from the cache Cause this is such a great spot, could be worth relocating the cache somewhere a little more pleasant?? Excellent day out walking the trails. TFTC

Stopped by today after visiting the new cache nearby. My last visit was not successful, so I took advantage of the fact I completed the other new caches nearby in the company of agcnz and yeetrees, so I had a little assistance in turning up the cache. Log was a bit damp, but otherwise all in order. Great to visit this spot again, and really amazed that there was hardly a breath of wind where it is usually blowing a gale.
The coords were about 4m out for me, so I took a reading - posted with this log. I'm surprised nobody has done this yet!
TFTC.

probably wasn't there as its possibly under maintenance, disappointing as I believe I would have been able to find it

Decided I wanted to get some exercise and take adavantage of the cracker weather we're currently enoying in Wellington. A very pleasant walk to a spot I'd never been to before - absolutely awesome views up here this morning - glad I did it early this morning as the heat of the day would've made it a little more uncomfortable. Thanks for placing this cache at this magic spot - took a bit of searching but fortunately I was able to read Tim&Jed's comments about where they found it - could have been a tricky search otherwise.

100th find . I am glad that this was my 100th due to the amount of time that I spend on the peak both riding and on work parties. It was beautiful up there this afternoon, with little wind and only a few clouds in the distance. Cache took a bit of finding in between groups of muggles (I think that Outward Bound must have long legs as I had to add on a couple of extra paces) but I got there in the end. TFTC

tftc

Came back again after the DNF last week - better prepared this time after a visit to to the shops to buy some gloves and bringing a coat a leggings. Windy and sunny again and lots of bikers around. After 20 minutes of searching the 0 spot we looked a little wider and spotted the handy impliment used by Chrispy Twitch on April 14- it lead us staight there. We found we needed to add maybe 4 of our paces on to the hint. Cache had water in it and the bags weren't all zipped shut and a bit damp. Dried everything out and rebaged and zipped. Also put a stone in the bottom of the container to lift the bags out of any puddle that might form in the container again (don't know how it gets in though!- container looks solid).
Thanks for the cache- now to remove the last few prickles.

Had a really good look around the hide site for 30mins or so at but without joy. Next time we'll bring some gloves (this was out first experience of prickly hides- we continue to learn what we need in the GC backpack). Very windy but sunny.

Pretty impressive cache for my find number 3300. Cold and windy, but really good walk up to the top. Searched for a long while before finding. Very prickly around site. Enjoyed my time up here and liked the signs near the cache. TFTC

Finally carried a GPS up here - Don't know why, really. Actually I do - It's a great ride - down's better.
Lovely day without too much wind. Co-ords matched the hint, but all I found were prickles and splinters.
Never mind - next time - Thanks anyway

Certainly tried finding this one. Spent a while up there searching every time the passing MTB's allowed me to. Several scars on me to prove my effort.
Hope I will get some opportunity anoter time to get this one. Really enjoyed the hard slog up the hill and the jog down. Very breezy up there.

Found as part of my three week caching trip from Wellington to Auckland - # 80. Even when on a numbers run there are some you have to do, and three up here made it worthwhile - got 'em all, although this one took a while at GZ - almost gave up. Thanks.

Seeing as I work in microwave radio back in Sydney this had to be on the to do list here in Wellington. Though most of ours isn't dishes quite this size or tower work, but building to building around Sydney so we don't often go past 90cm dishes. But the job still takes us to some pretty special spots like the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons and tall buildings with great views.

Much easier if you can avoid the over water paths, multipathing can be a killer. Anyway after strolling in from the north past the other 2 which I grabbed on the return leg it was time to hunt around a little bit before I spotted the hiding spot. Unfortunately the container had about 1cm of water in it which I drained out but the bags are keeping the contents fairly dry. TNLNSL, thanks Outward Bound.

Decided that I needed to go back and have another look after a phone call stating that the cache was still there, back up on the same track to GZ, halfway up the weather turned for the worst, but as caching goes it wasn’t too bad, what’s a bit of rain going to do anyway, get me wet of course, got up to GZ, found cache without any major issues, again, drained water out cache was a bit wet but contents were ok, and back off down the slippery path, got back to car a bit wet but ok, cool views at GZ, THANKS, TFTC TNLNSL (752)

Carried on up to the top to check things out after doing a couple of the new caches that have appeared around here recently. A much more pleasant day wind wise compared to the day I came up in November 08, pretty cool air temperature though at 4.30pm. Didn't have the co-ords with me but found the cache after a short search. Sometimes you sort of feel a bit resonsable if things go missing after you were the last to find, so pleased to report that all is well here .

Thought that I had better go and look for this cache since I was in the area, arrived at GZ , GPSr had great reception and of hunting I went, checked the hint and GPS was down to 0, but alas no sign of cache, found a bit of rubbish at the GZ, decided to PAF to confirm that I was in the right location, oh well, me think it might have being muggled, will try again next time I am in the area.

Thought if I got up early enough I'd beat the wind Yeah right!
Blowing pretty good by the time I got to the top at 7.30 am. Walked in from Access point AB bit of a zig zag to start with then up the 4WD road. Will be a good vantage point to view the west wind turbines when they are up and turning. Thanks for who ever built the small shelter near the top. - blue car + pink velcro tie. TFTC

#227. Sunny day with no winds. Great views. Many mountain bikers and a few other walkers too. Water inside the cache, and we put the contents in an additional zip lock plastic bag.
- Finding My "Bearings" TB
+ Little Nemo TB (destination: Auckland)
+ huhugrub pebble
TFTC.

A little bit of water in the container... contents preserved.
+ Travel bug Finding My "Bearings"

Another good bike ride up to Makara.

Nice cache. First bike ride in muddy conditions for months. A little bit of water in the container, but contents dry in plastic bags

Found on a morning's walk from home along the Skyline Walkway from Johnston Hill - first time I had ever been up here and a rather splendid view. Easy find - TNLN and signed cache as agc062. Thanks for the cache!

TFTC, excellent way to brake in my new bike. Picked up the geocoin.
Cheers

Great MTB ride up to the summit. Fantastic views up there. TFTC!

First find on a day of mountain biking madness to Makara. I found it interesting regarding the microwave repeater stations and being out of view of the water.
Cache is a little damp.
Thanks for bringing us here!

Ack, was it really a whole month since I grabbed the log book out of this? Sorry it's taken me so long to return it. It is all dried out, and I placed it in a new ziplock baggy.

Dropped in Not Another Micro! GC while I was up here. Great day for a ride!

Biked up here on Saturday with a friend and had a quick check of the cache. The log book was totally soaked, so I took it home to dry it out. I very carefully seperated the pages once it had dried out a bit. The cache probably needs a new zip lock bag or outer container.

The bushes were recently trimmed around the cache location, and someone found the container. They signed the book, and returned to container to the correct spot. With the trimming, the cache was quite a bit easier to find then the first time I was up there.

Good news: I found the cache today. Was an easy find.

Bad news: Contents not just wet but the person who has not read the "no food" rule is responsible for the creation of four different kinds of hairy slimey munge! Did the best clean up job I could with no resources. Bag was not done up and has a hole anyway.
Couldn't sign log book as pages wet and slimey/slippery... left a small piece of paper with my name on it where I would have written...

Rescued the geocoin! And walked down the Ridgeline mountain bike track, which was WINDY! Great day though.

Nice walk.
Not sure if the cache is still there!
The bush at the location has recently been cut back uncovering the area where I thought the cache should be. Anyway, I spent about half an hour looking.

I biked up here with a friend from work on Anzac Day. It was my first time biking in Makara, though certainly not the last. What a fun ride!

I didn't have the clue with me, but didn't need it anyhow. GPS was spot on, and I was able to find the cache quickly.

Took: Party Popper and Batteries
Left: Apple Geocoin

TFTC!

(71) Damn, what a mission! Good hard walk to get there, then a long job trying to find it. No longer 10 paces, more like 15. 15 mins past the time we needed to leave here to head to Auckland we finally found it by probing the bushes with a handy piece of 4x2!

Beautiful day, clear skies and not a breath of wind!!!

- Sellotape dispenser
+ Shuttle cock
+ Helicopter

Thanks heaps for the lovely spot.

~ Chrispy Twitch and Boots

[This entry was edited by Chrispy Twitch on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 7:59:24 PM.]

[This entry was edited by Chrispy Twitch on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 11:16:34 PM.]

first time i was actualy able to find a cache! It was pretty hidden in the camo container. I put it back pretty close to where i found it and made sure it was covered up. Next person may have to look quite well but good luck.
Thanks for the cache!

MTB eh? Well I wasn't allowed to take my MoTorBike and I don't have a MounTain Bike so had to put on My Tramping Boots and hike it. Fairly breezy as always and low cloud but no matter I have been up here many times in the past (the OB way).
Quick find with GPSr, signed log, and wandered back down the hill. TFTC

Woohoo! Nothing like a cache find to make bringing the bike up to wellytown worthwhile. A friend had suggested a ride, and coming up here, before I realised there was a cache here. It meant much more of a grunt than we had planned - but it was worthwhile. Took a while to find as it was very well hidden/disguised - but still didn't have to resort to either the cache page or the hint. TNLN, Thanks.

I walked up this morning... took awhile. Eventually got there, had to wait for some muggles to get on their bikes. Thrashed the bushes at/around co-ordinates ... didn't find it. Nice view. Will look again sometime.
-Lermy

Good place to bike up to and enjoy the view

Well it was time to get the new and improved roaming kiwi transport out for this one today (my brand new bike needed to get mucky)didnt ride from wainui this time,so i started at the bottom at the carpark like every other normal person (Well im trying to be normal away).
crossed the river at the ford by riding straight through ,and getting a comment "so thats how the pros do it "from a newbe rider (that put a smile on my face).
cycled up the koru tracked (quite a nice easy track)until it meet up with the 4wd track and followed that to the DZ,nice hot sunny day today and what a view finding the cache was just the icing on the cake .
The ride down way great fun too gotta get that speedo fitted so i dont get any speeding tickets hehe;)
+ 4 pack AA batteries
- lotion

TFTC outwardbound
your definatly keeping this kiwi fit

Real 'hold onto your hats' territory up the hill today! Very, very windy, but sunny and a nice walk.

Found it after quite a while - the coords are right but I believe the compass direction the hint currently gives may be incorrect, so trust your GPS.

+replacement shoelace
-candle

Thanks!

2nd visit and still have not found it. Enjoyed the walk and the Mt Bikers have a great day for their even. May try again another day.

Nice Location. Sent the Teenagers MTB on Makara Hill while I went up to Top. Arrived just as several series of Muggles arrived.... (On bikes).
Enjoyed the view then hopped on my push bike (You pusha da bike upa da hill....) and zoomed back down picking up Ridgeline Track which is nice MTB ride.
+Nothing -Nothing
(This is my first first find ).

Published