When you look towards the west coast from one of Wellington’s lookouts you might see white tall wind mills turning in the wind. There in the distance, that’s where Makara walkway is.

To get to the Makara beach we had to drive for about 30 minutes along the winding road which went across farmland and eventually ended at a little car park right on the beach.

The Makara walkway is a 6 km long track which starts at Makara Beach and follows the coastline until the path splits at one point and we started to rise up to the cliff. The path was lined by fence with heaps of sheep behind it. They always ran away in panic as soon as we’d got closer.

A view after the first bigger ascent

Along the way, we had spectacular views of emerald coast with all it’s curves and wind mills on the top of the hills. A few little boats were floating on the sea surface down beneath us. It seemed like a perfect day for a cruise with all that sunshine.

Kapiti and Mana Islands in the background

After a while, we came to a gun emplacements which were built there during WWII. From bunkers we headed off towards one of the turbines standing nearby — it was HUGE! A real white giant!

The grassy path was replaced by road and track descended to the Opau Bay where it turned back to Makara Beach along the coast. Walking on rocky beach wore us out as our feet sank into the stones at every step.

Hard to walk on a rocky beach

Pieces of wooden trunks which had been washed up ashore served well as a bench. So, we sat down and made short breaks couple of times during which we were just staring at waves and planning our next adventurous.

Bara on a log

Eventually, we finished our walk with a scoop of hokey pokey at a small cafe next to the car park and went home with the warm feeling that we’d just discovered another nice place.