It only takes 30 minutes to get from central Wellington to Mākara Beach, with much of the drive out in the country. The day of these pics was especially windy, which matched the stunning ruggedness of the beach and the driftwood and pāua shells that littered it.
The main attraction is the Mākara Walkway from the beach. It follows the coastline to the south for about 15 minutes and then heads up to old gun emplacements 200 meters above sea level. It’s only about 5 km return, but it's steep in sections.
Before returning along the coast, you can walk for several hours as a loop, taking in a wind farm and Opau Bay. Another option is to take Opau Road to the windfarm, with a shorter walk to the clifftop gun emplacements.
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