Takaka is one of my favorite places in Nelson, north of the South Island. Even though the drive over Takaka Hill to Takaka is crazy windy, I like it.
It was quite a challenge for me last year when I was there for the first to drive over Takaka Hill, a windy hilly road that stretches for over over 40km.
Takaka has stunning beaches, which is one of the reasons why I like it.
So when the job took me back to Takaka in June this year, I was so excited to drive back there, this time not a a newbie to the windy road but experienced to that road 😀 and of course for the scenery 👌
I stopped at Hawkes Lookout track for a walk, even though it was winter and gets dark earlier. Looking back now, the walk felt longer than 10 minutes return walk because it was getting darker walking through the forest track, and I still had over 50km to get to my destination.
Before long, I reached the Lookout, and these views were rewarding!
The immediate above photo is a shot on Mount Campbell, it is my toughest and challenging mountain drive so far in New Zealand, if you zoom in you will see a cell phone tower on the peak of the mountain. Seeing that cell site from Takaka Hill shows how high Mount Campbell is.
By the way, I got lost in misty darkness of Mount Campbell by taking a wrong turn after the day's work in 2024. Long story short, I continued on the track till I found a spot to make a U-turn without driving off the track in darkness and fall down the drop. It would have been horrific!
Anyway, back to the Takaka Hill Lookout views, they are so breathtaking 😍
I just love the sunset colors in the sky, and guess what? After I was done with my job in Takaka, I stopped again for a walk for a different day time view. I will share photos sometime 😉