From Nelson, we drove further into the north-west of the island. Our destination, the mystical Golden Bay. But to get there, we had to traverse the notorious Takaka Hill, which separates Golden Bay from the rest of New Zealand (for those who think that NZ isn’t isolated enough from the rest of the world).

The pass is around 791m high, but seems higher since we can see down to sea level a lot of the time. There’s Nelson in the mist!

At the top of the hill is Hawkes Lookout. Time to stretch and photograph the views.

We also met some of the local birdlife. The weka is a common flightless bird in these parts. They’re not shy but not mischievous either.

Hubby, ever the geologist, was interested in the rocks protruding from the hillside. They’re limestone. These hills are the crunch point between the two tectonic plates that Australia and New Zealand are on.

Being a bit of a Lord of the Rings fan back in the day, I thought these types of rocks look familiar. A bit of research uncovered that they did film in the general area, although much higher up (with the aid of helicopters). And probably in winter (we visited in early summer).