Self Drive to Golden Bay 1: Hawkes Lookout Takaka

The last few postings aku buat about my South Island holiday were about hiking ..hiking and more hiking. which was great...a new thing for me coz i am not the type who love to walk hahaha ..but honest to God, it was such a great experience ..coz some places yang aku pergi tu only accessible by walking hahaha ....

self drive to Golden Bay

but not all holiday tu aku hiking sana sini ...we also did self drive ..from our base at Nelson to Golden Bay ...we decided that a day on our own would be great and gives us ample time to stop and explore as we want to ....coz Golden Bay tu banyak attraction ..golden beaches ...Farewell Spit etc ...so rent a car (about $57 per day for a small hatchback and kalau include full insurance jadi $78 a day), and off we go ...my friend not familiar with driving on right side of the road ....and never driven an automatic hahaha so akak le yang drive mula2 (she drove back) ...and boy, jalan berliku ...naik steep hills and very sharp turns ...but views are out of this world :-) it is a scenic journey all the way ...

snow-capped Alps ...such an amazing view ...

jalan berliku serta berkabus

We took off awal ..about 9.00am hahaha awal le tu kira nya ....and berbekalkan maps and stuffs, with no concrete plans, we just head of ....the drive to Golden Bay memakan masa 1.5 hours gitu ...so we have plenty of time untuk menyinggah and explore places along the way ....but first hurdle was driving over the Takaka Hill ..jalan penuh berliku hahaha ala ala gi Cameon Highland ...and certain parts tu cam so steep ...gaung and all ..so a bit scary for me! 

hehehe am utilizing my international driving permit for the very first time!

Our first stop was at Hawkes Lookout along State Highway 60 ..between Motueka and Takaka...from the carpark, there is a short walk (approx 10mins gitu) to get to the lookout ...and from the lookout tu boleh nampak the Riwaka Valley, Motueka and Tasman Bay ...

 Tasman Bay di kejauhan

Riwaka Valley

The short walk tu melalui area with rock formation yang ada scales macam sisik naga ...black rocks ..lagenda dia kata mahluk yang menyerupai cicak giant yang makan manusia dan snaring women ...the suatu hari salah sorang perempuan yang dia tangkap tu melarikan diri and with the help of local villagers berjaya membakar mahluk tu ..and mahluk tu lari to Takaka Hill ..try to dig itself into the ground utk padamkan api kat badan nya ...and somehow the sisik yang terbakar tu bertukar menjadi batu and strewn all over the area including kat Hawkes Bay Lookout ...lagenda Moari katanya ...

 ni lah rupa mahluk cicak gergasi tu :-)

Berna sitting on the rock formation along the way ..banyak batu2 kat situ ..looks beautiful

deeper into the forest walk tu ada walkway ...ad it is pretty organised lah ..with walkways and stuffs ...but when we were there, it started hailing at first ...then snowing! Rushing kitorang keluar from the place coz we know we are on the very top of Takaka Hill and how steep and byk sekeloh the drive will be ..so balik cepat ke kereta ...and off we proceeded ..next destination Collingwood and Popunga :-)

and now ...off to Golden Bay we go :-) sambung at other posting!