Discove a region where the sunshine hours are unrivalled and the beaches are shared with sunbathing seals. Words: Cheree Morrison Additional research: Mikaela Wilkes It's just over the hill but feels so far, far away. The distance from Nelson to Takaka is a matter of 100 kilometres but Golden Bay is a destination rather than a stop on the way to somewhere else. There is one road in, one road out. The 791-metre Takaka Hill is the gatekeeper to this area which, every year, vies with Nelson to head the sunshine hours’ leaderboard. That hill deters the easily carsick, the