Prior to that time timber was transported to the port by teams of bullocks which would often leave the main street of Tākaka looking like a rutted bog.

[5] After flooding in 1904 did significant damage to the tramway, it was sold in 1905 and the locomotive, rolling stock and rails were shipped to Onehunga by sea.

[8] Onetahua Kokiri Marae (Manawhenua ki Mohua) in Pohara Valley was established in 1986, used a re-purposed school in 1992 and in 2001 a meeting house named Te Ao Marama was opened.

[10] In June 2005, much of the town was temporarily evacuated after fire swept through Tākaka's biggest industrial complex, a dairy factory.

There were fears that volatile chemicals stored at the plant might explode, leading to the release of poisonous gases, which later proved to be unfounded.

In July 2020, the name of the town was officially gazetted as Tākaka by the New Zealand Geographic Board.

[12] This creates sinkholes and cave systems, including New Zealand's deepest vertical shaft, Harwoods Hole.

Tākaka is one of the warmest locations in the South Island, due to its northerly position and maritime influences from the Golden Bay.

Because of the hills in the Kahurangi National Park to the south-west of Tākaka, the town receives substantially less rainfall than the West Coast.

On the contrary, being a few kilometres inland, cold air can settle over Tākaka on winter mornings, resulting in an average of 17.2 frosty days per year.

The area around Tākaka is mineral-rich, with gold, iron ore, copper, silver and asbestos all found locally, although not all in commercially viable amounts.

There is also a small Fonterra factory located in the township of Tākaka that produces skim milk powder.

[18] There are 83 dairy farms supplying the factory, which can process about 525,000 litres (139,000 US gal) a day into skim milk powder.

[32] The Golden Bay Museum – Te Waka Huia o Mohua has displays on Abel Tasman's 1642 encounter with Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri (the local Māori tribe), Golden Bay's industrial past, and a pilot whale skeleton.

It opened in 1990 after a fundraising effort by the community purchased the collections of the privately owned Takaka Museum.

[36] Doll figurines and toy dinosaurs poked into crevices add to the labyrinth's fairytale Jurassic Park experience.

The most famous climb is 1080 and the letter G because of its unique "no-hands-rest" at the top and its views of Golden Bay.

The building was built out of reinforced concrete supplied by the Golden Bay Cement Company.

[48][49] The Church of the Sacred Heart was designed by Nelson architect Arthur Griffin,[50] and built at a cost of £1250 using locally sourced marble.

[54] The Takaka Golf Club had a number of homes on local farms before shifting to Crown land at Clifton that was able to be rented for a token amount in perpetuity in 1959.