Marlborough is known as a unitary authority in the language of local government – but for the travelers, it is a series of distinctive neighbourhoods, joined by roads, boats and aircraft. The Marlborough District Council (MDC) and different arms of central government and non government organisations provide services for Marlborough.

Some of these services are for neighbourhoods within the MDC region, and some are for the MDC region and parts of its neighbourhood in the top of the south. The MDC has been taking planning advice to help realize the potential of its urban centres. The main populations are in Blenheim, Picton and Havelock, which in turn are the focal point for some of the issues in their neighbourhoods.

Find out more about what the world knows as Marlborough, and the growing number and range of events held there..

Marlborough neighbourhoods

Picton and Queen Charlotte Sound

Picton  is more than where the ferries from Wellington berth. It used to be that Picton was essentially that ferry terminal, but when ferry owners talked of shifting their terminals, the Picton community worked deliberately to widen its business options. They helped make Picton more of a destination, with renewal of the town centre, the waterside and key facilities. Now its on coffee lovers lists! And its being considered as a place for a National Whale museum.

Picton has many marine and urban activities concentrated around its waterfronts.

The Picton i-SITE, part of the services of Destination Marlborough, has information for the visitor. Part of that concentrates on the neighbouring Queen Charlotte Sounds.

(We will tell more of Queen Charlotte, Waikawa and the London area plans, and more)

Try to get local advice from Marlborough i-SITES before you leave home. The nationwide i-SITES aim to put travellers in the picture.

Seaport news
The future of Picton
Hiking New Zealand

Picton Web Guide
Picton and The Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand
Destination Picton

Upcoming events in Picton


Introducing Havelock

Havelock – the Greenshell Mussel Capital of the World - is a small town at the entrance to Pelorus Sound – an hour’s drive from each of Picton and Blenheim, and little more than an hour to Nelson. The picturesque Queen Charlotte Driveway links Picton and Havelock, passing through Linkwater, the place where an engineering project yet to be realized could link Queen Charlotte and Pelorus Sounds.

Along the Drive are artists in residence, and holiday homes and public accommodation options. Maori tourism is ready to make its mark in this neighbourhood from a vantage point above Havelock.

Havelock - and Picton - have marinas. Scheduled mail boat services and mussel cruises, unscheduled water taxis and barges, business and personal pleasure craft ply into the Pelorus and beyond from Havelock. These are the essential services in a vast area with few roads, few people, much water, much bush.

Havelock has cafes, fresh bread shops, restaurants – and as well as services for visitors, such as fishing expeditions.

It also has services for road and marine transport, and suppliers for long-term residents and holiday makers in the inner and outer Sounds. It has a museum, art and gift retailers. It has memorials to famous sons, scientists William Pickering and Ernst Rutherford.

Motels, campgrounds and youth hostel rooms – in walking distance of cafes and other services - support Havelock’s visitors.

The many kilometers of coast line in the Sounds serviced from Havelock are dotted with a seaside bach here, a fine new home there – the classic New Zealand holiday homes.

Pelorus Sounds, Keneperu, Mahau Sounds, French Pass and D’Urville Island, and other isolated neighbourhoods in this large area have homestays, cottages and resorts for visitors. The distance and isolation means hosts and visitors approach holidays in a self contained way – each place will have its own stories and attractions to share, often about pioneering in these oases in the wilderness.

Updated 6 November 2009

Discover the Marlborough Sounds
Pelorus People
Pelorus Sound, Marlborough
Welcome to the Havelock
Havelock Business Directory
Marlborough Sounds Adventure Company
Pelorus Local Boat Operators

Pelorus Sound
French Pass
d'Urville Island Wilderness Resort
Marlborough towns

Discover the Marlborough Sounds
The Marlborough Sounds Water and Wilderness Festival
Havelock Mussel Festival

Blenheim and the wine district

Blenheim is the local government centre of Marlborough. Its attractions are classically urban, and are being grown to support the region’s growth industries, diverse and ageing population. It is also the principal jumping off point for the wine districts, with their wine tours and wine industry related features.

Blenheim’s new Marlborough Convention Centre and matching accommodation brings more visitors in search of the local attractions and services. Accommodation options range through  hotels, motels, homestays and holiday parks – with new establishments and upgraded old as testimony that tourism is growing in Marlborough.

Services also reflect the boom approach – illustrated in the growth of supermarkets, hardware stores, farm suppliers and civic facilities. The Marlborough District Council administration reaches deep into the life of the locals – from library and swimming pool services to property development and tourism services.

Progress Marlborough identifies industries such as aquaculture and wine are growing faster than tourism, and faster still than traditional pastoral industries. This is illustrated by the services in Blenheim – including a range of restaurants and cafes whose new owners bring different ethnic tastes to town.

The Marlborough Express provincial newspaper is published in Blenheim. Its pages regularly tell of the range of attractions and services available locally – which in turn increase the support available to domestic and international visitors. Blenheim also has an airport, strengthened its air force tradition and aircraft engineering services.

Blenheim has main rail and road links, linking it from the Picton side with passengers and vehicles from the north on ferries to Picton, and in the South, to Kaikoura, Christchurch and other neighbourhoods, attractions and services of the iconic South Island.

Blenheim, Renwick and Wairau Valley
New Zealand Travel Infocus

Local government online
Marlborough District Directory

Upcoming Events in Blenheim
The Marlborough Express
World Events Guide
Jasons Travel
Yahooxtra events
MSN New Zealand

Marlborough Convention Centre
Marlborough Conference Venues

Marlborough borders the Nelson Tasman local government area in the north – or as they say, at the Top of the South.

In the Nelson Lakes area on the border is a family oriented ski field that primarily seeks to service the locals.

For those who organize the transport connections and appropriate accommodation – not hard to do – the Rainbow ski field offers all that is required for a Wellingtonian’s short break.

If snow is not enough to attract, there are alpine and river valley attractions to draw the attention of those who like other forms of wilderness, and their conservation.


Nelson lakes and alpine region

The Rainbow skifield presents itwself as a family oriented experienced, focused on meeting the needs of neighbouruing people in Marlborough and the Nelson-Tasman local government areas. But it works for other people too!

Nearby St Arnaud has suitable places to accomodate both skiers and others interested in alpne attractions.

St Arnaud

Nelson Web

Essential Travel Ski Guides
Nelson Lakes Shuttles

Ski season
Snowreports

Rainbow Ski Area


Wellington

Wellington has many services that help its residents and visitors to plan short breaks and more in Marlborough.

The Interislander and DecisionMaker, each with a foot in Marlborough and Wellington, are working with other services and attractions to bridge the gap between the neighbouring places.

Positively Wellington Tourism’s i-SITE in Wellington City Council offices has brochures and briefings about Marlborough attractions and services for those who ask.

Find out more about Marlborough from the DecisionMaker Destinations Marlborough website, and by asking local services with Marlborough knowledge – particularly people in the travel trade. Visit Wellington's i-SITE. or call on 04 802 4860
Map - Marlborough through Wellington eyes
Looking at Wellington enroute to Marlborough
Wellington facts
Wellington events
Parliament and its neighbourhood
The big picture


Pacific coast

The traveler who goes between Marlborough and Christchurch by road or rail gets the attractions of the Pacific Coast. The seascape is rugged, the car based stop overs in clued locally caught crayfish. The train trip includes tunnels through rocks, a reminder of the role of pioneering early New Zealanders.
Travellng the Pacific coast route

Whale watching

At Kaikoura, the whale watching  is made possible by Ngai Tahu, the Maori tribe for the majority of the South Island.
Ngai Tahu's history

And Christchurch – it’s the major South Island city, through which many local and international visitors come and go to Marlborough 
Christchurch International Airport