Havelock, New Zealand

This article is about the township in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. For the town in the Hawke's Bay region, see Havelock North.

Havelock
Town
The waterside township is visible in the distance, seen from across the water. It has a marina in front, and sharp hills rising immediately behind it
Havelock seen across Pelorus Sound
Map
Coordinates: 41°16′59″S 173°46′0″E / 41.28306°S 173.76667°E / -41.28306; 173.76667
RegionMarlborough
Ward
  • Marlborough Sounds General Ward
  • Marlborough Māori Ward
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial AuthorityMarlborough District Council
 • Marlborough District MayorNadine Taylor
 • Kaikōura MPStuart Smith
 • Te Tai Tonga MPTākuta Ferris
Area
[1]
 • Total1.76 km2 (0.68 sq mi)
Population
 (June 2024)[2]
 • Total640
 • Density360/km2 (940/sq mi)

Havelock is a small town in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand, at the head of Pelorus Sound, one of the Marlborough Sounds, and at the mouth of the Pelorus and Kaituna Rivers

State Highway 6 from Nelson to Blenheim passes through the town. Queen Charlotte Drive, which provides a shorter but very winding road to Picton proceeds east along the edge of the Sounds. Canvastown lies 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the west. Renwick is 31 km (19 mi) to the south. Picton lies 35 km to the east.[3][4]

Havelock serves as the centre for much of the New Zealand green-lipped mussel industry, and promotes itself as the greenshell mussel capital of the world.[5][6] It also functions as the base for a mail boat servicing the remote communities in the Marlborough Sounds, as well as for many fishing and recreational boats.

The name "Havelock" commemorates Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), known from the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The streets were laid out in 1858, with Lucknow Street as the main thoroughfare.[7] The gold rush to the Wakamarina Valley in 1864 boosted the growth of the township, with sawmilling becoming the main activity until the 1910s, later joined by dairying. The valleys around Havelock contain many pine plantations.

Across the Kaituna River estuary, the Cullen Point Scenic Reserve[8] and the Mahakipawa Hill Scenic Reserve[9] offer a coastal walking-track to a lookout at Cullen Point.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  3. ^ Peter Dowling, ed. (2004). Reed New Zealand Atlas. Reed Books. map 60. ISBN 0-7900-0952-8.
  4. ^ Roger Smith, GeographX (2005). The Geographic Atlas of New Zealand. Robbie Burton. map 132, 138. ISBN 1-877333-20-4.
  5. ^ Zaki, Anan (14 March 2018). "The mighty mussel: Havelock's claim to world fame". Stuff. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Havelock, Pelorus and Kenepuru Sounds". Destination Marlborough. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  7. ^ Marlborough Historical Society (2005). Click - A Captured Moment - Marlborough's Early Heritage. p. 68. ISBN 0-473-10475-X.
  8. ^ "Cullen Point Scenic Reserve, MA, NZ". iNaturalist.
  9. ^ "Mahakipawa Hill Scenic Reserve - Sights & Museums - Havelock". HERE WeGo.