Havelock, New Zealand


Havelock is a small town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It sits at the head of Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, one of the Marlborough Sounds, and at the mouth of the Pelorus and Kaituna Rivers. The 2013 census recorded its population as 486, a decrease of 3 since 2006.
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 to the west. Renwick is to the south. Picton lies 35 km to the east.
Havelock serves as the centre for much of the New Zealand green-lipped mussel industry, and is called the greenshell mussel capital of the world. 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, 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.
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
and the Mahakipawa Hill Scenic Reserve
offer a coastal walking-track to a lookout at Cullen Point.

Notable people

Havelock School is a coeducational full primary school, with a decile rating of 7 and a roll of 86. The school was founded in 1861.