Love Marlborough

Location

Marlborough is at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. Tasman and Kaikoura districts are our western and southern neighbours respectively.  On the northern side of Cook Strait is Wellington.

Parks and Reserves

Marlborough has over 250 top-quality reserves and amenities which not only help shape the environment we live in, but also provide diverse recreational opportunities.  From a gentle stroll amongst stunning gardens to a few hours' hike with panoramic vistas, our parks and reserves have got it covered.  We even have skate parks and a mountain bike park for those with specialised interests.  Sports grounds and playgrounds round out the picture, providing recreational opportunities for everyone.

Throughout Marlborough are cemeteries and monuments that preserve our region's history and provide special places to remember our loved ones, or to mark commemorative events.

Swimming and Boating 

Marlborough's sunny summers make taking a dip an appealing activity and there are many spots around the region ideal for swimming.  A number of sites, both freshwater and marine, are monitored weekly for quality during the summer months.  Visit the Boating and Swimming section for monitoring locations and results and for more information on water quality.

Marlborough Sounds

The Marlborough Sounds are recognised worldwide as an area of immense and unspoiled natural beauty.  Each year the Sounds attract large numbers of pleasure boats.  Marinas at Waikawa Bay, Picton and Havelock offer permanent and casual berthage and other facilities.  The Sounds are popular for many watersports. Our boating and swimming section has more information and tips on keeping safe on the water.  The harbours section gives more detailed information on boating, harbour usage and related bylaws.

Picton, Marlborough's main port, is at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound, approximately 17 nautical miles from Cook Strait and serves as the South Island terminus for passenger, vehicle and freight ferries.  The port also exports bulk timber from the newly developed deep-water berth in Shakespeare Bay, west of Picton.

The Marlborough Sounds is also the centre of the New Zealand marine farming industry, particularly greenshell mussels.  Havelock, at the head of the Pelorus Sound is the focal area for this industry.

Wairau Plain

Marlborough's Wairau River and its tributaries provide groundwater resources for agricultural and other uses on the Wairau floodplain, but also place Blenheim and its surrounding areas at risk of flood. Flood control works have been part of local history for 100 years. Marlborough District Council continues to upgrade and maintain these works. The Wairau floodplain is stop-banked to prevent floodwaters breaking out on to it. The Omaka, Opawa and Taylor Rivers are also stop-banked.

Land

Marlborough covers approximately 17,517 square kilometres. Of this, 10,321 square kilometres is land; the remainder the waterways of the Marlborough Sounds and surrounding coastline.

Marlborough's unique landscape; some of the most spectacular in New Zealand, of mountain ranges and river valleys were formed some 25 million years ago by the collision of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates.

The Marlborough Sounds, formed as a result of this collision, have slowly been tilted towards the northwest causing the headwaters of the former Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Valleys to be submerged to create the distinctive ria (submerged river valley) coastline.

Each of Marlborough's major river valleys follows a major earthquake fault line. The Wairau Fault - the northeast extension of the main New Zealand Alpine Fault - divides Marlborough into two distinctive geographical regions, the Marlborough Sounds and the Wairau/Awatere area.

In the Wairau/Awatere area, the sea has also been a fundamental influence on the formation of the Wairau Plain. Some 14,000 years ago after the last glacial period the lower Wairau Plain was inundated by the sea. Evidence of this can be seen in the sand dunes at Riverlands, and wave-cut spurs on the Wither Hills. At Rarangi this influence can be seen in rock stacks and wave-cut faces and in the series of raised beaches which were built up by the boulder bank across Cloudy Bay some 6,000 years ago.

Population

At the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings:

• 42,558 people usually live in Marlborough region. This is an increase of 3,000 people, or 7.6%, since the 2001 census.
• Marlborough’s population ranks 15th in size out of the 16 regions in New Zealand.
• The Marlborough region has 1.1% of New Zealand's population.

For more statistical information see Quick stats about Marlborough region from Statistics New Zealand.