 thumb|picton from the air. thumb|a view of the harbour in picton. thumb|picton, a park at the coast. picton is a town in the marlborough region of new zealand. it is close to the head of queen charlotte sound near the north-east corner of the south island. the population was 2,745 in the 2013 census, a decrease of 183 from 2006.statistics new zealand: "2013 census quickstats about a place: picton" the town is named after sir thomas picton, the welsh military associate of the duke of wellington, who was killed at the battle of waterloo. inter-island ferries to and from wellington arrive and depart here by way of the marlborough sounds. most of the sheltered part of the route is through tory channel, south of arapawa island. the township of waikawa is a couple of minutes' drive from picton, practically part of the same town. waikawa has one of the largest marinas in new zealand. combined with waikawa's population of 1,158 people, picton's urban population is around 4,086. making it the 2nd largest town in marlborough after blenheim which is 28&nbsp;km to the south of picton. as of 2001, the unemployment rate in picton was 4.3%, compared with 7.5% for all of new zealand. ==transport== the main north railway line and state highway 1 link picton southwards to blenheim, kaikoura, christchurch and beyond, while the scenic queen charlotte drive (shorter in distance but usually slower than state highway 1/state highway 6 via rapaura, near blenheim) winds westward to havelock. the completion of the highway link ended the relative isolation of this scenic area in the 1950s and encouraged modern motels, beginning with the american luxu
Former_provincial_capitals_of_New_Zealand Geography_of_the_Marlborough_Region Populated_places_in_New_Zealand Ports_and_harbours_of_New_Zealand