Place

Anakiwa

The road-accessible southern end of the Queen Charlotte Track, with a car park, shelter and toilets.

Photo: Samuel J Arnold / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

A small settlement at the head of the sound where the track finishes (or starts). Bus services link it with Picton; the Link Pathway has a spur here.

On the water
Views
Native bush

Show on the Picton map Open in OpenStreetMap Directions

At a glance

Cost: Free to visit
Getting there: By road via Queen Charlotte Drive (about 15 minutes beyond Momorangi Bay), or by bus from Picton (DOC: regular and on-demand services)
Facilities: Car park, shelter and toilets (DOC)

Sheltered water and green hills at Okiwa Bay in the Grove Arm — The Grove Arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, at Okiwa Bay. Oren Rozen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

About Anakiwa

Anakiwa is the one end of the Queen Charlotte Track you can drive to. DOC provides a car park, shelter and toilets, and notes regular and on-demand bus services between Anakiwa and Picton — which is what makes a one-day section walk possible without a car: bus out, walk Mistletoe Bay to Anakiwa (12.5 km) or the reverse, water taxi or bus back. Nearby Okiwa Bay, in the Grove Arm, is the turquoise bay with the old boathouses in the photographs.

Know before you go

Bus services are described by DOC in general terms only — check current operators and times before relying on them.

Photographs

Old timber boathouses on the shore at Okiwa Bay — Boathouses at Okiwa Bay, in the Grove Arm. grumpylumixuser / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Sources for this page

Location: OpenStreetMap contributors via Nominatim (Anakiwa; feature).

Facts on this page were checked against the sources listed on 5 Sep 2026.

Nearby

Straight-line distances from Anakiwa.

Tents and vans on grass beside the water at Momorangi Bay campsite

Momorangi Bay

A fully serviced DOC campsite on Queen Charlotte Drive, 25 minutes from Picton, with a playground on the reserve.

1 hrs – half a dayDriveKids2.6 km away

A calm bush-fringed bay with a beach at Ngakuta, Marlborough Sounds

Ngakuta Bay

A calm, bush-fringed bay with a beach on Queen Charlotte Drive, on the Link Pathway.

30 min – half a dayDriveFree4.5 km away

Related

Looking down over the sound from a high point on the Queen Charlotte Track

Queen Charlotte Track

73.5 km of ridgeline and bay from Meretoto / Ship Cove to Anakiwa — walked in 3–5 days, ridden in 2–3, or sampled in a day by water taxi.

Half a day – multi-dayMulti-day

Tents and vans on grass beside the water at Momorangi Bay campsite

Momorangi Bay

A fully serviced DOC campsite on Queen Charlotte Drive, 25 minutes from Picton, with a playground on the reserve.

1 hrs – half a dayDriveKids

Picton township and harbour seen from above on Queen Charlotte Drive

Queen Charlotte Drive

The slow, scenic road from Picton toward Havelock and Nelson, with lookouts over the Grove Arm.

30 min – half a dayDriveFree