Conveniently close to so many of our region’s outdoor experience highlights, Richmond is also a bustling shopping and popular indoor entertainment location.
It’s the perfect place to base yourself to enjoy mountain biking, road cycling, beaches, and walking trails but also has the area’s best indoor pool complex and the largest shopping centre in the Top of the South.
Richmond is only minutes away from Nelson City but has its own unique character and micro-climate. Many of Tasman’s best wineries and fruit growers are situated on the outskirts of Richmond, and the nearby Appleby area is internationally famous for its real fruit ice cream and boysenberry crop, holding the title as the largest in the world.
During the summer months, berry farms open their gates to visitors, and many families head out in search of the perfect toppings for their Christmas pavlovas. But during the Autumn, Winter and Spring months, you can still savour the delicious taste of Nelson Tasman boysenberries, with local artisan products such as chocolate dipped boysenberries and Appleby Farms icecream.
Wakefield, Brightwater and Tapawera (the gateway to the Kahurangi National Park) are also within easy reach of the Richmond township. Brightwater was the birthplace of Nobel Prize-winning nuclear physicist, Lord Ernest Rutherford, and the town celebrates its famous son with a distinctive memorial on Lord Rutherford Road.
