Rakaia is a town sited on the southern banks of the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Europ ...

on the

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, approximately 57 km south of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

and the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

. Immediately north of the township are New Zealand's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the wide shingle beds of the

braided river A braided river (also called braided channel or braided stream) consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called ''braid bars'' or, in British English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. ...

at this point. Both bridges are approximately in length. Rakaia was also the junction of the Methven Branch, a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

railway to Methven that operated from 1880 until its closure in 1976. An accident at the railway station in 1899 killed four people. Rakaia's most obvious feature is a large

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

. The river from which the town takes its name is known for its salmon fishing and

jetboat A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses an external propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat through a ...

ing. The town and river were previously known as ''Cholmondeley'', but the Māori name would eventually prevail over the English one. The rural community of Acton is located south of the Rakaia township.Acton, New Zealand
on GeoNames.org

Demographics

Rakaia is described by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area and covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². War Memorial Rakaia

Rakaia had a population of 1,440 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 168 people (13.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 369 people (34.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 576 households, comprising 723 males and 720 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female. The median age was 42.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 303 people (21.0%) aged under 15 years, 225 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 657 (45.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 255 (17.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 86.9% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 12.9%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 5.2% Pasifika, 3.3% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 12.3, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.1% had no religion, 34.8% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.6% had

Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 0.4% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 0.2% were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 0.6% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 1.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 93 (8.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 330 (29.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $33,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 135 people (11.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 636 (55.9%) people were employed full-time, 162 (14.2%) were part-time, and 24 (2.1%) were unemployed.

Notable buildings

Saint Mark's Anglican Church

Saint Marks was built in 1877. It was designed by architect

Benjamin Mountfort Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (13 March 1825 – 15 March 1898) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's uniqu ...

in a Gothic style. It is considered a typical example of the wooden churches he designed for small parishes. The church was listed as a category two historic place in 1992.

Rakaia Post Office

The Rakaia Post Office was built in 1910.

Bank of New Zealand

The Rakaia Bank of New Zealand building.

South Rakaia Hotel

The South Rakaia Hotel is almost 150 years old.

St Andrews Presbyterian Church

References

External links

Rakaia Tourism
{{Authority control Ashburton District Populated places in the Canterbury Region