The Ashley Gorge is a river

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

of the

Ashley River / Rakahuri The Ashley River (; officially Ashley River / Rakahuri) is in Canterbury region of New Zealand. It flows generally southeastwards for before entering the Pacific Ocean at Waikuku Beach, Pegasus Bay north of Christchurch. The town of Rangiora is ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, New Zealand. The river is bridged at the mouth of the gorge by the

Inland Scenic Route The Inland Scenic Route is a touring route in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand. In the north, the route starts in Amberley, New Zealand, Amberley and in the south, it ends at Orari Bridge where it meets New Zealand State Highway ...

, formerly designated State Highway 72. A popular picnic ground and camping area is adjacent to the bridge. Upstream of the gorge the river flows through the Lees Valley. Ashley Gorge is also the name of a small rural locality 2.5 km southwest of the bridge.

Demographics

The Ashley Gorge statistical area covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Ashley Gorge had a population of 1,134 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 132 people (13.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 444 people (64.3%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 420 households. There were 591 males and 543 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 42.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 225 people (19.8%) aged under 15 years, 177 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 585 (51.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 147 (13.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.8% European/Pākehā, 5.0% Māori, 1.1% Pacific peoples, 2.1% Asian, and 2.4% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 20.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 55.3% had no religion, 34.4% were Christian and 2.9% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 159 (17.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 171 (18.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $33,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 510 (56.1%) people were employed full-time, 150 (16.5%) were part-time, and 18 (2.0%) were unemployed.

References

Canyons and gorges of Canterbury, New Zealand Waimakariri District {{CanterburyNZ-geo-stub