Rai Valley is a rural settlement in

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, New Zealand. It is located on , northwest of Blenheim and east of Nelson. The

Rai River The Rai River is a river of the Tasman Region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows predominantly south, reaching the Pelorus River at Pelorus Bridge. The township of Rai Valley is located close to the river's banks. See also *List of rivers of ...

runs past the locality to join the

Pelorus River Te Hoiere / Pelorus River is a river at the northern end of South Island of New Zealand in the region of Marlborough. It flows from the Richmond Range into Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere. This area is fantastic for camping and is renowned for its mag ...

at the locality of

Pelorus Bridge Pelorus Bridge is a tiny locality in Marlborough, New Zealand where the Rai River meets Pelorus River. crosses the Pelorus River at Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve, which was used as one of the film locations for '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Sm ...

to the south. At the 2018 census, the settlement had a population of 177. The area may have been named for the

Rangitāne Rangitāne is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe). Their rohe (territory) is in the Manawatū-Whanganui, Manawatū, Horowhenua, Wairarapa and Marlborough Region, Marlborough areas of New Zealand.Rai kau moana RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

. The locality supports dairy farming in the area, with a dairy and cheese factory established in about 1909.

History

The Valley was one of the last areas explored by Europeans in northern Marlborough.

John Tinline John Tinline (1821 – 26 February 1907) was a Scottish-born New Zealand sheep farmer, politician, and philanthropist. He emigrated briefly to Australia before moving on to New Zealand. He learned Māori and was made a magistrate. He was successf ...

discovered it while looking for a route to Nelson in January 1850. The Rai Valley was densely forested in the 19th century. A township grew up at Carluke, just to the west of Rai Valley locality, around a sawmill built by William Brownlee in 1907. About 100 people worked at the mill, and a light railway connected it to a port on the Pelorus River. Returned servicemen took up many local farms in 1919.

Demographics

Rai Valley, which covers , is part of the

Marlborough Sounds West __NOTOC__ Havelock is a small town in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand, at the head of Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, one of the Marlborough Sounds, and at the mouth of the Pelorus and Kaituna Rivers State Highway 6 from Nelson to Blenhei ...

statistical area. Rai Valley had a population of 177 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 30 people (20.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 36 people (25.5%) 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 81 households. There were 84 males and 96 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.88 males per female. The median age was 40.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 45 people (25.4%) aged under 15 years, 21 (11.9%) aged 15 to 29, 75 (42.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 33 (18.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 93.2% European/Pākehā, 20.3% Māori, 3.4% Pacific peoples, 0.0% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 67.8% had no religion, 20.3% were Christian and 1.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 12 (9.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 42 (31.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $28,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 60 (45.5%) people were employed full-time, 21 (15.9%) were part-time, and 3 (2.3%) were unemployed.

Education

Rai Valley Area School is a coeducational composite (years 1–13) school with a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 94.

Notes

References

External links

Rai Valley Area School website
{{Marlborough Region Populated places in the Marlborough Region