Rakaia is a town seated close to 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, Eu ...

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 in t ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's South Island, approximately 57 km south of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

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 numbere ...

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 in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

. 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 at this point. Both bridges are approximately 1750 metres in length. Rakaia was also the junction of the Methven Branch, a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote 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. Industrial spur An industr ...

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 clo ...

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

. 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 ...

ing. The town and river were previously known as ''Cholmondeley'', but the Maori 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. Rakaia had a population of 1,440 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 168 people (13.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 369 people (34.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 576 households, with 582 occupied private dwellings and a further 72 unoccupied private dwellings.. There were 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, 12.9% Māori, 5.2% Pacific peoples, 3.3% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 12.3%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.1% had no religion, 34.8% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 2.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 93 (8.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 330 (29.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $33,500, compared with $31,800 nationally, with 11.8% earning over $70,000. 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 unique ...

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 Canterbury, New Zealand