Ahaura

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Town in the South Island of New Zealand

title: "Ahaura" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["grey-district", "populated-places-in-the-west-coast-region"] description: "Town in the South Island of New Zealand" topic_path: "general/grey-district" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaura" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in the South Island of New Zealand ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Ahaura
image_skyline	Ahaura River Bridge.jpg
image_caption	Ahaura River Bridge
area_total_km2	0.39
area_footnotes
population_footnotes
population_as_of
population_total
population_density_km2	auto
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	New Zealand
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	West Coast
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Grey District
subdivision_type3	Ward
subdivision_name3	Eastern
seat_type	Electorates
seat
leader_title	Territorial Authority
leader_name	Grey District Council
leader_title1	Regional council
leader_name1	West Coast Regional Council
leader_title2	Mayor of Grey
leader_name2
leader_title3	West Coast-Tasman MP
leader_name3
leader_title4	Te Tai Tonga MP
leader_name4
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	9
coordinates
blank_name	Local iwi
blank_info	Ngāi Tahu
::

Ahaura is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, sited where the Ahaura River flows into the Grey River. State Highway 7 and the Stillwater–Ngākawau railway line pass through the town. Greymouth is 34 km to the south-west, and Reefton is 44 km to the north-east.

European settlement of the area began with the establishment of a pastoral run near the junction of the Ahaura and Grey Rivers in 1858.

At one time the town supported six hotels, two butcheries, a bakery, a blacksmith's shop, and a printing office.

Demographics

Ahaura is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers 0.39 km2. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Ahaura is part of the larger Nelson Creek statistical area.

Ahaura had a population of 96 at the 2018 New Zealand census, unchanged since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 15 people (−13.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 45 households, comprising 57 males and 39 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.46 males per female. The median age was 52.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 12 people (12.5%) aged under 15 years, 15 (15.6%) aged 15 to 29, 45 (46.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 24 (25.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 96.9% European/Pākehā, and 3.1% Māori.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 43.8% had no religion, and 50.0% were Christian.

Of those at least 15 years old, 6 (7.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 24 (28.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $26,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 15 people (17.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 45 (53.6%) people were employed full-time, 9 (10.7%) were part-time, and 3 (3.6%) were unemployed.

Climate

Located in the central Grey Valley at an altitude of 80m, Ahaura falls under the Köppen-Geiger climate classification of Cfb (Oceanic), though the nearby Paparoa Range shelters the settlement from moderating seabreezes on summer afternoons, and on winter nights cold air sinks from the Paparoas into the Grey Valley, which results in many more frosts per winter than nearby Greymouth. The area typically observes lower rainfall totals than coastal locations due to the rain-shadow effect of the Paparoa Range.

| location = Totara Flat, 77 m (8km NE of Ahaura) (1971–2000) | Nov rain mm = 159.3 | year rain mm = 1935.4 | Dec rain mm = 183.0 | Oct rain mm = 190.4 | Sep rain mm = 180.7 | Aug rain mm = 134.8 | Jul rain mm = 183.7 | Jun rain mm = 155.5 | May rain mm = 218.2 | Apr rain mm = 152.9 | Mar rain mm = 125.1 | Feb rain mm = 101.0 | Jan rain mm = 150.8 | rain colour = green | unit rain days = 1.0 mm | metric first = Yes | Jan high C = 22.1 | year high C = 16.7 | Dec high C = 20.5 | Nov high C = 18.5 | Oct high C = 16.5 | Sep high C = 14.5 | Aug high C = 12.4 | Jul high C = 10.7 | Jun high C = 10.7 | May high C = 13.7 | Apr high C = 17.4 | Mar high C = 20.7 | Feb high C = 22.5 | Feb mean C = 16.4 | single line = Yes | Jan mean C = 16.3 | Mar mean C = 14.9 | Jun low C = 1.7 | year low C = 6.1 | Dec low C = 9.6 | Nov low C = 8.0 | Oct low C = 6.3 | Sep low C = 4.4 | Aug low C = 2.0 | Jul low C = 0.8 | May low C = 3.9 | Apr mean C = 11.9 | Apr low C = 6.3 | Mar low C = 9.0 | Feb low C = 10.3 | Jan low C = 10.6 | year mean C = 11.4 | Dec mean C = 15.1 | Nov mean C = 13.2 | Oct mean C = 11.4 | Sep mean C = 9.4 | Aug mean C = 7.2 | Jul mean C = 5.7 | Jun mean C = 6.2 | May mean C = 8.8 | source 1 = cliflo.niwa.co.nz |url = https://cliflo.niwa.co.nz |title = National Climate Database |publisher = NIWA |access-date = 14 October 2023}}

Nelson Creek statistical area

Nelson Creek statistical area covers 897.84 km2 and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Ahaura,_West_Coast_NZ.jpg" caption="Former post office in Ahaura"] ::

Nelson Creek had a population of 669 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 45 people (−6.3%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 48 people (−6.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 276 households, comprising 381 males and 294 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.3 males per female. The median age was 45.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 120 people (17.9%) aged under 15 years, 105 (15.7%) aged 15 to 29, 336 (50.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 111 (16.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 94.2% European/Pākehā, 10.8% Māori, 1.3% Pasifika, 0.9% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 8.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 57.4% had no religion, 33.6% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.9% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 54 (9.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 162 (29.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 63 people (11.5%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 306 (55.7%) people were employed full-time, 75 (13.7%) were part-time, and 18 (3.3%) were unemployed.

Education

Awahono School – Grey Valley is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of The school was formed at the beginning of 2005 from the merger of Ahaura, Moonlight, Ngahere and Totara Flat schools.

Notes

References

(2004). "Reed New Zealand Atlas". Reed Books.
Roger Smith, GeographX. (2005). "The Geographic Atlas of New Zealand". Robbie Burton.
Rogers, Anna. (2005). "Illustrated History of the West Coast".
''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand'' (1906)
"ArcGIS Web Application".
{{NZ census 2018. 7023665
{{NZ census 2018. Nelson Creek (311000). nelson-creek. Nelson Creek
{{TKI. 2105. Awahono School – Grey Valley
(2005). "School Mergers, Closures and New Schools". Education Counts.

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