Kaiapoi

Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is considered a satellite town of Christchurch and is part of the Christchurch functional urban area. The town is named after the nearby Kaiapoi Pā.

Kaiapoi suffered extensive damage in the 2010 Canterbury and also the February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, which rendered many homes uninhabitable and businesses inoperable. Large areas were condemned as part of a residential red zone covering uninhabitable areas.

Demographics
Kaiapoi is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a medium urban area and covers 14.65 km2. It had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2. The population experienced a large dip after the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, but has been growing rapidly, and is expected to continue to grow.

Before the 2023 census, the town had a smaller boundary, covering 14.33 km2. Using that boundary, Kaiapoi had a population of 11,841 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 2,367 people (25.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 1,239 people (11.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 4,602 households, comprising 5,796 males and 6,051 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 2,022 people (17.1%) aged under 15 years, 2,217 (18.7%) aged 15 to 29, 5,178 (43.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,430 (20.5%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 90.1% European/Pākehā, 11.5% Māori, 2.3% Pasifika, 3.4% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 15.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.7% had no religion, 33.5% were Christian, 0.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.5% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 1.7% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 1,017 (10.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 2,544 (25.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,404 people (14.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,893 (49.8%) people were employed full-time, 1,440 (14.7%) were part-time, and 291 (3.0%) were unemployed.

Commerce
Kaiapoi is also known as the 'River Town' after the Kaiapoi River, a tributary of the Waimakariri River that flows through the centre of the town. This was originally the main arm of the Waimakariri River, but extensive flooding led to a diversion so the majority of the water travelled down the South arm of the Waimakariri.

Kaiapoi was well known for the woollen mill run by the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company, and many woollen items produced at the mill can still be found throughout the world.

A freezing works (meat processing plant) was also a major employer in the town, and once this and the woollen mill had closed there was some economic turmoil in the town, and concern over its future. It, however, has survived and prospered, and although there is some local industry, a large percentage of the population works in the neighbouring city of Christchurch. One optimistic politician of the 1800s had even predicted that Kaiapoi would outsize its neighbour Christchurch. In some counts of the latter city's population, Kaiapoi is included as a suburb of Christchurch but most people from the area would maintain that it is a town in its own right.

Education
Kaiapoi has five schools: three primary schools, one high school, and a teen parent unit attached to the high school.
 * Kaiapoi Borough School is a state co-educational full primary school, with students (as of  The school opened in 1873, making it Kaiapoi's oldest school.
 * Kaiapoi North School is a state co-educational full primary school, with students (as of  The school opened in 1962.
 * St Patrick's School is a state-integrated co-educational full primary Catholic school, with students (as of
 * Kaiapoi High School is a state co-educational secondary school, with students (as of  The school opened in 1972.
 * Karanga Mai Young Parents College is the teen parent unit attached to Kaiapoi High School. It opened in 1992.

Recreation
Outdoor recreation options include the Kaiapoi River which is deep enough for boating, with multiple accessible boat-ramps. There is a paddle-boat that offers pleasure cruises for tourists. The nearby Waimakariri River Regional Park is popular for kayaking, fishing, cycling and off-roading. Kaiapoi is also close to The Pines Beach.

The Waimakariri District Council operates several public recreation facilities in Kaiapoi including a library, museum, and a swimming pool. The Darnley Club provides community recreational opportunities for the elderly and the Chris Ruth Centre provides community recreational opportunities for adults with severe disabilities.

Kaiapoi is represented by both rugby codes. The Kaiapoi Rugby Football Club was established in 1883 and has its home ground at Kaiapoi Park. It competes in the Canterbury Rugby Football Union. The Kaiapoi Rugby League Club (now playing as the Northern Bulldogs) began in 1957 and play in the local Canterbury Rugby League. The club has been based at Murphy Park since 1960. In 2007 — the club's jubilee 50th season — the Bulldogs won the Thacker Shield.

Kaiapoi is the location of St Bartholomew's Church, which is the oldest wooden church in the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, built in 1855.

The dirt-surface Woodford Glen Speedway is only a short-distance south, between Kaiapoi and Kainga.

Transport
State Highway 1 bypasses the town to the west via the Christchurch Northern Motorway. Prior to the completion of the motorway in December 1970, State Highway 1 ran down the main street of Kaiapoi. A half-hourly bus service connects Kaiapoi to Rangiora and central Christchurch.

The Main North Line railway runs through Kaiapoi, and the town once served as the junction for the Eyreton Branch, which provided rail access to communities west of Kaiapoi such as West Eyreton (though it ran to the north of Eyreton itself). This branch line opened in 1875 and closed fully by April 1965. The old station has a NZHPT Category II listing.

The river used to have a port before the construction of the Waimakariri River bridge, and was an important point for the transport of goods to and from Christchurch. Bucking the trend of river ports dying off in the middle of the 20th century, the port actually reopened for a decade between 1958 and 1967, to allow smaller ships to bypass the congested Lyttelton wharves.

At one stage, a walnut tree on one resident's property, this being the former Presbyterian Manse in Sewell Street, was so large, it was used to act as a landmark for pilots approaching Christchurch International Airport to get their bearings, before being cut down by the owner and his sons.

Notable people

 * Matiaha Tiramōrehu (?–1881), Ngāi Tahu tribal leader
 * Jane Thomson (1858–1944), mountaineer born in Kaiapoi
 * Stella Henderson (1871–1962), feminist, university graduate and journalist
 * Henry Boddington (1863–1938), cricketer who played for Nelson and Otago
 * Isabel Button (1863–1921), horse driver, trainer and equestrian
 * Henare Uru (1872–1929), Reform Party politician
 * Thomas Bavin (1874–1941), Premier of New South Wales (born in Kaiapoi)
 * Morgan Williams (1878–1970), Labour Party MP for and mayor of Kaiapoi
 * Algy Whitehead (1885–1961), Anglican priest
 * Bruce Young (1888–1952), baker, policeman, unionist and police commissioner
 * Frank Smith (1893–1975), cricketer
 * Richard Moore (1849–1936), MP for and mayor of Kaiapoi
 * Norman Kirk (1923–1974), mayor of Kaiapoi and later prime minister of New Zealand
 * Azalea Sinclair (born 1930), netballer
 * Ian Shirley (1940–2019), academic
 * Frank Rapley (born 1937), cricketer
 * Sisters Erin Baker (born 1961) and Philippa Baker (born 1963), New Zealand athletes
 * Brian Ford (born 28 August 1970), cricketer
 * Bob Irvine (born 1940), rugby league player
 * Matt Todd (born 1988), Rugby Player – Kaiapoi RFC, Canterbury (72 caps), Crusaders (140) and All Blacks (25)

There were at least six test match All Blacks who were born in Kaiapoi, including William Balch, New Zealand teacher; George Maber, who had played for Wellington; Duncan McGregor, who also played league, as well as John Ashworth (born 1949), who played for them, although he had been born in Waikari.