Rakau, Tasman Map

About Rakau, Tasman

Rakau is a locality in the Tasman Region of New Zealand. It sits at an elevation of around 187 m above sea level. It lies approximately 35 km west-southwest of Richmond, the regional capital. Rakau is located at 41.4167°S, 172.7833°E. It observes New Zealand Time (NZST/NZDT).

Rakau unfolds in a broad embrace of rolling farmland, a quilt of emerald pastures stitched with the darker green of Quinvie Bush, its edges softened by the distant, hazy blue of the Pinchback Range. It lies 39.2 km west-south-west of Stoke (from Stoke: bearing 253°T), and is situated 22.3 km west of Wakefield. Here, the land breathes with a gentle slope, its contours guiding the meandering course of the Motupiko River, a ribbon of silver that traces its path through the valley floor. The air carries the clean scent of damp earth and growing things, a fragrance deepened by the subtle perfume of native flora that spills from the edges of cleared land. Sunlight, when it breaks through the often-softened sky, pools in luminous patches on the paddocks, illuminating the sturdy timber fences and the occasional cluster of farm buildings that punctuate the landscape.

This is a place where the quiet hum of agricultural life underpins the day, where the rhythm of seasons dictates the pace. Historically, the economy of Rakau has been tied to the land, with dairy farming forming a significant thread in its fabric. The land itself, fertile and generous, has sustained generations, its bounty harvested and sent out to wider markets. While not a place of grand monuments, Rakau holds a quiet dignity, a sense of enduring purpose in its productive fields and the steadfast way it faces the expansive sky. The presence of Luna Lake, a serene expanse some distance away, offers a counterpoint to the cultivated fields, a reminder of the wilder, untouched beauty that lies beyond the fences.

About This Rakau Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Rakau, Tasman, New Zealand at coordinates -41.41667, 172.78333. Use the Map and Satellite buttons to switch views, the plus and minus buttons to zoom, and Fullscreen to fill the screen.

Search Maps opens a second, independent map with four things the embedded map cannot do. It searches OpenStreetMap for any New Zealand town, suburb or landmark by name. It offers LINZ topographic maps as a base layer — the official Topo250 and Topo50 sheets, switching scale automatically as you zoom, and the standard reference for tramping, hunting and back-country travel. It offers LINZ aerial imagery down to 5cm resolution in urban areas. And it can take a single GPS fix from your device and report your position as both an NZTM2000 grid reference and plain latitude and longitude — the grid reference being what New Zealand search and rescue services work from. Map tiles require mobile coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map itself cannot load.

My Location & Navigate starts the vector-tile navigator: live turn-by-turn driving directions from your current position to any destination, with spoken guidance, lane hints and automatic re-routing.

Live weather conditions with current observations and a 7-day forecast are powered by Open-Meteo. Real-time New Zealand and world news feeds keep the page current, while an editorial description provides background on Rakau.

Rakau sits within the Tasman Region. Location data is drawn from the GeoNames geographical database and verified by coordinates, ensuring the correct Rakau is identified even where the name is shared across multiple New Zealand localities.