Last updated October 2026
Matarau is a rural locality in the Whangārei District, spread along Matarau Road among farmland and lifestyle blocks. It lies in the Hikurangi-Coastal Ward and is reached by a short drive from Kamo, outside the built-up city.
The area has been shifting from working farms toward smaller rural properties, while keeping a country character of paddocks, shelter belts and quiet roads.
Matarau School, a full primary at 124 Matarau Road, is the main community anchor. Do not confuse it with Tamaterau, the coastal settlement on Whangārei Heads Road, or with Mataraua Forest on the Kauri Coast. There is no town centre here: this is a place of country roads, a long-standing rural school, and volcanic boulders recorded beside the road.
Practical Information
- Ward or local board
- Hikurangi-Coastal Ward, Whangārei District Council
- Getting there
- Matarau Road from Kamo. The school describes the drive from Kamo as about seven minutes. A private vehicle is the practical option; no local bus route was confirmed.
- Main shopping
- No local shops identified. Day-to-day shopping is in Kamo.
- Schools
- Matarau School, a state co-educational full primary (years 1 to 8), 124 Matarau Road
- Nearby landmarks
- Matarau School; Matarau Road basalt proto-karst, fluted boulders recorded on the east side of Matarau Road near the Rushbrook Road junction
About Matarau
Matarau is a locality rather than a township. Houses and farm buildings sit back from Matarau Road on larger sections, and the landscape is still agricultural even where properties have been divided into lifestyle blocks. Wikipedia describes the area as changing from farmland to lifestyle blocks, which matches the mix of paddocks, sheds and newer rural homes along the road.
The name Matarau is recorded as meaning many points or many spears. That reading fits a district of ridges and rocky outcrops, though this page does not assign the locality to a single hapū.
An Education Review Office report has noted the school’s links with local Māori whānau and with Ngararatunua Marae. Treat that as a school and community connection, not as proof that the marae stands inside the locality.
Matarau School is the institution most people associate with the name. It is a state full primary for years 1 to 8 at 124 Matarau Road, with a Kamo postal address.
The school describes itself as a rural school about seven minutes from Kamo, educating about 300 children, and it sets its values as manaakitanga, hiranga, manawaroa and whanaungatanga. Roll figures differ between official snapshots, so the school’s own description is the safer guide to its size.
The other named feature is geological. The Whangārei District Plan schedule records Matarau Road basalt proto-karst as one of the most easily seen examples of this landform near Whangārei. The notes describe large fluted basalt boulders, derived from the Whangārei Volcanic Field, with solution basins on top.
The best examples are said to lie within about 10 metres of the road, on the east side of Matarau Road, 0.6 to 0.8 kilometres south of the Rushbrook Road junction. The schedule places that site about 8 kilometres northwest of Kamo. It is a roadside landform, not a formed reserve.
For someone thinking of living here, Matarau offers space and a country school, with town services a short drive away in Kamo and further into Whangārei.
For a visitor, it is a drive-through rural locality rather than a destination with cafes, beaches or waymarked walks. The interest is the setting itself: open country, a working school community, and volcanic rock that the district plan has judged worth recording.
Getting Around
Matarau Road is the spine of the locality. The practical approach is from Kamo, and the school’s own wording puts that drive at about seven minutes. Rushbrook Road is the local junction used in the district plan to locate the basalt boulders.
Sources checked for this guide did not confirm a public bus serving Matarau, so plan on a private vehicle. Roads here are rural: watch for stock, school traffic at drop-off and pick-up, and unsealed or narrow side roads if you leave the main route.
History and Heritage
The clearest local history is the school’s. Wikipedia records that Matarau School was founded in 1877 as Ruatangata East School.
Otakairanga School amalgamated with it in 1949, and Ruatangata West School closed in favour of Matarau in 1973. Those dates mark a long consolidation of small rural schools into one campus on Matarau Road, which still serves years 1 to 8.
The wider locality’s story is the ordinary Northland pattern of farmland giving way, in places, to lifestyle blocks. There is no town heritage precinct and no Heritage New Zealand listing was identified for Matarau in this research.
The recorded heritage of the land itself is the proto-karst: basalt boulders shaped by solution, sitting on a hillside beside the road. They are a geological feature in the district plan, not a staffed historic site.
Getting Outdoors
Matarau is not a beach, reserve or walking-track destination. Time outdoors here means country roads, paddocks and the roadside boulders. If you stop to look at the fluted basalt, stay on the public road. The hillside is not described as a public reserve, and the best boulders are noted as close to the carriageway, which also means traffic.
Do not enter private land, and do not treat the rocks as a climbing or collecting site. For harbour walks, coastal reserves and formed tracks, head elsewhere in the Whangārei District. Tamaterau, despite the similar name, is a different place on the Heads coast.
Where to Learn More
Matarau on Wikipedia: locality overview, including the recorded meaning of the name and the school’s founding history.
Matarau School: the rural full primary’s own description, values and contact point for families.
Education Review Office: Matarau School: official school profile, address and review context for years 1 to 8.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Matarau?
Matarau is a rural locality in the Whangārei District, on Matarau Road, a short drive from Kamo. It is in the Hikurangi-Coastal Ward.
Is Matarau a suburb of Whangārei?
It is a locality in the Whangārei District, not part of the built-up city. Expect farms and lifestyle blocks rather than a suburban street grid.
What does the name Matarau mean?
The name is recorded as meaning many points or many spears.
How do I get to Matarau?
Drive Matarau Road from Kamo. The school describes that trip as about seven minutes. No local bus route was confirmed, so a private vehicle is the practical way.
What school is in Matarau?
Matarau School at 124 Matarau Road is a state co-educational full primary for years 1 to 8. It describes itself as a rural school educating about 300 children.
Is there shopping in Matarau?
No local shops or shopping centre were identified. Day-to-day shopping is in Kamo.
What is there to see?
This is not a developed visitor spot. The notable feature is the rural setting, plus fluted basalt boulders recorded beside Matarau Road near Rushbrook Road. Stay on the public road and do not enter private land.
Is Matarau the same place as Tamaterau or Mataraua Forest?
No. Tamaterau is a coastal settlement on Whangārei Heads Road. Mataraua Forest is a separate conservation area on the Kauri Coast, well away from this locality.
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