Paraparaumu College

Waikanae River is located on the Kāpiti Coast in the North Island of New Zealand. The river drains the western flanks of the Tararua Ranges around Reikorangi and the Akatarawa Valley, then passes to the south of the town of Waikanae to the north of the river and Otaihanga/ Paraparaumu to the south before entering the Tasman Sea at Waikanae - Paraparaumu Beach. Tributaries include the Maungakotukutuku Stream, Ngatiawa River, and Reikorangi Stream. The estuary of the river is a significant reserve providing shelter and habitat for local and migratory seabirds. It also provides a major recreational location, both for residents and tourists. Walking and cycling tracks are present on both sides of the river, leading from Waikanae Beach and Otaihanga Domain to the old state highway bridge just south Waikanae. Water up to a maximum amount is taken out of the river as water supply for Waikanae and Paraparaumu. This sometimes leads to water restrictions if the river runs low, however in January 2005 the river burst its banks after heavy rain. The river has good water quality and high aquatic biodiversity, but there are occasional blooms of toxic cyanobacteria after prolonged periods of low flow during hot, dry weather.There have been multiple instances in earlier years (2020, 2021) where the river back has burst, leading to several floods in the elevated areas south of the river. It came with heavy rainfall and heavy storms and cyclones in the area.The estuary of the Waikanae River is ever changing, with major and minor storms disrupting the banks and causing it to change shape. Prior to storms in 2016/17, the river seamlessly transitioned into the sea, but after storms, long sandbars and banks have caused the river to take an winding path to reach the Tasman Sea.

Otaihanga is on the Kāpiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is just north of Paraparaumu on the south bank of the Waikanae River and is roughly 55 km north of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. Its name is Māori for "the place made by the tide". The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of Taihanga [a personal name]" for Ōtaihanga.

Kapiti Coast Airport (IATA: PPQ, ICAO: NZPP), also spelt Kāpiti Coast Airport and previously called Paraparaumu Airport, is on the Kāpiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island, between the Wellington dormitory suburbs of Paraparaumu Beach (to the west and north), Paraparaumu to the east, and Raumati Beach to the south. The Wharemauku Stream flows through part of the airport's land. Originally government-owned, the Kapiti Coast Airport was the greater Wellington region's main airport until Wellington International Airport re-opened in 1959. It was privatised in 1995.

The Kapiti Urban Area is a statistical area that was defined by Statistics New Zealand to cover a group of urban settlements of the Kāpiti Coast District, in the Wellington Region. It was classified as a main urban area under the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 because its population exceeded 30,000. The settlements comprise (north to south): Waikanae Paraparaumu (including Otaihanga, Raumati Beach and Raumati South) Paekākāriki The largest settlement is Paraparaumu. Raumati may be considered a suburb of Paraparaumu or a separate town in its own right – there are no legal definitions for towns in New Zealand. Kapiti Urban Area is better described as a commuter area of Wellington than an independent city. Under Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018, Kapiti Urban Area was split into separate urban areas for the three settlements. The Kāpiti Coast District also includes the settlements of Te Horo and Ōtaki, which are outside Kapiti Urban Area.

The Southward Car Museum is an automobile museum and event centre in Otaihanga, New Zealand. It was established by Len Southward in the 1970s to house his collection of over 450 vehicles and several aircraft and is now run by a charitable trust. The museum is just north of Paraparaumu on the Kāpiti Coast, about an hour's drive from Wellington and situated just east of the North Island Main Trunk railway and State Highway 1, on Otaihanga Road. The purpose-built building includes a 6000 square metre exhibition hall, engineering workshop, gift shop and small cafe, all set in park-like grounds. The building also incorporates the 474-seat Southward Theatre, which features the 1929 Wurlitzer Unit Orchestra theatre organ that was originally installed in the Civic Theatre in Auckland.

Paraparaumu Beach is a coastal settlement on the Kāpiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located west of the main Paraparaumu township, 50 km north of Wellington. The area faces Kapiti Island.

Paraparaumu (Māori: [ˈpaɾapaˈɾaʉmʉ]) is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Beach, which is directly opposite Kapiti Island. The two towns form part of the Kāpiti Coast District. Together with the nearby Raumati Beach and Raumati South they are among the fastest-growing urban areas in New Zealand, and are major dormitory towns with workers commuting to the cities that make up the Wellington urban area. The four towns between them have a 2012 population of over 49,000 people. Inland behind Paraparaumu is the Maungakotukutuku area. Paraparaumu is a Māori-language name meaning "scraps from an earth oven"; parapara means "dirt" or "scraps", and umu means "oven". The village of Lindale is just north of the Paraparaumu town centre. It began as a Tourist and Agricultural Centre, but later gained a reputation for cheese and the Lindale Barnyard petting farm. The old State Highway 1 and the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk railway both pass through Lindale. The railway line was formerly owned by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and construction of the line was completed when the ends from Wellington and Longburn (Palmerston North) met near Lindale in Otaihanga in 1886. There were proposals to extend the commuter train service operated by Transdev Wellington to a new station at Lindale, subject to Wellington Regional Council funding, but these were dropped when electrification for the commuter service was extended from Paraparaumu to Waikanae. The majority of shops are located close to the town centre in the Coastlands Mall, close to the train station.

Otaihanga railway station was a flag station between Paraparaumu and Waikanae on the Wellington-Manawatu Line in New Zealand, when the line was run by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. This line is now part of the Kapiti section of the North Island Main Trunk. The station was opened on 2 August 1886. The two ends of the line met at Otaihanga on 27 October, and the last spike was driven at a public ceremony by Governor William Jervois on 3 November 1886 before more than a thousand people. The first revenue-earning train, a stock train from Longburn to Johnsonville with 355 sheep and 60 head of cattle had run on 30 October. The last spike monument is now in the carpark at Southward Car Museum. The station served Otaihanga, a then-rural area between Paraparaumu and Waikanae which is now mainly residential. The platform was on the east side of the line according to Cassells, who shows a blind siding on the west side of the line with the south end joining the main line. The station had a waiting shed, and was two miles and nine chains (3.2 km) north of Paraparaumu. A 1903 WMR advertisement says that the station will be closed from 30 May 1903. Two references say that the station closed in 1902, but neither give a date. Scoble says that the station closed in 1902. Hoy says that Otaihanga closed in 1902 or in "company days". A WMR newspaper advertisement of 12 November 1902 names the station as one of several stations (along with Khandallah, Tawa Flat, Pukerua and Hadfield) where certain trains would not stop (indicating that the station was still open on 12 November).

Coastlands Shopping Centre or Coastlands Shoppingtown is a shopping mall in Paraparaumu, New Zealand. The shopping centre has naming rights of the Coastlands Aquatic Centre due to making donations to the aquatic centre, which was built by the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

Paraparaumu railway station in Paraparaumu on the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand is an intermediate station on the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk for Metlink's electric multiple unit commuter trains from Wellington. Paraparaumu was the northern terminal for Kapiti Line services from 1983 until 20 February 2011 when the electrification and Kapiti Line services were extended to Waikanae.

Our Lady of Lourdes is an outdoor statue of the Virgin Mary, located in Paraparaumu, New Zealand. It was built by Dutch artist Martin Roestenberg in 1958 after being commissioned by Catholic parish priest Father J.S. Dunn to mark the 100th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. It is 14 metres tall, and was designed to last only three months. The statue has a crown of 17 lights that give the appearance of a halo at night, which is visible for kilometres. It is hollow, made of wood, plaster and fibreglass. There is a parish and a school named after the statue, both called Our Lady of Kapiti.

The 1936 Paraparaumu train wreck occurred on Sunday, 30 August 1936 near Paraparaumu, New Zealand. A train was travelling from Auckland to Wellington in heavy rain when it derailed after striking a landslide across the tracks. One passenger died as a result of injuries received in the incident.