Papakowhai Area Information

Papkowhai is just north of Porirua city, 20 kilometres to the north of Wellington. The name Papakowhai means yellow land or land covered by kowhai tree.

The Royal New Zealand Police College is located in Papakowhai and is about a 10 minute walk from the school.

What is available in Papakowhai

Papakowhai has a dairy and a hair salon. Nearby Paremata has a service station and hardware centre. Papakowhai is close to the Porirua shopping centres and supermarkets in Mana and Whitby.

Papakowhai has many nature walks and tracks scattered throughout the area.

The new Aotea subdivision is closeby, and within our zone, which has many facilities available or in the process of being developed.

A Tui sitting in one of the school's Kowhai Trees

Things children can do in Porirua & Papakowhai

In Papakowhai there is Aotea Lagoon, which has a train that goes around the lagoon. It has a big playground, and an enjoyable duck pond. In the weekend or after school you can go there to have a picnic, or a bike ride, or a cool walk.

Then there’s Porirua. As kids we all love to hang out with our friends down the mall. We love to go shopping, bowling, movies, swimming, indoor netball, go-karting, to Aotea College and the Skate Park.

Surprise, surprise Porirua has it all. There’s the Porirua Recreation centre and pool, where kids over 8 can swim without adult supervision. 'The Rec' has holiday programmes, Hoop club tournaments, Gymnastics, and awesome festivals celebrating the diverse cultures living in Porirua. The Kennel Club has indoor netball, cricket and soccer, and houses lost puppies and dogs. Plus the Pataka museum and library. We also have great fireworks, jet boat and jet ski races and learn to sail in the wornderful Porirua harbour.

There is plenty for the creative children, with several dance schools, art classes, and drama classes.

Living in Papakowhai

"Hi, I'm Natasha and I live in Papakowhai and think Papakowhai is cool. I live right next to the Reserve, so it's cool to go for walks down there and the Dairy is just up the road. Aotea Lagoon is just down the road as well and it has two big playgrounds. You can also hire remote control boats to play with in the pond. My aunty and uncle got married in the gardens there because they are really beautiful. The police college and museum is just across the road from the lagoon. So I consider Papakowhai a great place to live."

For futher information about Papakowhai and Porirua, click here.