Paekakariki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the southwestern North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 22 kilometres north of Porirua and 45 kilometres northeast of Wellington, the nation's capital city.
Paekakariki's population is 1731 (2001 census). The town's name is a Maori word meaning "Perching place of the kakariki (green parrot)".
Paekakariki lies on a narrowing of the thin coastal plain between the Tasman Sea and the Akatarawa Ranges (a spur of the Tararua Ranges, and as such is an important transportation node. To the south of Paekakariki State Highway 1 climbs towards Porirua; to the north the plains extend inland from the Kapiti Coast, but at Paekakariki itself both the highway and North Island Main Trunk railway run close together between the coast and hills.
In the days immediately prior to European settlement at Paekakariki the area had a violent history, due mainly to the presence of the great Maori warrior leader Te Rauparaha, whose pa was on nearby Kapiti Island. He died in 1849, the same year that ar road was completed connecting Paekakariki with Porirua.
Paekakariki's history has been intimately linked with the railway, and there is a rail museum (The Paekakariki Railway and Heritage Museum) at the town. In 1886 the Wellington-Manawatu Railway was completed, and Paekakariki became an important stop on the journey. From 1910 until the 1960s, during which time New Zealand railways did not have refreshment cars, Paekakariki became the main refreshment stop on the trip north.
Today, the town's main income is from tourists, with a thriving arts community and a good local beach attracting visitors.
Trivia: The town was immortalised as an almost mythical distant place in the song "Paekakariki Beach" by British rock group New Model Army in 2000.
