Waikanae, Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand

🇳🇿 Waikanae is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, 60 km north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (wai) "of the grey mullet".

The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight km to the south-west, and Ōtaki, 15 km to the northeast. It contains Waikanae railway station, the northernmost station to which the Metlink trains from Wellington railway station in Central Wellington go.

(There is another beach named "Waikanae Beach" in the town of Gisborne, on the other side of the North Island.)

Geography Waikanae lies in a setting of open farmland and forest between the Tasman Sea and the rugged Tararua Range. Together with its neighbouring settlement of Waikanae Beach, the town comprises a quiet locale, popular with families and retirees. Just north of Waikanae is the small community of Peka Peka.

The area surrounding the town is notable for its 5-kilometre long beach and its wide river mouth opposite Kapiti Island, which lies four km offshore in the Tasman Sea. The Kapiti Island Nature Reserve includes the Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve. Te Araroa (the country's long-distance walking trail) leads through Waikanae.

The waters between Waikanae Beach and Kapiti Island comprise the Kapiti Marine Reserve, with whales and Hector's dolphins sometimes spotted on their migration routes through the narrow corridor. Inland, behind Waikanae, are the bush clad Hemi Matenga Reserve, the Tararua Ranges and the Akatarawa Valley, home to a conservation park, Staglands Wildlife Reserve & Cafe. A road through the valley over the Akatarawa Saddle provides a link with the Hutt Valley via Reikorangi and Cloustonville. The headwaters of the Waikanae River form where a number of streams converge in the inland Reikorangi Basin. From here the river runs through a gap in the foothills, across the coastal plain and sand dunes to the sea.

Prior to human settlement the Waikanae coastal plain comprised wetlands divided by a complex pattern of natural waterways and kohekohe wooded regions. Wetlands remain a diminishing feature of the region but the development of numerous private gardens has led to Waikanae having one of the highest levels of water consumption per head of population in New Zealand. The community draws its water from the single source of the Waikanae River, and seasonal shortages during the warmer months of the year constitute a growing problem for the area.

Birdlife Waikanae Beach is populated by terns, seagulls, oystercatchers, and stilts. Inland wetlands provide refuge for pūkeko, crake and New Zealand dabchicks. White fronted herons, tūī and shags range across the coastal plain. The ready availability of both birdlife and seafood encouraged early Māori settlement of the area. Introduced species such as ducks and black swans have also flourished over the last century.

Hemi Matenga Reserve Waikanae is backed by the heavily forested 330-hectare Hemi Matenga Reserve covering a range overlooking the town itself. Rising to 514 metres above sea level, the forest comprises one of the most extensive areas of kohekohe woodland left in New Zealand. The reserve was named after its former owner; Hemi Matenga Waipunahau of the Ngāti Toa, following his death in 1912. It is traversed by several walking tracks and forms an extension of the Tararua Range.

History Archaeological and ethnographical research suggests that Waikanae may have been first inhabited by the Waitaha moa-hunters as early as a thousand years ago. Successive waves of settlement by the Ngāti Apa, Rangitane and Muaūpoko Iwi (tribal groups) ensured that the area continues to have major historic and mythological significance for the Māori people of New Zealand. See Kāpiti Coast for greater detail.

In 1824 Waikanae Beach was the embarkation point for a force of 2,000 to 3,000 fighters from coastal Iwi, who assembled with the intention of taking Kapiti Island from the Ngāti Toa led by Te Rauparaha. Crossing the strait in a fleet of waka canoes under shelter of darkness, the attackers were met and destroyed as they disembarked at the northern end of Kapiti Island.

Marae Whakarongotai Marae is located in Waikanae. It is a marae (social and cultural meeting ground) for Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai and includes the Whakarongotai or Puku Mahi Tamariki wharenui (meeting house).

Demographics Waikanae is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a medium urban area and covers 29.61 km² (11.43 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 13,150 as of June 2023, with a population density of 443.96 people per km².

Waikanae Beach had a population of 12,711 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,605 people (14.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 2,148 people (20.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 5,460 households, comprising 5,853 males and 6,858 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.85 males per female, with 1,881 people (14.8%) aged under 15 years, 1,344 (10.6%) aged 15 to 29, 4,845 (38.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 4,632 (36.4%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 90.9% European/Pākehā, 9.2% Māori, 2.1% Pasifika, 4.5% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 24.9, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 48.8% had no religion, 41.3% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.9% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,766 (25.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,635 (15.1%) people had no formal qualifications. 1,938 people (17.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,011 (37.0%) people were employed full-time, 1,482 (13.7%) were part-time, and 279 (2.6%) were unemployed.

It was forecast in 2012 that Waikanae's relative abundance of unoccupied land and recent or pending improvements in transport links will lead to a population increase to about 15,000 by 2032.

Facilities The central Waikanae Village includes two supermarkets, the Mahara Art Gallery, three bank branches, a health centre, three pharmacies, craft and art shops, a post shop, a war memorial hall, a smaller community hall, the Kapiti Coast Museum, a church, a public library, a cinema and a number of other shops, restaurants, and businesses. Nearby are the Ngā Manu Nature Reserve, two primary schools (see below), a golf course, bowling club, Waikanae Park rugby and cricket ground, and several retirement centres.

Mahara Gallery is an art gallery opened in 1996.

Housing Waikanae is the largest of the 14 residential suburbs which lie within the Territorial Authority of the Kāpiti Coast, in terms of the total number of residential properties. The greater portion of Waikanae's houses were constructed during the period 1970–1979.

Transport The town is located on State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway. In February 2017 an expressway diversion was opened to enable State Highway 1 to bypass the centre of the township.

The town is the current northern terminus of the Kapiti Line for the Metlink commuter rail service. This service has operated since February 2011, into the newly rebuilt Waikanae Railway Station. The new Matangi electric multiple units entered service at the same time in 2011. Prior to that, the only direct commuter train to Wellington was the Capital Connection from Palmerston North which still leaves for Wellington in the morning and returns in the evening en route to Palmerston North.

Local bus services link Waikanae Village with Waikanae Beach and Ōtaki.

Local media A radio station Beach FM 106.3 broadcasts from Waikanae Village, covering the Kāpiti and Horowhenua districts. Two local newspapers provide coverage of the Kāpiti region.

Education Waikanae School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 540 as of April 2023.

Kapakapanui School is also a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of 539.