Kapiti Coast

The Kāpiti Coast (formerly known as The Golden Coast) is the name of the section of the coast of the south-western North Island of New Zealand that is north of Wellington and opposite Kāpiti Island. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Regional Council.

The Kapiti Coast District stretches from Paekakariki in the south through Otaki in the north. It includes the towns of Te Horo, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, Raumati Beach, Otaki, and Raumati South, and smaller localities such as Emerald Glen, Lindale, Maungakotukutuku, Otaihanga, and Peka Peka. Along the thin coastal plains at the foot of the Tararua Range, the Kapiti Coast in common parlance occasionally includes the neighbouring areas south to Plimmerton to the north of Porirua Harbour, and in the north includes some of the coastal areas of Horowhenua such as Waikawa Beach and even Hokio Beach, close to Lake Horowhenua. The district extends inland to the top of the Tararua Range, whereas in the public perception the inland hill country is rarely considered as part of the coast. Kapiti is possibly most famous for its island, Kapiti Island. Most of the island is a pest-free bird sanctuary, where a permit is required to visit.

Māori chief Te Rauparaha established a base on Kapiti Island, and from this position, he was able to launch attacks on other tribes during the Musket Wars of the early 19th century. Around this time, Europeans began whaling in the area, and on 16 October 1839, William Wakefield of the New Zealand Company arrived in the Kapiti region to purchase land for permanent European settlement. Te Rauparaha sold him land in the Nelson and Golden Bay area.

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