Peka Peka, sometimes spelled Pekapeka, is a seaside locality on the

Kāpiti Coast Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to: * Kapiti (New Zealand electorate), a former Parliamentary electorate *Kāpiti Coast District, a local government district *Kapiti Island * Kapiti Coast Airport * Kāpiti College *Kāpiti Expressway * Kapiti Fine Food ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It is located just off

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

and the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

railway between

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

and

Te Horo Te Horo and Te Horo Beach are two localities on the Kāpiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island. Te Horo Beach is the larger of the two settlements and, as its name implies, is located on the Tasman Sea coast. Te Horo is located to the east, a ...

. Peka Peka was briefly internationally famous when a young

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is Endemism in birds, endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing fr ...

, nicknamed

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed and produced by George Miller and written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hug ...

, appeared on Peka Peka beach on 21 June 2011. Emperor penguins are usually only found in the Antarctic. It had been 44 years since the species was last spotted in the wild in New Zealand. Peka Peka Beach is a clothing-optional beach by custom. New Zealand has no official nude beaches, as public nudity is legal on any beach where it is "known to occur".

Demographics

Peka Peka statistical area covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Peka Peka had a population of 612 at the

2018 New Zealand census The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census. Resu ...

, an increase of 108 people (21.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 255 people (71.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 246 households, comprising 303 males and 309 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female. The median age was 52.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 99 people (16.2%) aged under 15 years, 66 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 300 (49.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 144 (23.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 93.1% European/

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, 6.4%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 2.0% Pasifika, 3.4% Asian, and 3.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 24.0, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.8% had no religion, 31.4% were

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.5% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 1.0% were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 1.0% were

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and 2.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 168 (32.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 54 (10.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $42,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 159 people (31.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 219 (42.7%) people were employed full-time, 99 (19.3%) were part-time, and 15 (2.9%) were unemployed. The demographics for Peka Peka are also incorporated in Waikanae#Demographics.

References

{{Kapiti Coast District Populated places in the Wellington Region Kāpiti Coast District Naturism in New Zealand Nude beaches Beaches of the Wellington Region