Parrearra is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires o ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Parrearra had a population of 4,661 people. Parrearra is located within the Kawana Waters urban area and is informally referred to as Kawana Island.

Geography

The suburb is bounded to the west by the

Mooloolah River The Mooloolah River is a river in South East Queensland, Australia. The river rises from the eastern slopes of the Blackall Range and flows east-northeast, similar to the Maroochy River to the north. The mouth of the river is at southern Mooloo ...

, to the north by

Nicklin Way Nicklin Way (SR6) is a major road in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is named after former Queensland Premier Frank Nicklin, who opened the road on 5 June 1965. It runs from the southern end of the Sunshine Motorway at Mooloolaba in t ...

, to the north-east by the Parrearra Canal, to the south-east and south by the Wyuna Canal, making the suburb an island. The canals combined are unofficially known as Parrearra Lake. The primary purpose of the canals together with the associated locks and

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s is for flood mitigation in the Kawana Waters area, while recreational use of the waterways is a secondary purpose. Access to the island suburb is principally via Kawana Way which enters the suburb from the east (

Mountain Creek Mountain Creek is a ski resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey, Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on New Jersey Route 94 in the New York Metropolitan Area, from the George Wash ...

/ Sippy Downs) crossing the Mooloola River and exits the suburb to the south via a bridge over the Wyuna Canal ( Warana). Kawana Island Boulevard connects Kawana Way and exits the suburb to the east crossing a bridge over Wyuna Canal to Warana. Nicklin Way travels the northern boundary of Parrearra from Mooloolaba to Minyama but there is no access from the Nicklin Way into Parearra. The suburb is residential in character.

History

The name of the suburb was one of several proposed in 1967 by the Kawana Waters developer, Alfred Grant, drawing on an unattributed reference by Justine Kenyon in her book on Aboriginal words, denoting a ''length of river''. Parrearra was named as a town by the

Queensland Place Names Board Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

on 1 September 1967, but was redesignated and bounded as a suburb in 1989.

Demographics

In the , Parrearra had a population of 4,468 people. In the , Parrearra had a population of 4,661 people.

Education

There are no schools in Parrearra. The nearest primary schools are Brighwater State School in Mountain Creek and Buddina State School in Buddina. The nearest secondary school is Kawana Waters State College in Bokarina.

References

External links

* {{Sunshine Coast Region Suburbs of the Sunshine Coast Region Kawana Waters, Queensland