A map of the Kāpiti coast, highlighting 9 museums in the area.

Kāpiti Coast Heritage Weekend – 9-10 November 2024

Just north of Wellington, along the Kāpiti Coast, lies a heritage and cultural adventure. Eleven venues will open the doors to this for visitors of all ages.

Visit the museums and other associated locations along the Kāpiti Coast, and find out about the people, things, events and transport that have formed its past and shaped its present character. You can find details for each of the locations at – www.kapitiheritage.org.nz

Open at the same time is the Kāpiti Coast Art Trail which showcases the district’s artist studios, galleries and shared spaces. See https://www.kapiticoastarttrail.co.nz/ for more information.

Health & Safety

Please check each event below for the relevant information.

Location
Various locations along the Kāpiti Coast

Regions

Kāpiti Coast

Tags

Museum
Performance
Experience
Talk
Site Tour
Open Day
Walking Tour
Accessible
Self-Guided

The Discover Kāpiti Heritage Group

The Discover Kāpiti Heritage Group is formed by the Paekākāriki Station Museum, Steam Incorporated, Wellington Tramway Museum (at Queen Elizabeth Park), Kapiti US Marines Trust (at Queen Elizabeth Park), Museum of Aviation (Kāpiti Road, Paraparaumu), Southward Car Museum (in Otaihanga), the Kāpiti Coast Museum (in Waikanae), Mahara Gallery , The Kilns at Te Horo, Ōtaki Museum and Friends of Ōtaki Rotunda. Representatives of these organisations meet regularly and each year coordinate the Kāpiti Coast Heritage Clue Hunt and facilitate Kāpiti Coast Heritage participation in the Wellington Heritage Festival.

Website: http://www.kapitiheritage.org.nz/

Paekākāriki Station Precinct Trust

Email: davefromcotu@gmail.com

Website: https://www.stationmuseum.org.nz/

Steam Incorporated

Steam Incorporated, often abbreviated to Steam Inc., is a railway heritage and preservation society based at the Paekākāriki railway station. Since the 1970’s Steam Incorporated has saved a large collection of locomotives and passenger carriages. Included are seven steam engines and four main line diesel engines. Many are currently certified for main line running, some are being restored.

Email: enquiries@steaminc.org.nz

Phone: 0800 783264

Website: https://www.steaminc.org.nz/

Wellington Tramway Museum inc. Kapiti Coast Electric Tramway

The Wellington Tramway Museum, was incorporated in 1964 as a non-profit organisation to preserve tramcars and other items of tramway interest, to establish and operate a working tramcar museum and to foster an interest in the heritage of the Trams that used to rule the streets of Wellington City. They are now lovingly cared for and operated by volunteer members of the Wellington Tramway Museum.

Email: wellingtontramway@gmail.com

Kapiti US Marines Trust

The Kāpiti US Marines Trust (KUSMT) is a not-for-profit trust registered with the Charities Commission (CC46035). It was established in 2009 by the former Mayor of Kāpiti, Jenny Rowan. The Trust connects with a wide range of local, regional and national groups with an interest in the collection, conservation, exhibition, and promotion of Marines’ History – particularly in camps Paekākāriki, Mackay and Russell, in southern Kāpiti, New Zealand. Our goal is to keep this significant WWII story alive for future generations by creating engaging signage, relating to the 1942-44 encampment of the Marines in Paekākāriki.

Email: anthonydreavernz@gmail.com

Phone: 02102579171

Website: https://marinesnz.com/

Museum of Aviation (Kapiti) Inc.

Kāpiti Aviation Museum features displays of New Zealand and pioneer history, general aviation. Paraparaumu airport (now known as Kāpiti Coast Airport) was the busiest airport in New Zealand in the 1940s-1950s. The Museum was opened in January 1995 to preserve New Zealand general aviation history, and in particular the aviation history of the Kapiti district.

Website: http://www.kapitiaviationmuseum.nz/

Southward Car Museum

The Southward Car Museum is a renowned automobile museum and event centre. It was founded in the 1970s by Len Southward. The museum is now managed by a charitable trust incorporated in 1972, continuing to share Southward's love for automobiles with the public. It houses a collection of over 350 vehicles, as well as three aircraft and various other exhibits including motorcycles, bicycles, and a fire engine.

Email: craig@southwards.co.nz

Phone: 04 297 1221

Kāpiti Coast Museum

Kāpiti Coast Museum became an Incorporated Society in 1984. The purpose of the Kapiti Coast Museum is to collect, preserve, display and give public access to material and information relating to the natural, social and cultural heritage of the Kapiti Coast District.

Email: manager@kapiticoastmuseum.org.nz

Phone: 04 9056313

Website: https://www.kapiticoastmuseum.org.nz/

The Kilns at Te Horo

A group of local residents saw the opportunity to honour the life and art of Mirek Smíšek, an internationally celebrated ceramic artist who lived and worked at Te Horo from 1969 to 1997, by creating a multi-cultural arts centre when work began on the Ōtaki -Peka Peka section of the expressway (SH1). With community and other support, a charitable entity, The Mirek Smíšek Arts Trust, was formally established in 2019.

Ōtaki Museum Trust

Ōtaki Heritage is a charitable trust and is governed by a board of trustees, partly elected by local residents and partly appointed by mana whenua. It was formed in 2023 by the amalgamation of the Ōtaki Historical Society and the Ōtaki Heritage Bank Preservation Trust. The purpose of the Trust is to preserve Ōtaki’s rich heritage via exhibitions, journals, collections and more.

Email: admin@otakimuseum.co.nz

Friends of the Ōtaki Rotunda

Friends of the Ōtaki Rotunda is a non-profit, community organisation, with purpose of conserving for posterity the Rotunda building, at the site of the former Ōtaki Children’s Health Camp because of its heritage significance as both an architecturally distinctive building, and as the site of a socially significant institution.

Email: anthonydreavernz@gmail.com

Phone: 02102579171