For the population of around 5500 residents that call Kawana Island home, it may be of interest to the origins of how ‘Kawana Island’ came about.
There is often also a lot of confusion in regards to whether Kawana Island is actually a suburb or not, and the best way to explain this is to understand how the location came about, as well as the surrounding region.
In 1967 the name of ‘Parrearra’ was one of several options for a new suburb to be created by Kawana Waters estate developer Alfred Grant.
Prior to the development, the area was mainly undeveloped country consisting of banksia, ti-tree, swamp grasses and mangroves, and the only access to the area of land was via boat along the Mooloolah River.
Kawana Waters is not officially a suburb, and actually an estate which encompasses a number of suburbs, and over time some businesses have continued to use the ‘Kawana’ name or location, although the suburb of ‘Kawana’ does not officially exist on the Sunshine Coast.
‘Kawana’ is an aboriginal word for ‘wildflowers’.
The word Parrearra comes from an Aboriginal word referring to the length of the river, which has since been developed into the Parrearra and Wyura Canals, which are separated by the lock and weir. The canals were originally developed in the mid 1980’s, while the western side was developed in the early 1990’s, forming Kawana Island.
Where Kawana Island is located was once home to local indigenous tribes, and it is not uncommon to still find tools and markings from when they lived along the river areas before the regions early settlers forced them south.
Originally just 41 residents resided in the entire Kawana Estates region, and today the population has grown to over 24,000, which reside in the suburbs of Minyama, Buddina, Parrearra, Bokarina, Birtinya and Wurtulla.
To settle an ongoing debate regarding if ‘Kawana Island’ is a suburb or not, it is actually a precinct which is part of Parrearra, as Parrearra existed as a suburb before the canal was developed and Kawana Island was formed.
Image courtesy https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au
