Parrearra is a suburb formerly in the Caloundra local government area, immediately south of Mooloolaba. Its western boundary touches Sippy Downs and its eastern boundary adjoins Warana, one of the Kawana Island coastal suburbs. Another neighbouring suburb is Minyama, a canal-estate suburb. Parrearra has some canal-estate housing, but the majority is situated in a more conventional layout dating from the 1990s.
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 is divided by a north-south waterway lying between the Mooloolah River and Nicklin Way. The waterway has been made into Parrearra and Wyura Canals, separated by a lock and weir. The space east of the canals, with more waterfront exposure, was developed in the 1980s. The western side's turn came in the 1990s. Both parts have apartment estates, and the western side has resurrected the long-discarded name "Kawana Island", with the river and the canals forming its perimeter. Kawana Island apartments (2001), at the southern tip, have a range of recreation facilities suited to retirement living.
Parrearra's census populations have been:
census date | population |
---|---|
2006 | 3279 |
2011 | 4357 |
Kawana Waters entry