New Zealand - Paeroa - Paeroa College - Form 5J - 1979 Do you have more information about the school or the people in this photo? Please use the comment section below to share. To search for other photos from this school, please type the schools name in to our search engine. Paeroa College - Opened in 1911 - School Motto: Mahi Tahi Kia Kaha Paeroa - A small town in the northern Waikato region of the Thames Valley - Captain James Cook explored the Waihou River in 1779, taking a long-boat up as far as Netherton, just a couple of miles from where the town of Paeroa was built 100 years on. - The area was briefly explored in October 1826 by Captain James Herd, in command of the Lambton and the Isabella (or Rosanna). - Herd was sent on an exploratory mission by the first organisation to be known as the New Zealand Company and claimed to have bought one million acres (400,000 ha) of land from local Māori in Hokianga and Manukau. - By 1869, anticipating the rush to the Ohinemuri Goldfields, considerable numbers of miners camped at Cashell’s Landing "Puke". - Paeroa is best known for the soft drink Lemon & Paeroa (L&P) originally produced from the town. - The soft drink was originally produced using lemon and carbonated mineral water from Paeroa. - Today L&P is owned by Coca-Cola and produced on the same production line as other Coca-Cola products sold in New Zealand. Reference: Wikipedia