New Zealand - Porirua - Aotea College - Room 6 - 1987 Click the link above to view all of this schools photos 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. Porirua - Porirua is located in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It officially became a city on 2 October 1965, when the population was estimated to have reached the necessary threshold of 20,000. Governor-General Sir Bernard Ferguson declared the new city status during a public function. Porirua became the twenty-first city of New Zealand, and adopted the motto ‘All that is done is for the benefit of all’. - The name Porirua is believed to be a variant of Pari-rua, meaning ‘the tide sweeping up both reaches’ – a reference to the two arms of Porirua Harbour. It is said that the Polynesian explorer Kupe was the first person to see the Porirua Harbour. Ngāi Tara was the first iwi in the area, followed by Ngāti Kahungunu, then Ngāti Ira, and in the 1820s, Ngāti Toa. Pākehā began to settle in Porirua in the late 1820s...