What is "tirau"

Tirau is a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamilton. The town has a population of 690 (2013 census). Tirau is Maori for "place of many cabbage trees."

Tirau is a major junction in the New Zealand State Highway network. Just south of the township is the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 5, where traffic from Auckland and Hamilton on State Highway 1 split to go either to Rotorua (SH 5) or Taupo (SH 1). State Highway 27 splits off State Highway 1 in the north of the town, providing a route north to the Coromandel Peninsula and an alternative route to Auckland, bypassing Hamilton.

Tirau is primarily a farming town but in recent years has begun to exploit the income that comes from being at a major road junction.