Town slogan: Corrugated Iron Capital of New Zealand or Take a break, take in Tirau. Both work well.
Town mascots: Corrugated iron, in particular the giant sheepdog and the enormous sheep. Most impressive.
Popular for: Tirau is famous for many things, namely its corrugated iron sculptures and the lovely shopping.
Famous local: Readers are welcome to make suggestions, I spoke to a number of locals and no one genuinely famous sprang to their minds.
Best website: tirauinfo.co.nz.
Most prominent industry: Farming is the backbone, but tourism is starting to give the land a run for its money.
Source of pride: Locals describe Tirau as a vibrant little town that transformed itself with artisan awesomeness.
Town wingdings: There are regular craft and market days.
Here for a short time? Because you probably will be. It's a hub for travellers from Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, Rotorua, Hamilton and Taupo all passing through.
Best reason to stop: The excellent eclectic shopping.
Best place to take the kids: The Castle Pamela - this toy and doll museum is quite something. Check if it's open though, as the hours can be sporadic.
Best park: Tirau Village Green has a little beauty of a playground and a barbecue area, too.
Best facilities: You have to cock your leg at the sparkling new public toilets inside the big corrugated iron dog, just to say you've peed inside a hound.
Best walk: For an urban stroll, meander from the bottom of town to the top because wherever you stop, you'll discover something lovely. Or 9km out of town you'll find Te Waihou, a 4.7km walkway through farmland, along crystal clear streams. It's the source of the famous Blue Spring and takes three hours return. It's accessible from Whites Rd (SH28)
Best swim: The hot pools at Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel. This is a super-charming "olde worlde" hotel built in the 1880s, 6.5km from Tirau. It also has a great restaurant, a nine-hole golf course and fishing nearby too. It's like taking a trip back in time.
More swimming: The public swimming pools are excellent for a dip, but they're outdoors so only in the summer.
Best museum: Tirau Early Museum and Honey Shop on State Highway 5 heading towards Rotorua, proudly home to more than one million items. Geoff, the curator, is a mine of information. Stay and chat a while.
Art gallery: Art on Main is technically a shop, but it's so beautiful it can pass as a gallery with its artworks, pottery and paintings.
Tops for coffee: There are so many coffee joints in this town, it's tricky to single out just one so we'll mention several. Beanz & Machines not only roasts the beans and sells the hardware, their coffee is top-notch. Cabbage Tree Cafe is also said to be super. Ditto Poppy's Cafe, The Loose Goose, The Honey Shop Cafe and The Enchanted Cafe.
Best food: The Loose Goose is a licensed restaurant and comes highly recommended; open for brunch, lunch and dinner.
Wet your whistle: Oxford Royal Hotel Steak House is the perfect place to rest your legs and watch the world go by.
Best mountain biking: The Waikato River Trails, 20 minutes from Tirau, consists of about 100km of picturesque paths through native bush, exotic forest, farmland and along water ways.
Best adventure: Lake District Adventures are your go-to company for all manner of excursions, from cycling to kayaking, even glow-worm trips.
Wildlife: Cows, sheep, birds and lots of rabbits.
Safety warnings: Do not run across State Highway 1 without looking both ways, several times. You have been warned.
Locals say: Take a break, take in Tirau.
Visitors say: How will we ever fit this life-size corrugated iron sculpture of a sheep into the back of the Mini?
Thank you to a bunch of locals, who all chose to remain anonymous. Tirau is a small town, which means you can't please all the people all the time and the last thing a local wants to do is put another local's nose out of joint.
