The Tairua River is located on the Coromandel Peninsula

Coromandel Peninsula

The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...

 in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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It flows north and then northeast for a total of 35 kilometres from its source in the Coromandel Range

Coromandel Range

right|thumb|250px|A true-colour image showing Auckland city , the Hauraki Gulf and the Coromandel Peninsula . The scene was acquired by NASA's Terra satellite, on October 23, 2002.The Coromandel Range is a ridge of rugged hills running the length of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of...

 to the west of Whangamata

Whangamata

The town of Whangamata is sited on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres north of Waihi, to the north of the western extremity of the Bay of Plenty....

, passing through the town of Hikuai

Hikuai

Hikuai is a small community on the Tairua River towards the base of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies 40 kilometres north of Waihi and 10 kilometres southwest of Tairua, close to the junction of State Highways 25 and 25A, the latter of which is a winding road...

 before reaching the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 at Tairua

Tairua

The town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula. The population was 1,269 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 192 from 2001...

 on the peninsula's east coast.

The small Shoe Island

Shoe Island

Shoe Island is an uninhabited island within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut. It is located in Bathurst Inlet. Other islands in the vicinity include Algak Island, Kanuyak Island, Iglorua Island, Ekalulia Island, and Rideout Island....

lies directly opposite the river's mouth, two kilometres into the Pacific.