Hikuai is a small community on the

Tairua River The Tairua River is located on the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows north and then northeast for a total of from its source in the Coromandel Range to the west of Whangamatā, passing through the town of Hiku ...

near the base of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand. It lies north of

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

and southwest of

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. Tairua is a Māori name which translates literal ...

, close to the junction of State Highways 25 and 25A, the latter of which is a winding road cutting across the steep

Coromandel Range A true-colour image showing Auckland city (left), the Hauraki Gulf (centre) and the Coromandel Peninsula (right). The scene was acquired by NASA's Terra satellite, on October 23, 2002. The Coromandel Range is a mountain range running the length ...

of hills. It is a tourist hot spot at times such as New Zealand Labour Day weekend, the Christmas and New Year holiday, and especially when

and

Pauanui The town of Pauanui (a Māori language name meaning "big pāua (abalone)") 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 south bank, directly opposite the la ...

are busy. It is prone to heavy precipitation and floods (accelerated by the nearby Tairua River) which occasionally causes impassibility. The cellphone and electricity coverage is patchy but is intact. It has a large colonial and gold mining history making it a special place to explore. Various adventure operators exist and they provide an interesting glance at history and lifestyle.

Demographics

Hikuai statistical area covers an area of the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula which surrounds but does not include

and

. It has an area of and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Hikuai statistical area had a population of 237 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 18 people (8.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 6 people (2.6%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 84 households, comprising 117 males and 120 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 47.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 42 people (17.7%) aged under 15 years, 33 (13.9%) aged 15 to 29, 114 (48.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 42 (17.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 94.9% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 19.0%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 3.8% Pacific peoples, and 2.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 11.4, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 60.8% had no religion, 25.3% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and 2.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 30 (15.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 45 (23.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 21 people (10.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 102 (52.3%) people were employed full-time, 27 (13.8%) were part-time, and 3 (1.5%) were unemployed.

Education

Hikuai School is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a roll of students as of . The school was built on the present site in 1897.

Notes

External links

Hikuai School
{{Thames-Coromandel District Thames-Coromandel District Populated places in Waikato