Thames

What is worth your time in Thames.

• Gold Mine Tours — Visitors go underground in the 100-year-old Golden Crown Mine, see a working stamper battery, view a photo history room and try panning for gold.
• Thames School of Mines — Opened in 1886 to train goldminers on the quartz fields, it is now a museum run by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, with an old laboratory classroom left as it was.
• Thames Historical Museum — Its displays cover early European settlement, the 19th-century gold rush, 20th-century growth and the town's foundries, set in a garden.
• Shortland Wharf — A former port for small cargo ships and the kauri timber trade, it is a place to see mudflats and mangroves and remains a base for commercial fishing.
• War Memorial Monument and Lookout — At the top of Waiotahi Creek Road at the north end of town, it gives a wide view over the township.

• Walk, swim or camp in the Kauaeranga Valley, 13 km east of town, where campgrounds sit beside the Kauaeranga River and tracks pass relics of kauri logging.
• Ride the Hauraki Rail Trail, a 197 km cycle route from Kaiaua to Matamata that follows former railway lines.
• Play a round at Thames Golf Club, an 18-hole course 6 km south of town.
• Take a self-guided tour of historic sites using guide pamphlets from the Historic Places Trust, including routes for Grahamstown and for Shortland and Tararu.

Specialities of this place.

• Flounder — The Firth of Thames fishery lands flounder, valued for its flavour and delicate texture, from the shallow tidal waters around Thames.
• Snapper — Snapper is among the main species caught in the Firth of Thames and is one of the area's most popular food fishes, often smoked.
• Green-lipped mussels — Mussels from the Firth of Thames are farmed commercially and described as some of the best in New Zealand.
• Totara Vineyards wines — The vineyard 4 km south of Thames makes fortified wines and liqueurs plus table wines including Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.

• Grahamstown, the northern end of town, keeps a colonial character with cafés and boutique shops.
• The district was settled by the Ngāti Maru tribe.
• At its height Thames was credited with 112 hotels, one more than Auckland; by the 1970s seven remained, and goldfields hotels also hosted public meetings and treated accident victims.

• Thames Steampunk Festival — Held on Pollen Street with a parade and other events.November
• Thames Gold Rush Market Day — Takes place on Pollen Street.
• Thames Race Day — Held at Thames Racecourse on Parawai Road.