Visit one of the Coromandel Peninsula’s finest kauri stands on the Waiomu Kauri Grove Walk. It's an easy walk that follows the  Waiomu stream up the valley. The surrounding forest is lush and full of tree ferns and birdsong. Read More

The Thames War Memorial stands on the site of Ngāti Huarere's Tutuka pā and has amazing views over Thames. It commemorates both those who died during World War I and those who returned home after the war. In August 1921, Read More

John William Hall Arboretum is New Zealand’s oldest arboretum, established in 1872 by Thames chemist John William Hall. He began planting his three-acre property in 1872, initially to control erosion when he became alarmed at the effect of rainfall on Read More

The Pacific Coast Highway on the west side of the Coromandel Peninsula is one of the great coastal scenic highways in New Zealand. The 31km Thames section of the Pacific Coast Highway takes you from Kopu, up through Thames and Read More

The old Burke Street Wharf is a disused wharf built in the 1870s to service the Thames Gold Rush. It’s on the Thames Coastal Walkway and is a great spot to catch a sunset, and a popular spot for photographers. Read More

Te Kauaeranga (Pā) - This word means ‘The stacked bones of the whale jaw’. Waiwhakaurunga (Kauaeranga River) - means ‘the many bathing pools of the upper reaches’. Waiwhakaurunga is commonly called Kauaeranga River, after the early Te Kauaeranga pā formally Read More

Te Tokotoru Tapu - Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Pārāwai was designed and built entirely by Māori in 1886 and replaced the 1837 Mission Station on the hill above. Today the church is tapu. The church grounds are an urupā Read More

Grahamstown, at the northern end of Pollen St, is a quirky historic shopping precinct full of cafes, antiques, art galleries, museums and the Grahamstown Market. Grahamstown sprung up from the gold rush of 1868 when ex-provincial superintendent Robert Graham shrewdly Read More

The Tararu Historical Cemetery is located just north of Thames on a hill high above the Pacific Coast Highway which provides an idyllic resting place for the gold miners and early settlers of the Grahamstown area. The first burial was Read More

Shortland Cemetery is of great historic importance to Thames and the surrounding district. By 1870 already 117 people had been buried there, among them 41 children under the age of one. The cemetery is high on a hill overlooking Thames Read More