Thames

31 Jan

We rode south to Thames along the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula following a beautiful coastal road except for 2 big mountains that got in the way. We were thankful that the climbs were at the start of the day rather than the end and we got an earlier start to beat some of the tourist traffic. It took almost 2 hours to get over these bumps after which it was pretty easy the rest of the ride, just rolling hills. We saw many beautiful bays, birds, and the various native trees that we can now identify. Unlike in Europe there were not many cafes along the way so when we finally came upon one we definitely stopped to enjoy a nice coffee. Another feature unlike Europe, there are many public toilets which is a very handy thing when cycling. New Zealand is known for having plenty of public facilities and we have noticed and utilized them. We aren’t having much trouble riding on the left and even amongst a decent amount of traffic on major roads. There is never enough shoulder but the drivers are overall quite well behaved and patient about passing us.

Thames is at the base of the peninsula and is famous for the gold rush which happened here starting in 1867. At this time Thames was booming and bigger than Auckland. There are still many historic hotels and other buildings dating from that time and we are staying in one of them. It is currently a Bed and Breakfast but was once a hotel as well as a brothel and other businesses. Thames is no longer booming but it does attract tourists interested in nature, hiking, fishing, cycling (it’s the start of the Hauraki Rail Trail which we will be riding on) and gold mining history.

We just had the one day to look around and visited the Gold Mine Experience museum which was an excellent way to learn about the history of the area, see how the gold was mined and go into an old shaft. This was very difficult mining starting with that it was underground, not alluvial, where the gold and silver was embedded in streaks of quartz. It was a complex and toxic process to extract the bullion but the haul was truly massive before it ran out. We also took a walk along the shore which is a tidal flat and home to many sea birds such as herons, cormorants, stilts, ducks, etc which we were able to view from a bird watch ‘hide’. The weather has really turned into a lovely summer which we greatly appreciate.

Fun with a couple of hills
Hard work for old folks
But NZ has some great cafés, sometimes just when you need one
’nuff said, keep climbing…
Had to stop for this one
Toilets got art!
Beachy lunch stop on the way south
The Lady Bowen brothel hotel B&B
View off the top terrace
This is one of the buidings for processing raw ore, and the start of the mine shafts
Underground we go
One step of separating sand and rock from gold and silver
A rebuilt steam engine which will shortly be put to actual use in the museum
Tara is the ‘stoker’ on the tandem, but this fellow is the real deal, to create steam for the engines

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2 Responses to “Thames”

  1. deanfialacomcastnet's avatar
    deanfialacomcastnet February 2, 2026 at 12:43 pm #

    Good work team! Sorry you’re missing out on the cafes. Because of that, there is probably not a need to use as many washrooms…..even though there are plenty.

    Reply
  2. margofiala's avatar
    margofiala February 3, 2026 at 1:49 pm #

    And all my life I thought Tara was named after the plantation in Gone with the Wind! How wrong I was, mom must have foreseen the demise of the US…🙊

    Margo

    Reply

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