All About Thames
Thames is a thriving, semi-rural town of about 7000 people. It is situated at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula and is just over one hour’s drive from Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, (with over one million citizens.)
The town, which has a rich history of gold mining and timber milling, is famous for its beautiful beaches and natural scenery. In summer, many New Zealanders come to the Coromandel for their holidays. Fishing, boating and sailing are enjoyable past-times.
The main industries in Thames are a large timber mill, a large engineering factory, and a large factory that upgrades imported second-hand cars. Thames is a service town for the Coromandel, and has a busy shopping centre, a large hospital, good public library, and numerous sporting and cultural facilities.
Besides the main sports such as rugby, soccer, tennis, squash, basketball and netball there are a number of niche sports such as sailing, kayaking, cycling, horse-riding, Karate, Taekwondo and shooting which welcome new members. The aero club operates from a relatively busy local airport which operates every day of the week. If the desire is there, students can start to learn to fly from the age of 15 and solo from 17 years old. Gliding and tandem parachuting is also an option.
Culturally there are a number of organizations that one can become involved in. There is a very active Musical Theatre Group which stage at least two major shows each year. The Thames Concert Band plays an active life in the community and also achieves well in the NZ Concert Band Festivals. Art groups are popular and there are numerous other clubs which cater for interests ranging from dancing to stamp collecting!
Thames is the gateway to the Coromandel Peninsula and all the main tourist beaches and destinations are easily accessible.
For further information of the town and the region click on these links.
