Panorama taken from the outskirts of Thames in New Zealand. This picture was taken on a summer morning by the small airfield and race track to the south of the town. It shows the flat lands west of Thames as well as the Coromandel's mountains in the distance.

Thames - Coromandel Peninsula visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Thames' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Waikato.

The town of Thames lies at the southwest base of the Coromandel Peninsula on the Firth of Thames in the Waikato region of New Zealand at the mouth of the Waihou River. This is a historic gold mining town and now promotes itself as the Gateway to the Cormoandel Peninsula. This is done with good reason, as there are numerous hotels and motels in the town and most of the major tourist attractions on the Coromandel Peninsula are with 1.5 to 2 hours drive of the city. It is also relatively close to Auckland.

Behind Thames is the Kauaeranga Valley which reaches up into the Coromadel ranges. Here there is plenty of walking, tramping, horse riding and other outdoor sports and fishing. At one point, during the gold rush, Thames became one of the largest towns in New Zealand. Today it has the largest range of shops, restaurants hotels and entertainment anywhere on Coromandel.

Thames is about 1.5 hours from central Auckland. Take SH1 south, then the SH2 east and finally the 25 north.