Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thames
POP 6800
Dinky wooden buildings from the 19th-century gold rush still dominate Thames, but
grizzly prospectors have long been replaced by alternative lifestylers. It's a good base for
tramping or canyoning in the nearby Kauaeranga Valley.
Captain Cook arrived here in 1769, naming the Waihou River the 'Thames' 'on ac-
count of its bearing some resemblance to that river in England'; you may well think oth-
erwise. This area belonged to Ngati Maru, a tribe of Tainui descent. Their spectacular
meeting house, Hotunui (1878), holds pride of place in the Auckland Museum.
After opening Thames to gold-miners in 1867, Ngati Maru were swamped by 10,000
European settlers within a year. When the initial boom turned to bust, a dubious system
of government advances resulted in Maori debt and forced land sales.
