It is a pleasant one and a half hour drive across country to Thames, the interesting heritage town nestled at the start of the Coramandel Penisular and steeped in history from 1868 when gold was discovered and the town sprang up with thousands arriving to try and make their fortune.
Thames has retained a wealth of historical buildings from the gold-mining days. I can visualise this tiny, weatherboard cottage being here and maybe a miner and his family living in it and hoping to make his fortune on the gold mining fields.
“Twentymans, (the house in the photo below) is the oldest surviving
funeral home in New Zealand, of
which owner and Managing Director
Adrian Catran is extremely proud.
A descendant of tin miners from Cornwall,The tastefully decorated historic Thames
house is the shopfront of the business, while
the rear of the building houses a mortuary
where the dead are cared for; housed,
embalmed, dressed and made up prior to their
funeral and burial or cremation. (this link will take you to more information about the funeral home)
What an interesting street to wander around, visualising the people and activities. Here are just 2 of the many beautiful churches. 
Murals were everywhere around town. Here are just a few I found… 
This one I had to look closer to see if that climbing plant was real, then I noticed the car in the garage…
Back in gold mining days the town would be heaving with activity and back then their would be a pub on every corner. Nowadays these historic buildings still retain their glory, but now more likely to be a resaurant or shops. 
Then I spotted this group. Now who is real? Jack also had to take a photo… 
They were outside an amazing junk shop. 
If you fossicked around long enough, maybe you could find “treasures/junk” to create your own war lord!!! As we left, dragged ourselves away, from that fascinating conglomeration of artifacts we were given one more warning. 
At the end of the street we came across the museum set in beautifully maintained gardens. But as it was Sunday, sadly, it was closed. What a treasure trove of stories, memories and history of days gone by it would hold. 
Do you remember these old pillar boxes? There used to be one on almost every corner, but in this digital age they have become redundant
So ends our delightful day exploring Thames. Time to head back to home on the farm.
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G’day Jo, today I would like to come “Monday walking” with you. Every week Jo takes us on impressive walks around the Algarve. Many other bloggers from around the world join her. So pop over for a look at where they all can take you.
Living in Paradise... 
Oh, mailboxes! A few are still around, but of course, they are not quite as old. You know, at work, there was an old telephone booth that guests liked to take selfies in. Then, someone who works in an office nearby noticed it and had it removed without telling anyone else. I did not know until it was gone! It should have been retained just because so many of us like it. The Gold Rush was only twenty years after the Gold Rush here, which actually began in 1948. (The 49ers were actually a bit late.)
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Sad to hear about the removal of the old telephone booth. We actually saw one in Thames and took photos of each other in it. I think you made an error in your gold rush date. I think you mean 1848 🤭 it was a very interesting time in history.
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Oh my, a century late!
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🫢
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How quickly time passes and memories fade thank you for reminding me to watch out for those surveillance birds.😎
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It was a great day with so much to look at
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I can’t believe you find all this stuff! The funeral home is just wonderful, and your description even better. I most like the kid eating ice cream looking at everything. I wonder what his actual thoughts are. Love to you and Jack.
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Lots to find in this small town Cindy. Yes I couldn’t resist snapping that boy, maybe he was admiring the junk warlord character. Love hearing from you.
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A town with a sense of humour! I love it, Pauline! They would have been hard drinking days back then to wash down the gold dust. Good that they’ve preserved the place, and those murals are fantastic. Thanks so much for walking with me, hon. Have a great week!
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It was a Sunday when we visited Jo and many shops shut, just cafés and touristy type places open. Unusual in this day and age. We enjoyed the quiet ambience of the place.
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You find some interesting places. This is a living museum, but I wonder what it’s like for the people who do live there. And you found an original post box! I wonder where it was cast. Can’t read the wording on the base.
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I should’ve mentioned that you couldn’t use it for mail as the slot was sealed, the caption thinks it may have been cast locally. Actually Thames and surrounding area is a popular place to live. At least it was, not sure about now. I had friends living there in the 1980’s they owned a fruit shop (I noticed it’s not there now, but is a small cafe!) I worked on a farm not far away back in the day….
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Just popped over from Jo’s Monday Walk. I absolutely love this post, there’s so much of interest here. I love the pretty churches and the murals, especially the birds, and the post box is interesting as I wrote a post in December on my own blog about the history of post boxes. The steam punk warlord is brilliant and I love all the cute dogs but I have to ask – what is the significance of them being in wheelchairs?
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Not sure why the dogs are in wheelchairs. Maybe he had a surplus for sale and it was somewhere to put them 🤔
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What a busy and fascinating holiday you’ve had. Have to say, I’ve enjoyed it too!
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Pleased you came along May. Have you been to NZ?
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Not since 1981. About time I made the effort again:)
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It’s certainly changed since then
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Fascinating town! So much of interest. I like the murals and, although it might not be the most spectacular, my favourite is the almost-real plant and the old car. So clever!
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Yes I dis a double take when I saw it. At first glance I thought the car was real 🤭
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What a cool town! The pillar mailbox is neat and the buildings look to be in good shape for their age. The murals were pretty neat. I loved the whale one and the Ford in the garage. The vine did look really good and worth a second look to see if it was real or not.
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I’ve always loved Thames, so I was pleased we had the opportunity to visit it again
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