3 Best Sights in Thames, Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty

This tiny, volunteer-run museum contains photographic displays of the 1860s gold-rush and logging industries, re-creations of period rooms from the 1800s, and information on the area's first Māori inhabitants and early European settlers. A nice feature on the grounds is the memorial garden, with period roses and other flora that settlers commonly planted; it's a lovely place to rest and reflect.

From the mid-1800s, the School of Mines was an internationally recognized institution, teaching all aspects of mining. A diploma from here guaranteed a job anywhere in the world. The museum was established in 1900 to exhibit geological samples. The school closed decades ago, but the museum's still kicking, displaying those turn-of-the-20th-century rock specimens along with scales, models of stamper batteries, and other gold-mining paraphernalia.