Thames Restaurants, Cafés & Galleries

Thames Dining at it’s Best

The metropolis of Thames township is a dotted with all sorts of wonderful cafes and galleries. The growing Café Culture has seen most of the quaint old tearooms replaced by trendy little hotspots where you can to enjoy a aromatic, freshly brewed coffee and sumptuous handmade bite. The chefs know how to cater for all your culinary desires - including a huge range of paninis, focacia breads, quiche, lasagnes, salads, gourmet pies and pastries, and mouth watering desserts and slices. Don't miss the opportunity to sample some of the local specialty fare such as Matatoki cheeses, Piako ostrich meat salami and pates, organic spreads and chutneys, and of course Coromandel mussels and seafood delights.

Koru at Rapaura Rapaura is a 64 acre private estate with native trees, ferns, lily ponds and a bushwalk to a cascading waterfall. Self catering boutique accommodation. ‘KORU at rapaura’ serves home-cooked specialties and ‘dam’ good coffee! Open 7 days, 9am 'til 5pm; winter hours may vary. 6.5km from Tapu on the Tapu-Coroglen Rd. Contact: Sally & Sacha Sank Address: 586 Tapu-Coroglen Road, RD5 Thames Ph: 07 868 4821 Fax: 07 868 4821 Email: info@rapaura.com

Thames Galleries & Studios

Thames has a wealth of arts and crafts available for inspection and purchase from various artist studios, the Thames Society of Arts Gallery, and the wonderful Thames Market held in Grahamstown every Saturday morning. Based in the historic Old North School building in Tararu, the Thames Society of Arts display an array of contemporary art work. The society also runs regular pottery and painting workshops, a national summer exhibition as well as monthly members exhibitions.

Thames Artist work in a variety of mediums so checkout the photography, weaving, woodwork, ponga & stone sculpture, clay work, watercolours, charcoal, oil painting, fibre art, glass work, wire sculpture, bone carvings and gift cards.

Thames Society of Arts Gallery Housed in the historic building that once was the North School, the Thames Society of Arts Gallery is definitely worth a visit. Just three minutes from town along the Thames Coast Road, the gallery displays a unique selection of high quality original works by local artists Contact: Sarah Peck Address: Thames Cultural Centre, Old North School, Tararu Road, Thames Phone: 07 868 9192 Email: sarahpeck@xtra.co.nz

THE COPPER FISH STUDIO – 07 868 2623
Life size wall hanging hand crafted from copper.

THAMES ART SOCIETY – 07 868 9192
A large range of mediums by local artist.

THAMES SATURDAY MARKET
A wonderful selection of arts, crafts, produce and bric-a-brac.

MAHARA POTTERY
A pottery workshop and unique five acre sculpture park.

THE THAMES GALLERY Thames Gallery – 07 868 8616
Fine Art in Thames – a directed gallery space where artists can exhibit their work.

PEARL FISHERIES GALLERY – 027 2854461
A mixed media artist.

SANSIMAGES GALLERY – 07 868 7020
Specialised professional photographer and art gallery.

ORGANIC STUDIOS – 07 868 3377
Personalized paintings and prints amongst a beautiful environment.