New Zealand - Thames - Thames South School - Junior 1 & 2 - 1977 Do you have more information about the school or the people in this photo? Please use the comment section below to share. To search for other photos from this school, please type the schools name in to our search engine. Notes on Thames - Thames is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula. - Thames at its peak, was the second-largest city in New Zealand. - Thames was formed from two historic towns, Grahamstown and Shortland, of which many original buildings still stand. - The town was initially built during a gold rush, with the first major discovery of gold being made on 10 August 1867 by William Hunt, in the Kuranui Stream at the north end of Thames. (Reference: Wikipedia)