4 Best Sights in Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

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.

The two buildings that host this historical collection could not be more contrasting, with The Treasury housed in the historic Carnegie Library and the adjacent Archives in an industrial-style complex constructed in 2014. Operated by the Coromandel Heritage Trust, this is the place to go if you want to conduct serious research into the history of the region. Among the resources here are old newspapers and photographic collections, cemetery records, and maps. However, it's only open from 11 am to 3 pm.