Bream Head

Bream Head is a promontory on the east coast of Northland in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the end of a 30 kilometre-long peninsula, the head juts into the Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Whangārei. The Te Whara Track in the Bream Head Scenic Reserve is at least 700 years old.[1] The Hen and Chicken Islands are located off the headland at a distance of 12 kilometres. It forms the northern extremity of Bream Bay, and guards the entrance to Whangārei Harbour, a natural inlet extending to the northwest. The Marsden Point Oil Refinery is located on the opposing shore of the harbour five kilometres to the west.

For the statistical area, see Whangārei Heads § Demographics.

Bream Head
Māori: Te Whara
Cape
Bream Head and surrounding islands viewed from neighbouring Mt Manaia
Bream Head
Coordinates: 35.85426°S 174.59132°E / -35.85426; 174.59132
LocationNorthland, New Zealand
Offshore water bodiesSouthern Pacific Ocean
Native nameMāori: Te Whara
Volcanic fieldTaurikura volcanic complex
Last eruption19.1 million years ago

To Bream Head's immediate north is a long sandy beach called Ocean Beach.

Biology

It contains a scenic reserve, the Bream Head Scenic Reserve, which unlike Bream Head is an official name.[2] This has a long history of Māori occupation, being now wāhi tapu, and is one of the most important coastal broadleaf forest reserves in Northland with its population of native flax snail – pūpūharakeke[1] and Whirinaki skinks.[3]

Geology

Bream Head features a prominent bluff usually known by the same name or Te Whara 476 metres (1,562 ft) in height,[4] and to its west Mount Lion at a height of 395 metres (1,296 ft), the remains of a Miocene andesitic volcano.

  • Ocean Beach, looking South
  • Ocean Beach, looking North
  • The eastern tip of Bream Head
  • Bream Head, viewed from the south

References
  1. "Bream Head Scenic Reserve". Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. NZ gazetteer Bream Head
  3. "New Zealand Herpetological Society:Kakerakau skink Oligosoma kakerakau (Barr et al. 2021)". Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  4. NZ TopoMap:Bream Head
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