Bream Head

---

title: "Bream Head" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["whangarei-district", "headlands-of-the-northland-region", "volcanic-plugs-of-new-zealand", "volcanoes-of-the-northland-region"] description: "Promontory in New Zealand" topic_path: "geography/new-zealand" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bream_Head" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Promontory in New Zealand ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox landform"]

Field	Value
name	Bream Head
native_name
type	Cape
photo	Mt Lion.JPG
photo_width	270px
photo_caption	Bream Head and surrounding islands viewed from neighbouring Mt Manaia
map	New Zealand
label	Bream Head
location	Northland, New Zealand
coordinates
water_bodies	Southern Pacific Ocean
elevation_ft
surface_elevation_ft
area
geology
volcanic_field	Taurikura volcanic complex
last_eruption	19.1 million years ago
website
::

| water = | name = Bream Head | other_name = | native_name = | type =Cape | photo = Mt Lion.JPG | photo_width = 270px | photo_alt = | photo_caption = Bream Head and surrounding islands viewed from neighbouring Mt Manaia | map = New Zealand | map_caption = | map_alt = | relief = | label = Bream Head | label_position = | mark = | marker_size = | location = Northland, New Zealand | grid_ref = | grid_ref_UK = | grid_ref_Ireland = | coordinates = | coordinates_footnotes = | range = | part_of = | water_bodies = Southern Pacific Ocean | elevation_ft = | elevation_ref = | surface_elevation_ft = | surface_elevation_ref = | highest_point = | highest_elevation = | length = | width = | area = | depth = | drop = | formed_by = | geology = | age = | orogeny = | volcanic_arc/belt = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = Taurikura volcanic complex | eruption = | last_eruption = 19.1 million years ago | topo = | operator = | designation = | free_label_1 = | free_data_1 = | free_label_2 = | free_data_2 = | free_label_3 = | free_data_3 = | website = | embedded = 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. 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.

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. 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 and Whirinaki skinks.

Geology

|frame-align=left |text=Bream Head and nearby volcanics map with andesite in red shading and dacite in purple shading. The approximate Taurikura volcanic complex is in white shading. Clicking on the map enlarges it, and enables panning and mouseover of volcanic feature name/wikilink and ages before present. The key to the other volcanics that are shown with panning is basalt - brown, monogenic basalts - dark brown, undifferentiated basalts of the Tangihua Complex in Northland Allochthon - light brown, arc basalts - deep orange brown, arc ring basalts -orange brown, rhyolite - violet, basaltic andesite`- light red) , ignimbrite (lighter shades of violet), and plutonic - gray. |raw= |frame-width=250 |frame-height=250 |frame-lat=-35.85 |frame-long=174.59 |icon=no |zoom=10

Bream Head features a prominent bluff usually known by the same name or Te Whara 476 m in height, and to its west Mount Lion at a height of 395 m, the remains of a Miocene andesitic volcano.

Gallery

Image:Ocean_Beach, Northland, New_Zealand.jpg|Ocean Beach, looking South Image:Ocean_Beach, Northland, New_Zealand2.jpg|Ocean Beach, looking North Image:Bream Head end.jpg|The eastern tip of Bream Head Image:Bream Head.jpg|Bream Head, viewed from the south

References

References

1. "Bream Head Scenic Reserve".
2. [https://gazetteer.linz.govt.nz/place/7704 NZ gazetteer Bream Head]
3. "New Zealand Herpetological Society:Kakerakau skink Oligosoma kakerakau (Barr et al. 2021)".
4. [https://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-35.854187,174.583011&z=15 NZ TopoMap:Bream Head]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::