Features
Bream Head Scenic Reserve is nationally important for its ecological, cultural and historic significance. The Department of Conservation, local iwi, the Bream Head Conservation Trust and the community are committed to restoring Bream Head to the way it probably was before the arrival of predators when all species were able to flourish.
This work includes a re-vegetation programme, weed and pest control. You may see predator traps beside the track. We ask for your safety that you please do not interfere with them.
As predator numbers have dropped, North Island brown kiwi have been released into the area which is now designated as one of the country's kiwi sanctuaries. It is also a site for the Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Operation Nest Egg program. The vision is for the restoration work to continue, resulting in an increase in the numbers and variety of native flora and fauna.
On the loop track, you will walk past the gun emplacement at Home Point. This was built during World War II as a defence against possible invasion. The six-inch naval gun was aimed with the help of a camouflaged radar station on the ridge above Ocean Beach.
Inside the remote control room is a landscape painting of the Bream Bay area. It offers a unique interpretation of what the area look like before the construction of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery.
Red crowned parakeet
The area from Home Point - Smugglers Bay contains dense evidence of Maori occupation, including a defensive pa on Busby Head, many house terraces, food storage pits and an almost continuous midden reflecting the wealth of sea food / kai moana resources in the harbour. There are a number of these sites along the ridge to Bream Head. An archaic midden at Smugglers gives in indication of the length of time Maori have occupied this area.
The Bream Head Scenic Reserve is of special significance to iwi. They regard the mountain (Te Whara) as an ancestor and consider the whole area, including the tracks passing through as wahi tapu (sacred places). These mountains were once used as urupa or burial grounds.
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