Cape Brett Peninsula () is a long

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

in the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

, in the

Northland Region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

of New Zealand.

Geography

The head of the peninsula is Cape Brett itself (also known by the Māori, ), a promontory which extends north into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

at the eastern end of the Bay of Islands. The Rakaumangamanga/Cape Brett Track begins in Rawhiti, at the Opourua Bay (Oke Bay) Scenic Reserve Entrance. There is a water taxi service from Hauai Bay (start of the track in Rawhiti) to Maunganui Bay (Deep Water Cove) for hikers to do the track one way. Cape Brett Lighthouse stands at the end of the peninsula, which rises to 360 metres at its northern end. A noted landmark, the natural arch "Hole in the Rock" of Piercy Island lies about 500 metres off the cape. A predator proof fence across the peninsula excludes the

brushtail possum The brushtail possums are the members of the genus ''Trichosurus'' in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are native to Australia (including Tasmania) and some small nearby islands. Unique among marsupials, they have shifted the hyp ...

, an introduced animal pest, which feeds on the

pōhutukawa Pōhutukawa (''Metrosideros excelsa''), also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, or iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red (or occasionally orange, yellow o ...

tree to such an extent that the tree can eventually die. The peninsula includes Opourua/Oke Bay, off Rawhiti Road, about 29 km from Russell.

Whangamumu

Whangamumu Harbour and Peninsula are near the south east end of the Cape Brett Peninsula. There are remnants of a

whaling station Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

, which was at Whangamumu from about 1844, until the sinking of '' Niagara'' in 1940 caused an oil slick, which moved whales away from the area. A walking track runs from the Tangatapu wetlands over a ridge with regenerating coastal forest to a sandy beach at the head of the harbour, near the whaling station. Te Toroa Track, which linked to the Cape Brett track, has been closed since 2021, due to concerns about

kauri dieback ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside ''Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

Demographics

Demographics for Cape Brett Peninsula are covered at Rawhiti#Demographics.

References

{{Coord, -35.1729, 174.3310, region:NZ-NTL_type:landmark, display=title

External links

Photos of Whangamumu Harbour
whaling station in 19271962 aerial view
Far North District Bay of Islands Peninsulas of the Northland Region