Omaha, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Omaha is a small beach town on Omaha Bay in the Rodney District
, in the north of New Zealand
. It is located 74.7 km north of Auckland
. It is on a sandspit that adjoins Tawharanui Peninsula
and separates Whangateau
Harbour from Omaha Bay. The nearest sizable town is Warkworth
which is situated 16.8 km south west of Omaha.
sand, which gifted Omaha the natural "white" appearance. There are 3 artificial groyne
s had been placed at northern part of the sandspit, to accumulate sediment from Longshore Drift
. Local council in last 2 decades had been placing various groups of plant to stabilize the dunes, including spinifex
, pingao
and marram grass
.
The Omaha Spit has also been identified by the Department of Conservation as a "significant breeding site for the endangered New Zealand dotterel. As a result The Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust was established in 2009 to monitor the dotterel population at Omaha.
has owned property in Omaha for over 20 years. New Zealand Fashion designer Trelise Cooper
also has a property at Omaha as does former television presenter Louise Wallace
.
Rodney District
The Rodney District of New Zealand was a local government area in the northernmost part in New Zealand's Auckland Region, created in 1989 from the amalgamation of Helensville Borough and Rodney County. The seat of the district council is at Orewa, and the district includes Kawau Island to the...
, in the north of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is located 74.7 km north of Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. It is on a sandspit that adjoins Tawharanui Peninsula
Tawharanui Peninsula
Tawharanui Peninsula is a finger of land projecting into the Hauraki Gulf from the east coast of the much larger North Auckland Peninsula of New Zealand. It separates Omaha Bay to the north from Kawau Bay and Kawau Island to the south...
and separates Whangateau
Whangateau
Whangateau is a small coastal settlement on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated in Rodney District, part of the Auckland Region, and is on a peninsula stretching out into the Hauraki Gulf, north of Auckland. Whangateau is on the northern shore of Whangateau Harbour...
Harbour from Omaha Bay. The nearest sizable town is Warkworth
Warkworth, New Zealand
Warkworth is a town in the upper North Island of New Zealand, within the Rodney District and lying at the far north of the Auckland Region but just south of the Northland Region...
which is situated 16.8 km south west of Omaha.
Geography
The sandspit of Omaha was formed during last glacial period, approximately 5000 to 6000 years BP. The Beach sediment composition is over 70% quartzQuartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
sand, which gifted Omaha the natural "white" appearance. There are 3 artificial groyne
Groyne
A groyne is a rigid hydraulic structure built from an ocean shore or from a bank that interrupts water flow and limits the movement of sediment. In the ocean, groynes create beaches, or avoid having them washed away by longshore drift. In a river, groynes prevent erosion and ice-jamming, which...
s had been placed at northern part of the sandspit, to accumulate sediment from Longshore Drift
Longshore drift
Longshore drift consists of the transportation of sediments along a coast at an angle to the shoreline, which is dependent on prevailing wind direction, swash and backwash. This process occurs in the littoral zone, and in or within close proximity to the surf zone...
. Local council in last 2 decades had been placing various groups of plant to stabilize the dunes, including spinifex
Spinifex
Spinifex may refer to:* Spinifex , a genus of grass which is indigenous to the coastal areas of Australasia and Indonesia* Triodia , a hummock grass of arid Australia, covering twenty percent of the Australian continent ** Spinifex resin* Spinifex people, or Pila Nguru, an Australian...
, pingao
Pingao
Pingao, Ficinia spiralis, also known as golden sand sedge is a coastal sedge endemic to New Zealand . Originally widespread, it has suffered severely from competition with introduced marram grass and animal grazing and now has only a patchy distribution.Leaves from this plant are used by Maori in...
and marram grass
Marram grass
Ammophila is a genus consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses; common names for these grasses include Marram Grass, Bent Grass, and Beachgrass...
.
The Omaha Spit has also been identified by the Department of Conservation as a "significant breeding site for the endangered New Zealand dotterel. As a result The Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust was established in 2009 to monitor the dotterel population at Omaha.
Fame
Prime Minister and National Party leader John KeyJohn Key
John Phillip Key is the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand, in office since 2008. He has led the New Zealand National Party since 2006....
has owned property in Omaha for over 20 years. New Zealand Fashion designer Trelise Cooper
Trelise Cooper
Trelise Cooper is one of New Zealand's successful and internationally accomplished fashion designers. Her designs have featured in magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire, Women's Wear Daily and InStyle and featured on the television series Sex and the City...
also has a property at Omaha as does former television presenter Louise Wallace
Louise Wallace
Louise Wallace is a TV presenter born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1959. However, she formerly lived in Australia, but moved back to Auckland in 1989 and throughout the 1990s was a presenter/reporter for a number of New Zealand shows such as "60 Minutes", New Zealand's TV3 News, 20/20 and...
.