Omaha is a small beach town on Omaha Bay in the Rodney District, in the north of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. It is located 74.7 km north of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. It is on a sandspit that adjoins Tawharanui Peninsula and separates

Whangateau Whangateau is a small town 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 ...

Harbour from Omaha Bay. The nearest sizable town is Warkworth which is situated 16.8 km south west of Omaha.

History

Omaha was a Marutūāhu settlement until 1841, when it was bought by the Crown. Early European settlement took place at Sandspit. Omaha means 'bountiful food' or 'great resources' in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. Nearby

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staff ...

was historically named Omaha by

, and Omaha Beach was called Mangatawhiri by

Ngāti Manuhiri Ngāti Manuhiri is a Māori iwi of the Mahurangi Peninsula area of New Zealand. They have an interest in the region from the Okura River in the south to Mangawhai in the north, and extending out to Great Barrier Island. They are descended from ...

Geography

The sandspit of Omaha was formed during the last glacial period, approximately 5000 to 6000 years BP. The beach sediment composition is over 70%

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...

sand, which gifted Omaha the natural "white" appearance. There are three artificial

groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concr ...

s had been placed at northern part of the sandspit, to accumulate sediment from

longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction ...

. Local council in last two decades had been placing various groups of plant to stabilize the dunes, including '' Spinifex'',

pingao ''Ficinia spiralis'' (pīngao, pīkao, or golden sand sedge) is a coastal sedge endemic to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands). Originally widespread, it has suffered severely from competition with introduced marram grass and animal gra ...

, iceplant and

marram grass ''Ammophila'' (synonymous with ''Psamma'' P. Beauv.) is a genus of flowering plants consisting of two or three very similar species of grasses. The common names for these grasses include marram grass, bent grass, and beachgrass. These grasses ar ...

. 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. Fundraising of $162,000 by the Trust saw construction of a predator-proof fence completed in August 2012 helping to protect the birds, their chicks and eggs from predation by cats, rats, stoats, wessels and hedgehogs.

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand describes Omaha as a rural settlement, which covers . Omaha is part of the larger Tawharanui Peninsula statistical area. Windswept_Omaha_Beach

Omaha had a population of 756 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

, an increase of 135 people (21.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 336 people (80.0%) since the 2006 census. There were 321 households, comprising 372 males and 384 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female, with 111 people (14.7%) aged under 15 years, 57 (7.5%) aged 15 to 29, 345 (45.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 243 (32.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.0% European/Pākehā, 6.7% Māori, 2.4% Pacific peoples, 1.2% Asian, and 0.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.6% had no religion, 39.3% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu and 0.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 144 (22.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 69 (10.7%) people had no formal qualifications. 162 people (25.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 234 (36.3%) people were employed full-time, 108 (16.7%) were part-time, and 6 (0.9%) were unemployed.

Community

Former Prime Minister and National Party leader

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

has owned property in Omaha for over 20 years. New Zealand fashion designer

Trelise Cooper Dame Trelise Pamela Cooper (née Neill; born ) is a fashion designer from New Zealand. Her designs have featured in magazines such as ''Vogue'', ''Marie Claire'', ''Women's Wear Daily'', ''InStyle'' and the television series ''Sex and the Ci ...

also has a property at Omaha as does former television presenter

Louise Wallace Louise Annette Wallace (née Hooper, born 21 November 1959) is a New Zealand television presenter, actress, and director. Early life Born Louise Annette Hooper in Auckland on 21 November 1959, Wallace was educated at St Cuthbert's College. S ...

. Omaha has a boat ramp, surf club, an 18 hole golf course, tennis courts, bowling club and children's playgrounds. From 2018 it has been served by 7 buses a day to Warkworth.

References

External links