Moeraki Boulders, South Island, New Zealand

This was a memorable stop along the South Pacific Ocean north of Dunedin.

We were excited to have lots of time to walk on the beach and part of the fun was to explore and admire the "boulders"!

We could see them in the distance!

I am on my way!

Jerry follows...

So very cool!

It must be amazing when the tide is in!

But, then we couldn't explore like this.

 The white building on the cliff is a restaurant and snack bar.

That's where our walk began.

AWESOME!

So AWESOME!

The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical rocks scattered across Koekohe beach. Most of the boulders are grey-coloured with cracks, splits, and wormed indentations. The largest are up to three metres in diameter, weighing several tonnes. Science classifies them as septarian concretions, and says they were formed in ancient sea floor sediments. The majority of these New Zealand boulders are almost perfectly spherical. There are two distinct sizes, with most (2/3) being larger and ranging from 1.5 to 2.2 meters, while the smaller third range in size from about 0.5 to 1.0 meters in diameter. Some are isolated, others in clusters.

www.squidoo.com/moeraki-boulders

There is much debate about how these boulders got here.
Maori legend has its theory while others believe they have an "alien" origin, possibly alien eggs.
Then even others believe they were shot out of an ancient vocano.

 Maori Legend

They attract curious locals and tourists alike.

This one reminds me of a giant tooth!

Jerry found one he likes.

I found this shell on one of the boulders.
The detail is incredibly interesting.

  We are back to the top of the bluff at the restaurant looking back where we walked.

This is a scanned image from a postcard we purchased.

WOW!

How we would love to be there during high tide and an incredible sunset!

www.sisson.co.nz

Moeraki Boulders @ Koekohe Beach

South Island,

New Zealand

November 27, 2012