"Big, Round, stuck in the ground" Top 5 Page for this destination Moeraki by Duffelgirl

Moeraki Travel Guide: 22 reviews and 78 photos

Big, Round, stuck in the ground - Moeraki

These crazy looking rocks began forming 60 million years, only popping onto the beach when the sea eroded the cliff. Limestone crystals are thought to be at the centre of these mysteries, they possess magnetic properties, which have attracted and consolidated surrounding matter. The Maori legend believes otherwise. The boulders are said to be Kai-hinaki (food baskets) that were washed ashore when a canoe was shipwrecked whilst out searching for precious stones.

Birth of a boulder

Another boulder appearing from the cliff face

There were many more boulders littering the beach here, but all of the more portable boulders (i.e. ones that didn't need a forklift truck) were scooped away by the souvenir hungry tourists. People just can't leave things alone.

We were glad to stay for a couple of hours, this gave us an opportunity to stroll down the long beach away from the crowds. There were hundreds of empty snail shells littering the beach. The colours were so beautiful; I had never seen anything like it.

Last visit to Moeraki: Mar 2003
Intro Updated Jun 24, 2003
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Reviews (1)

Getting there Transportation (1)

You can find the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast going from Christchurch to Invercargil (40km south of Oamaru).... more travel advice

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Comments (2)

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wish-nu Mar 21, 2006 at 11:24 PM

me too, what an amazing diversity New Zealand can show off with. superb intro pic.
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seamandrew Apr 22, 2003 at 7:10 PM

Every picture I see of NZ seems to be amazing! Maybe it's just the country and not the photographers! ;-)