Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Behold! The Moeraki Boulders


As we left Dunedin, we decided to wrap up our trip and make our way back to Nelson. We just had one more item left on our must-see list: the boulders at Moeraki Beach. About an hour north of Dunedin, these giant spheres are really impressive. Geologists believe they were formed over millions of years. Maori tradition explains that these rocks are debris (eel baskets, gourds, and sweet potatoes) turned to stone from when the Āraiteuru, a mythical ship that brought the Maori's ancestors to the South Island, ran aground a few miles south. The Āraiteuru itself became a reef off the point of land in the background. Either way, they are really cool and a lot of fun to take pictures of!


It was a wet and windy day so trying to strike a pose on one particularly smooth rock proved to be quite a challenge:


In the effort, my shoes, already on their last legs, were sacrificed to the mud and stone. But in the end it was totally worth it:

Note: It is much easier when you have someone who can just lift you on to the rock.

We enjoyed the Moeraki Boulders so much we wanted to take one home with us...


...Needless to say we didn't make it very far and had to leave it behind.

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