Moeraki Boulders

We stayed at a DOC site the night before and had the entire site to ourselves... or so we thought until we realized there was another campervan nearby when we awoke the next morning. It was NZ$6 for us to stay there and you pay by putting the money in a small envelope and sliding it into a slot. We didn't have exact change so we were trying to decide between paying nothing and hoping DOC people didn't check the next morning, or paying NZ$10. Luckily we did the latter because the next morning we were greeted by two smiley DOC officials who made sure we camped legitimately.


These deer are kept in a fenced-in area near the beach that the Moeraki Boulders are located. You can buy deer food in the shop nearby and feed the deer. I just put my hand out and one of them licked it to Andrea's disgust.


The Moeraki Boulders were formed 60 million years ago. During a time when the current beach was submerged by ocean, fragments of plants, shells, etc., settled as sediment on the ocean floor. The boulders formed as concretions via a chemical process involving mud clumping around nuclei in the mixed up sediment which was then hardened by calcite, silica, pyrite, and/or iron oxide. The waves then slowly uncover the boulders where they ended up sitting on the beach.
Believe it or not, this picture was taken at 10:45 am. The sun sure stays low in the sky now!


Unlike previous attempts, I was able to defy the dangers of standing on a large stone sphere and achieve perfectly vertical form.



This is my attempt at looking like a super hero– Wolverine, I think.

... I have to admit, I couldn't help myself. Gigantic balls laying on a beach had too much comedic potential for me to ignore. The following video is the result of some quick improvisations while Andrea videoed me.



If you enjoyed that video, here are some out-takes: