A-Z of NZ Locations

A-Z of NZ Locations – Moeraki

Suzanne

The cries of wheeling gulls float across Moeraki Harbour; ‘sleepy sky’ in Maori.

We gaze across the harbour. Acknowledging to ourselves that we’re parking our motorhome in some beautiful isolated places. And then there’s the weather. Never know what it’ll do down here. We stare up at a cloudless sky.

Moeraki jetty

The next morning, we rise in the weak dawn light to take advantage of the low tide. Seabirds cry unseen. Dropping to the rubble and sand, we amble along a flat beach. The ring of a bellbird greets the new day from somewhere onshore, as the first sun throws shimmers of light on rolling ripples that splash at our shoes.

Moeraki boulders

After a while, on the distant shoreline, specks emerge from the sea mist. Continuing, they gradually evolve into odd, but perfectly round boulders up to 2m in diameter; the gargantuan marbles of playful giants. They are impossibly rounded, cold and smooth to the touch; the surface is etched with hairline cracks in crazy patterns. Some boulders nestle like eggs against steep sandy cliffs that rise to rolling paddocks.

The sea is slowly eroding those and uncovering new boulders, once the ancient sea-floor sediments of the Palaeocene period. We’re talking 60 million years ago.

Moeraki Boulder

There’s a speck of rain, and, as if on demand, small rounded dorsal fins appear; the rarest cetaceans in the world: 1m long Hector’s dolphins, their short-snouted, milky-grey bodies splashed with distinctive black and white markings.

As the legend goes, they are the souls of doomed Maori sailors and the prophets of bad weather.

If you, like us, can chat with locals and listen to their many stories, which are told seamlessly, crossing the line from the Maori to the scientific versions. That is where the real gems lie.

Les – around about the time we had visited Moeraki.
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Published by Suzanne

I'm a lover of creativity and movement, expressed through photography, words, travel and sports. . . . . . .

27 thoughts on “A-Z of NZ Locations – Moeraki”

  11. What gorgeous scenes you paint with your words! The boulders are so unusual and fascinating. Another great memory for you and Les. How good that you can get the stories from the locals. Oh, and never heard of those tiny dolphins before.

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