Boulders and Beaks

Boulders and Beaks
Moeraki, New Zealand

Moeraki, New Zealand

We didn’t have particularly high expectations of Moeraki and stopped here more because it was a good halfway point on our route to Dunedin. Little did we know what a treat we were in for. Our campsite was the first surprise, it was small friendly, with sea views and the sound of ocean waves and had the coolest kitchen in NZ, totally covered in graffiti from all the previous visitors, we obviously had to leave our mark and even added a Jersey sticker to the collection of names and dates for good measure. When I read the reviews for the campsite it was highly recommended for several things, obviously its location near the moeraki boulders being a main positive, it was also close to a headland where Yellow Eyed penguins nest, had a fish a chip that was highly recommended and also we were told not to miss the giant ice creams served in the local supermarket. With just one night to spare we had a lot to see and eat as we figured we really had to test everything this town had to offer. We started with the fish and chip shop and too true this was one of the best Blue cod and chip lunches we had. We had to wait for the tide to go out to see the boulders so we had a lie down at let our fish and chip lunch settle. Around 6 the tide was right so we set off, avoided the tourist trap café that charges you to walk through onto the beach and found the DOC carpark where we had just a few minutes walk along the beach to the boulders. Much to our surprise the boulders were amazing. Pretty much perfect spheres just dotted along the beach, some cracked open, some completely demolished but the vast majority were perfect. It is estimated that the largest of these boulders which were some 2 meters in diameter would have taken nearly 5 million years to grow. I found it hard to believe that mother nature created this boulders as they just looked too perfect, but what do I know. I am just so glad that we got to see them in all their glory. Next our evening was to be spent out Penguin hunting. I had yet to see a Yellow Eyed Penguin so was beyond excited when we saw our first. These guys are massive!! They are between 60 and 75cm tall and they are just gorgeous. We saw mainly young fledglings who have lost most of their furry feathers, but were not ready to fish for themselves yet so were just hanging around waiting for their parents to come home with dinner. Sadly the reserve shuts before sun down so we didn’t get to see any parents but the babies put on a wonderful show for us. Still full from our fish and chip lunch we felt obliged to check out the local ice cream and there was no word of a lie by the reviewers here. Seriously a single scoop icecream that cost $3 was the size of our heads. They were so big that we couldn’t even free our hands to take a selfie and after battling through the cone in the car park for 20 minutes we admitted defeat put our cones in bowls and drove home to save them for later. What a wonderful little haven Moeraki was for us. We can’t stay here any longer or we are sure to get fat. Next stop, Dunedin.