The Moeraki beach looked like an alien landscape, with huge round egg-like rocks in the surf. Just south of Oamaru on the southeast coast of New Zealand’s South Island, it was on the way to Christchurch, where flights awaited. It wasn’t our last stop, but, for those of you who have followed my New Zealand posts, I’d like to leave you with these images.
The first time I saw these boulders, while I was traveling the South Island alone, was during high tide. There was something spiritual about watching the waves caress the boulders they’ve smoothed and polished over eons of time. Cloudy and drizzly all that day, the sun came out briefly to light the rocks while I walked their beach.
Years later, when traveling with my son, the tide had gone out and the boulders look a bit more dramatic on dry beach. At one time, I learned, there were smaller rocks too, but visitors have carried them away. This natural haven will resonate with me for a long time.
New Zealand
North Island: Auckland, Rotorua, Hobbiton, Wellington
South Island: Abel Tasman National Park, Kaikoura, Christchurch, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dunedin, Otago, Oamaru, Moeraki
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Email me at: Ruth@RuthRosenfeld.com
Ruth Rosenfeld 
What interesting shapes the boulders have taken. When I saw the first picture I thought they were the stone spheres from Costa Rica. I can see why they captivated you. Maggie
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They do seem similar. Perhaps there were formed in the same. There’s some research to do!
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They have an alien look about them for sure. Thanks for sharing!
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And thanks to you for reading!
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I loved the Moeraki boulders. NZ has so many weird and wonderful land formations! Great photos Ruth.
Alison
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Thanks,, Alison! New Zealand was full of surprises.
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Other-worldly.
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I agree! Thanks for your comment, Neil.
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These are such cool concretions. We have them in Kettle Point in Ontario and you can find them in a few other places in the world. They look unreal!
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I didn’t know about Kettle Point, how interesting! Thanks for that! They are such an unusual landform and looked so dramatic along the beach.
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They are so cool! I just remembered that we also saw them in Alberta. Red Rock Coulee. Very cool too.
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Even more unusual to see them inland!
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What a very different place, quite haunting in a way. I don’t think I’ve heard of rocks being eroded in this way in any other place in the world.
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I’ve received a few comments about other places, although maybe not as dramatic – Ontario and smaller rocks in Oregon (a comment from Facebook). They are formed by compression underground and then the land is eroded around them. Certainly a unique place that stays with you.
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Those rocks certainly are mesmerizing!
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I found them so!
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These rocks are amazing and intriguing! You would think they had been shaped by man, not nature 😀 I’m glad you included the shot with Adam on one of them as I hadn’t quite appreciated the scale.
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Apparently the land is slowly eroded around them until they emerge like this. He is also standing on a far one in the opening photo.
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What a beautiful beach. The spherical rock formations are so neat. It’s too bad that some visitors have taken the smaller ones away.
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It is an amazing sight. I’m glad to have seen them at both high and low tides. Not surprising that tourists have taken souvenirs, but it’s a shame when they take them in natural places.
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Wow, that’s so bizarre! It almost doesn’t look real because they’re so perfectly smooth and rounded.
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It is a special place. A few people have commented about other places that are somewhat similar, but none are as spherical as these shapes.
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Very distinctive rocks! From the looks of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they held some sort of spiritual or magical element to them. Thanks for sharing your time in Moeraki with us, Ruth!
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It’s quite possible that the earlier Maori civilization ascribed some other meanings than geology to these boulders. My pleasure, Rebecca!
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