Round boulders
Almost perfectly spherical.
Annette Teng — CC BY 3.0 · Annette Teng — CC BY 3.0 · Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia — Public domain · Szilas — Public domain · Szilas — Public domain
The Moeraki Boulders, officially Moeraki Boulders / Kaihinaki, are huge spherical boulders along Koekohe Beach on the Otago coast of the South Island, between Moeraki and Hampden. They lie about 64 km in a straight line from Dunedin Railway Station. The boulders are grey septarian concretions that coastal erosion has freed from the surrounding mudstone and gathered on the beach, now protected in a scientific reserve. About a third measure 0.5 to 1 metre across and the other two-thirds 1.5 to 2.2 metres. They lie singly or in clusters on the sand, almost perfectly round, some cracked in patterns like a tortoise shell and others broken open to show yellow cores. Waves wash over them at high tide, and at low tide they are mirrored in the wet sand. Visit at low tide, when all the boulders are exposed. Do not climb them or break off pieces, as the site is a scientific reserve.
Almost perfectly spherical.
Like a tortoise shell.
Reflections on wet sand.
Koekohe Beach, between Moeraki and Hampden, Otago, New Zealand
At low tide, when all are exposed.
Concretions freed from mudstone by erosion.