A Load of Old Balls

Monday 10 February

We had been warned that the Moeraki Boulders were just rocks on a beach and a bit disappointing - but I really liked them and found them quite fascinating. They are the result of a geological anomaly which creates largely spherical rocks in this particular area of coastline - something to do with calcium carbonate deposited around an organic nuclei millions of years ago… of course!

The ball shape boulders are dotted along the shoreline and some have disintegrated, exposing cracks & fissures lined with crystals. The insides are quite astonishing - they look as if they are suffering from really bad dentistry and the texture in the centre is totally unexpected.

We joined the rest of the tourists taking silly interactive pics as it would have been rude not to!

As we walked back up the beach the tide had come in enough to lap around the lowest line of boulders which looked lovely but made me wonder how long these would last? I presume water erosion is a key destructive force for these spheres?

With the weather setting in after this beach visit we headed to Oamaru for lunch and to see “Conclave” at the Riviera. Amazing movie!

We whizzed over to Kātiki Point lighthouse to take a walk out to the Point and see if we could spot and sealions or penguins... but it turned out that they close the gates on the track at 5.30pm and we arrived at 5.29pm so we admired the view and headed home to Banjo.

Dinner at Banjo then I wandered down our end of the beach in the wind & rain - only to find a few of the round boulders here including several being “birthed” from the cliffs! Bizarre!