From Lake Tekapo we headed east towards the town of Oamaru and then a little further south to the small village of Moeraki, home to the popular Moeraki boulders.

The boulders sit on a beach just off state highway 1 and are subsequently almost always crawling with tourists such as ourselves!

Moeraki Boulders
The Moeraki Boulders

They really are quite an unusual sight, with their perfectly rounded shapes appearing almost man-made. One in particular is pretty much a perfect sphere…

Me on Moeraki Boulder
So round!

Apparently they dissolve when subjected to vinegar, but we thought it wise not to test that theory! There are some which have been destroyed by the sea’s constant battering and another which has a rather large hole in the middle of it (making a rather convenient seat for Hannah!) – whether this hole was created through the use of vinegar I don’t know!

Broken Moeraki Boulder
A broken up boulder
Hannah in Moeraki Boulder
Hannah perching in the seat-like boulder!

At low-tide the beach continues around the large bay to the village of Moeraki, which is where we stayed at a nice, quiet holiday park. The village is tiny, but the coastline was really nice on the eye, especially where the road stopped and a footpath continued up and along the cliffs. We were even treated to many more wild seals scattered across the rocks – nothing like the scene we had in Kaikoura, but still a fair few!

Moeraki village coastline
Moeraki Village was nice on the eye
The view from the cliff in Moeraki
The view as the foot track extends along the cliffs
Moeraki seals
More seals too!

Unfortunately, despite the abundance of signs and promises throughout Oamaru and Moeraki, we didn’t see any penguins.

Penguins crossing sign in Oamaru
…not that we could see!

Moeraki is the first of a series of one night stops as we try to cram in the south east coast of New Zealand’s South Island! From here, it’s on to Dunedin, Invercargill, Te Anau and Milford Sound before our final destination, Queenstown. Getting towards the business end of this travelling malarkey now!

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