Moeraki Marbles

Moeraki is a quiet fishing village on the east coast north of Dunedin, with not much more than a holiday park and a bar representing the town centre. Don't let yourself be fooled, though – it has much more to offer.

The real attraction is hidden behind the dunes: The Moeraki Boulders. Perfectly round rock marbles, ranging from a foot to 2 meters in diameter, partly broken into pieces or interveined by yellow crystal streaks. They are a fascinating sight, lying on the beach as if they just rolled down the cliffs. They are millions of years old, each having 'grown' around a core (shells, small stones, etc) buried at the bottom of the sea and packed tight into the huge boulders they now are, brought up above by the endless changing landscape.

They didn't let go of us for several days and we went to see them at day, dawn, night and dusk. Each time they were beautiful. A really magic place that fascinated us.