New Zealand: Moeraki Boulders
I was sorry not to get to see the Moeraki Boulders during our first New Zealand trip, so I made sure to go there on the second trip. Once I finally arrived on February 27th, I didn’t find the boulders as impressive as they were cracked up to be, but cracked most of them certainly were.
Downright dilapidated, in some cases:
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I’d say 56 million years old is pretty impressive. I wonder how much erosion has gone on. Glad you got to see them! I like geological wonders when I wander.
Also, I loved the delicate flowers you posted yesterday. I’ve seen lots of common nightshade but never wild garlic.
Dianne
April 11, 2017 at 6:50 AM
As I understand it, erosion of the surrounding earth near the shoreline uncovered the boulders. Given your love for geological wonders, New Zealand is a place you must visit (or visit again, if you’ve already made it there). Even in a whole month we managed to see only a small portion of what’s available in that scenic country.
Wild garlic is common here in the spring. Most of it has faded by now, but I look forward to its return each February and March.
Steve Schwartzman
April 11, 2017 at 7:07 AM
Nature’s sculptures and absolutely worth the visit.
lensandpensbysally
April 11, 2017 at 9:04 AM
I’m glad we went there, especially for some of the other things along the beach (which will appear in the next two posts).
Steve Schwartzman
April 11, 2017 at 9:21 AM
There’s something so appealing about rounded forms, and when they’re made of rock, they’re even more interesting. Each of these strikes me differently. I’d title the first one “Loaves and Fishes.” The second looks like the old geodesic domes that still are used for housing on Galveston Island. And the third? I see two very contented sea lions, curled up head-to-head.
shoreacres
April 11, 2017 at 3:09 PM
Your vision of curled-up sea lions makes me think a modern sculptor could get inspired to create something similar. Coincidentally, about an hour earlier I photographed some real seals lounging on rocks along the coast.
Steve Schwartzman
April 11, 2017 at 3:19 PM
Cracking good photos.
Gallivanta
April 12, 2017 at 7:00 AM
I hope you cracked a smile when you wrote that.
Steve Schwartzman
April 12, 2017 at 7:29 AM
I did. I thought it was a cracker of a comment. It cracked me up, or as some of our local comedians like to put it “cracked me off” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD9gOD4UrEE The link is from the show Crack Me Off but I don’t think the expression is used in this segment.
Gallivanta
April 12, 2017 at 9:05 PM
“Crack me off” is a new expression for me, as I think it would be for most Americans.
Steve Schwartzman
April 12, 2017 at 11:03 PM
English gets a Pacific twist in crack me off.
Gallivanta
April 12, 2017 at 11:58 PM
Well, well. The article you linked says, “The Moeraki Boulders are a group of very large spherical ‘stones’ on Koekohe Beach near Moeraki on New Zealand’s Otago coast. These boulders are actually concretions that have been exposed through shoreline erosion from coastal cliffs that back the beach.”
Now, look at this article about the same sort of formation in Kansas. It even mentions the boulders at Koekohe at the end of the article. Start digging around in the Cretaceous Period, and there’s no telling what you’ll find.
shoreacres
June 30, 2017 at 12:47 PM
How about those coincidences? Now I’m eager to see the concretions in Kansas. I expect I’ll see them in a post of yours long before I ever see them in person. The article you linked also mentions the concretions in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. I’d toyed with going there from the Black Hills but hadn’t done my homework. If I had, I’d almost surely have gone further north for a day or two. Oh well, now I have a reason for going to North Dakota other than that it’s one of two remaining states I’ve never been in.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2017 at 2:53 PM