Exploring New Zealand

Moeraki Area Guide

The sleepy fishing village of Moeraki, 30 kilometres south of Oamaru, was the first European settlement in North Otago when it was set up as a base for whaling operations in the 19th century, but the beautiful Moeraki Boulders, a kilometre or so to the north, are now the area's main attraction.

These giant round boulders lie partially submerged in the sandy beach, just off state highway 1. According to a romantic Maori legend, the boulders are the food baskets and water calabashes washed overboard when a canoe, the Arai Te Uru, sunk nearby. Scientists now believe the 60-million-year-old boulders formed in sea floor sediments, created by a process similar to that which leads to the formation of oyster pearls, with lime minerals from the sea accumulating on a central core, perhaps a fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood.

Moeraki Village, reached via a separate turn off from state highway 1, means "a place to rest by day" in Maori and the area, with its rich supplies of fish and seafood, has a long history of Maori occupation. The Kotahitanga Maori Church just outside the village was built in 1862, and contains beautiful stained-glass windows, unusual at the time for their depiction of a Maori elder, Matiaha Tiramorehu, alongside Jesus and Mary.

The village remains popular with fishermen, and charter boat operators run fishing trips from the wharf for blue cod or groper, but if you prefer your fish ready caught, stop at the renowned seafood restaurant Fleur's Place, which has a beautiful location at the old jetty.

From the village, there is a good walk to the Moeraki Point Whalers' Lookout, where there are views south to the Moeraki Lighthouse and a chance of seeing Hector's dolphins surfing off the beach. Or drive the six kilometres or so to Katiki Point, where the wooden lighthouse, built in 1878, is now home to a hospital for sick and injured penguins. A short track leads down the cliffs to a viewing hide where you can watch yellow-eyed penguins come ashore in the late afternoon. The point was the site of the Te Raka-a-Hineatea Pa, a fortified Maori site thought to have been occupied from the 13th century, and you can still see some of the terracing from the narrow neck which joins the mainland to the pa site.

Listings