New Zealand's South Island - Part 7: Moeraki Boulders

This next trip was a bit of a long drive.  My destination was the Moeraki Boulders, although I did make a few stops on the way.  For this particular drive, I started out on the Gibbston Highway, which takes you through some winery areas, and is really pretty. As you drive, you also go past the Kawarau Gorge, which is a famous place in New Zealand for bungy jumping and that sort of thing. There is also a dam along the way, which is a really pretty photo spot.

A lookout point

These two were taken at the dam area

The next place I stopped was in Cromwell. It's selling point is its orchards, and it also has a big lake as well. I stopped at the Jackson Orchards and got myself some fruit for the trip, and also some fresh fruit ice cream. (You chose the fruit and then they put it in a machine that mixes it with the ice cream). They also offered orchard tours, and I considered doing that as well, but it would have been nearly an hour to wait, and since I had a fairly long way to drive, I didn't do that.

After you get of Cromwell, you end up on a road, that takes you through some hilly farmland.  Not many photo stops here.  There were also very few people on this road.  2 and a half hours later, I arrived.  As you get closer to where the boulders are, the road ends up next to the eastern coast, and you get some very pretty ocean views.  At the boulders site, there were two areas to park, up top by the cafe, or down at the bottom by the beach. I, of course, chose the beach. Partly because it was the beach, but also partly because it didn't cost anything to park there.

After getting out, you walk along the beach for a little bit and then you get to the boulders, which are interestingly almost perfectly spherical . (Except for the broken ones). It seems to have become a bit of a photo, and there were lots of people there taking selfies with the rocks. They are also a part of the Vanished World Trail, which is apparently a path to take if you are interested in geological features. Something to check out next time?  The boulders themselves were actually formed underwater (which explains their shape), but I'll let you read more about it on the sign below (you can click on it to make it come up larger...) ↓

Photo Time!!

The beach area... 

The first one I could see!

The one at the back looks like an egg! 

Some of them get broken, or eroded down...

They are maybe bigger than you expect (see the people?)

Looks like it hatched!

After spending some time there, I went up to the cafe for some food (which was ridiculously expensive, even for New Zealand -- a bowl of soup was about $20).

After a bit more time, I got back in the car and headed back towards Queenstown, as I had a bit of an early morning the next day...

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New Zealand trip posts: | Part 1: Christchurch | Part 2: Queenstown | Part 3: Glenorchy and Paradise | Part 4: Wanaka | Part 5: Hikes | Part 6: Invercargill | Part 7: Moeraki Boulders | Part 8: Milford Sound
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New Zealand's South Island - Part 6: Invercargill

The next day trip I took was way down to the southernmost part of the South Island to Invercargill.

It was about a 2.5 hour drive from Queenstown to get there, and it went through a lot of farmland, which got progressively flatter the further south you went, and it started to remind me of the prairies back home. But, because it was farmland, there weren't as many places to stop and take pictures as there were on other trips. Maybe people think it isn't as interesting? I'm not sure....

This was before I left the mountainous area...

When I got to Invercargill, it was a little different from some of the other towns I'd been in so far. The roads were wider, there was more space overall, and most significant: it was dead. There were almost no people around whatsoever. I was there on a Saturday, but even in the "downtown" area there was almost no one. The only restaurant I could find open was a Starbucks.  When I visited the information center, the girl didn't really have much to say. She told me the only place visitors usually go to in town is Queens Park (which is a giant garden). She also gave me a map of "The Catlins" which is apparently an area between Invercargill and Dunedin (on the east side of the island), where you can drive along the coast and stop at various points. Since this would have taken another 3 hours or so, even though it looked interesting, I wasn't really excited to get back in the car (it was a nice sunny day and it was about 28℃ as well).

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Definitely some interesting buildings, but where are the people?!

So, instead of doing the drive, I went to Oreti Beach. Originally my plan had been to go to the beach, stay for a bit, and then go to to Bluff (which actually is as far south as you can go),  as it was supposed to have a nice lookout. But....once I got to the beach, I knew I wasn't going to leave. It was really interesting, behind the beach were some sand dunes, and then there was a giant, very long expanse of beach. Cars were allowed to drive onto the beach, and of course, there were some people who took that to a ridiculous level, but most people just parked their vehicles and got out to walk, sit, or go in the water. I did all of that. The sand was really compact (which is probably why cars are allowed on it), and it was a really interesting color. It was almost black in places, but there were flecks of gold colored minerals included. It was quite pretty. The water was refreshing as well, some spots were warmer than others. After a bit of a walk, and a wade into the water, I pulled out my snacks and book and sat down to enjoy the sun for the next few hours.  By the time I left it was well into the late afternoon (close to 6), and so I figured I should start back so I could gas up, and preferably not drive in the dark.

Quick video at the beach.

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Can you see the glittery gold flecks?

How about here?

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View from the water...

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And to finish, a few photos from when I got back to Queenstown area:

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New Zealand trip posts: | Part 1: Christchurch | Part 2: Queenstown | Part 3: Glenorchy and Paradise | Part 4: Wanaka | Part 5: Hikes | Part 6: Invercargill | Part 7: Moeraki Boulders | Part 8 Coming soon!
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