Hampden is a small settlement you might almost miss along SH1 to Dunedin. But if you turn left you go very steeply downhill for a short distance, and you find yourself at the camping ground right beside the beach. I knew I might not get in, being New Year, but it turned out a few had gone home early, and I was able to squeeze in. If the tide is right, this beach is only a 30 minute walk along to the Moeraki Boulders. So I set up my tent, and headed off along the beach.
It wasn't long before I discovered there was another spot below the cliffs nearer to the Hampden end with some smaller 'concretions' of the Moeraki kind, many broken apart, showing interesting patterns.
I know I read somewhere once how these were formed, but I have forgotten. Must go to the Moeraki Visitor Centre when I head south...
Eventually I reached Moeraki. It was the part of the beach with all the tourists posing...
I had an interesting convo with a couple about this broken concretion, and what the crystal bits inside might be.
I beat the tide back to "my" beach... And find I am still fascinated by the broken ones, and what they revealed.
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Eeeehhh I have been waiting for these! Delish! And what is it that those broken boulders revealed Margaret? Do you know? Looks almost like gum! Thanks for these :) You are doing well managing to find a bed without too much difficulty at this time of year!
ReplyDeleteI took a few more photos of these again thus morning, under an overcast sky, with huge piles of kelp on the beach. The surf has been pounding the last couple of days, and I guess the kelp is the result. I read about how lime gets into cracks in some of the concretions as they are forming.
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