The Moeraki Boulders - Roadside Stories

A Manatū Taonga audio guide to the Moeraki Boulders. Check out the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's audio guide in the image carousel above.

In Māori tradition the remarkable spherical boulders on Moeraki beach are eel pots -- or baskets of kūmara (sweet potato) washed ashore from the Ārai-te-uru voyaging canoe. To scientists the boulders are concretions, formed around 60 million years ago from sediment and calcite.

Moeraki boulders,
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/ngai-tahu/4/2

North Otago,
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/otago-places/2

Canoes of the South Island,
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/canoe-traditions/8

Kūmara,
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/kumara

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Roadside Stories are a series of audio guides to places of interest on major road trips in New Zealand. Each guide tells the story of an attraction along the way -- its people, its history, its cultural and natural significance. For more information about Roadside Stories visit http://www.mch.govt.nz/roadside/