[Photo Journal Spotlight] A Magical Encounter with Rainbows at Moeraki Boulders

Giant, otherworldly balls scattered along north Otago’s Moeraki Beach, the Boulders look as though they were handcrafted and placed by design. These massive concretions are a geological marvel. Formed originally within ancient sea-floor mud through the slow, steady crystallisation of calcite over millions of years.

(An express section of the NZ 2026 Photo Journal)

A note on these: the images are mine and sit outside this site’s CC-BY-NC terms.

What’s here is capped at 3 MP, which is plenty for a screen and no use at all on a wall. If you’d like a print, or a licence to hang one, say hello.

Previous Visit, Summer 2023

This Visit, Winter 2026

I was driving from Dunedin to Timaru, wanting a quiet night ahead of the Caroline Bay parkrun (+ SH78 run). The Boulders were a quick leg-stretching stop. The cafe had closed for the day and it was still rainy. I went down to the beach along the walkways without much photography, the camera even stayed in my car.

Driving off, however, I soon realised the clouds were receding, and made a quick decision to take a U-turn off the next intersection along SH-1.

And then …