This panorama, taken on a cloudy summer day, shows the world famous Moeraki Boulders in New Zealand. The spherical rocks are truly amazing, and not small, as can be seen from the child climbing on them here. The sit in the sand slowly being worn away by the sea, and more protrude from the cliffs.

Moeraki Boulders - Moeraki visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Moeraki Boulders' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Otago.

The Moeraki Boulders are found on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand in Otago. They rest on the sands of Koekohe Beach between Moeraki and and Hampden, and are best viewed at low tide.

The Moeraki Boulders have become a popular tourist attraction, and it is easy to see why. These massive spherical boulders lie in the sand like huge, strange eggs from some mythical beast. Local Māori stories state that the Moeraki boulders are the remains of eel baskets, calabashes (African bottle gourd), and kumara (Sweet potato) washed ashore from from a giant sailing canoe or Arai-te-uru. The legend also says that the rocky shoals near Shag Point are part of the canoe's hill and a nearby rocky outcrop is formed by the body of the captain.

The Moeraki Boulders are very unusual in that they are almost all spherical. They range in size from 0.5m to just over 2.2m. The Moeraki Boulders are not unique to New Zealand, and other samples can be found nearby at Shag Point (Katiki Boulders) and also at Hokianga Harbour on North Island (Koutu Boulders). Samples have also been found in other parts of the world. 3m boulders have been found in the USA at Cannonball River within Morton and Sioux Counties of North Dakota, while boulders 4-6m across exist at the Frontier Formation in northeast Utah and central Wyoming.

Physically, the boulders are formed of fine mud, slits and clay held together by calcite. Inside the boulders are numerous cracks, called septaria, which radiate outward from a hollow core and a filled with calcite crystals. It is thought that the Moeraki Boulders are concretions formed by the precipitation of calcite, and estimated that the larger 2m boulders would have taken some 4 - 5.5 million years to form while the marine mud accumulated above them.

However, the method and length of time to produce these boulders only adds to the wonder presented to the world as they are eroded form the cliffs.

Koekohe Beach and the Moeraki Boulders are about 75km north of Dunedin on the 1 highway, and some 15km north of Shag Point. Turn right from the 1 onto Moeraki Boulder Road. The paved road heads off left to a car park near the Moeraki Boulder visitor center, which charges a fee to descend the steps to the beach and boulders. Instead, continue straight down the Moeraki Boulder Road (now a gravel track) to the car park at the end and walk along the beach to the boulders for free. This is a longer walk, but what the heck.