The failed plan to move the Moeraki rocks to a parking lot

Taken as souvenirs and even turned to concrete, New Zealand’s famous Moeraki Boulders / Te Kaihinaki vandalism peaked in the mid-1970s with a bold plan to get a little closer to a parking lot.

For Ngāi Tahu, the boulders represent gourds of the ancient waka Araiteuru after it sank off the coast of Otago during a storm on its return trip from Hawaiki.

But for others, the boulders have been nothing more than a curious merchandise.

Around 50 rocks are dotted along the picturesque Koekohe Beach, but once there were many more.

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One of the largest was taken from its multi-million-year-old coastal home and placed outside the Otago Museum in Dunedin.

“One of the finest of the famous ‘Moeraki boulders’ was removed from its resting place and brought into the city to be placed on the museum grounds, where it will undoubtedly attract considerable attention and will undoubtedly form one of the most interesting of the many valuable historical exhibits at that institution ”, a Evening star Article of May 5, 1938, he said.

Motorists heading north on Dunedin’s one-way system can still glimpse the rock, which weighs about seven tons.

Reports from the 1930s suggested that removing the rocks saved them from being broken by the waves and lost forever.

Some smaller boulders were removed as souvenirs and ended up in gardens in nearby towns and cities, including Oamaru, Timaru, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

Some even ended up abroad. Moeraki rūnanga upoko (director) David Higgins said he was aware of at least two in Australia.

For the Maori, the cultural significance of Te Kaihinaki was likely similar to how Europeans related to Stonehenge, Higgins said.

“We don’t trade them.”

The boulders had been removed from the beach since Europeans first arrived in New Zealand.

Since then, some smaller boulders had been returned to the marae, and those in good condition were repatriated to the southern end of Katiki Beach, south of Moeraki.

“Many local families have rocks in their gardens and I have no problem with the practice, however, now it is not allowed to remove rocks directly from the beach without the express permission of DOC and Moeraki runaka (rūnanga),” Higgins said.

One of the biggest crimes against boulders was developed more than four decades ago.

In September 1976, the Waitaki County Council minute book recorded plans to apply to the Department of Home Affairs for “permission to move Moeraki Boulders to a more suitable site.”

The proposal was aimed at helping elderly tourists who could not go down to the beach by allowing them to see the rocks from the parking lot.

In October, the plan to “place surplus Moeraki Boulders near a parking lot” began to gain traction.

However, a month later, and the daring plan seemed to be accumulating moss.

Critics of the plan included the Dunedin branch of the Geological Society of New Zealand, which wrote a letter to the council outlining its opposition.

“While we understand your reasons for wanting the boulders to be accessible to less active visitors, we would strongly oppose any disruption of the currently exposed natural pool,” the letter said.

“These concrete boulders are a limited number, as they have suffered predation in the past.”

The remaining boulders were visible “in a geological and significant way.”

The society suggested that the council should try to obtain rocks from private collections instead of moving those that are still on the beach.

One October 1976 Otago Daily Times The story, titled “Unpopular Boulder Plan,” noted that two rocks unearthed during sewer work had recently disappeared.

And when the Department of Lands and Studies rejected the proposal to move some of the remaining rocks closer to the parking lot, the audacious plan ended before it began.

Higgins said the council’s plan was “wrong” and driven by the demands of a few.

“I am not aware of other scientific oddities being relocated just to meet the demands of a few.”

While the rocks were saved from being moved to a parking lot, think of one that ended up as cement.

The plan was devised by JT Thomson, the provincial engineer for Roads and Works, who wanted to source cement in Otago rather than import it from Britain, according to a report. Otago Daily Times report of September 15, 1868.

After experimenting with other stones from the province, he tried “the famous, but hitherto useless, Moeraki Boulders”, which he found to be superior to imported cement.

His recipe consisted of breaking a rock, placing it in an oven for 24 hours, and then grinding the reddish-brown stones to create cement.

“It can be said with certainty that the government works will not consume, in the next 20 years, the available supply of material”, Otago Daily Times reported.