Shag Point Dec 8

We got a very early start from the Charleston Cave Base to tackle the 8 hour drive back to Dunedin and so that we could cross through Arthur's Pass before the West Coast weather bomb exploded on us. An escorted drive through a rare large fire scar at Castle Hill was an unusual occurrence for NZ. This put us passing Shag Point in early afternoon, about an hour drive from Dunedin. Lara had never been and the tide would be the ideal low so I led a detour to break up the drive. Thankfully the place had not yet been discovered and still had the same low key sleepy seaside cottage vibe as we drove through to the grass park on the seacliffs. We had the whole rocky shore platform to ourselves other than the many seals that variably objected to our presence or slept indifferently. We continued on past them to the widest part of the shore platform, with its strange and unusual shapes and textures.

Only a 10 minute drive to the north on this coast is the Moeraki Boulders, a geological wonder and very famous tourist trap of perfectly spherical sandstone concretions to greater than a meter across that are exposed among the beach sands at low tide. Here at Shag Point is a similar geological formation, except here the concretions are much larger, more variable, and still embedded in their source rock. And very few people know they are here. These ones are in various stages of decay, appearing like eggshells of giant monsters, many with their own tide pool gardens within, intricate cracks, and bright biotic colors. It was every bit as good as I remembered and we both enjoyed wandering around examining every little intricate feature and taking many photos.

At the far end of the beach two seals climbed on top of the largest concretion (shaped like a turtle, above) to put some distance between us. After we examined this last major cluster of concretions we returned the way we came and drove on to Dunedin. Once back it was time to dry and organize gear. Dunedin was also bizarrely warm, which helped. Lara and I grabbed some takeout pizza and ate on the nice slope overlooking the lower gardens, which was a nice fitting end to a nostalgic New Zealand visit.