We left Oamaru at lunchtime by the time Bruce completed his shopping for more ciabatta bread and some other decadent treats, a chicken salad for me, and two coffees. The cafe this was purchased at was made of rusty sheet steel and it stood out amongst the other Victorian architecture.
We ate our lunch overlooking the harbour protected by long sea walls and then headed off to see if we could find Moeraki.
We stopped off near the Moeraki Beach Holiday Park at the little town outside of Moeraki, called Hampden. It seemed a really pleasant little place but there were lots of dogs on the beach so we did not let our boys out.
The next place we found was the visitor centre and cafe for the Moeraki Boulders but there wasn’t a lot there for us. We could not see any boulders as it was up a bit of a cliff, but from there we could see a carpark further down the road so we made our way down there.
The visitor centre had told us that we could only see the boulders at low tide, and it was about 3pm by this stage (high tide had been 2pm) so we expected just to take the dogs on the beach for a good walk and play, waiting for the tide to go out more.
However, a look down the beach revealed what could only be the boulders we were looking for so we walked in that direction. Sure enough, there were plenty of them out of the water, although not the 58 that we had been told were there.
Sign boards informed us that the boulders were formed by dead moluscs whose body tissue attacted sediment to cling to it and the action of the earth around it formed it into big balls. I am not sure I understand why they are layered in contruction; why they are all here and not scattered elsewhere along our coastlines; or what the orange gummy stuff is that you can see in the cracks of the broken ones.
No matter what the explanations are, the boulders are beautiful and the beach is lovely. It was made especially more pleasant by the day being warm and sunny, and the sea not too cold.
We carried on our journey into Moeraki itself as we had a dinner date there and needed to find somewhere to stay. We found the motorcamp there and cheerfully paid a few dollars for a spot. We set up camp and we had a little time to relax before heading out to dinner.
Our dinner date tonight was at Fleurs. This is reputed to be one of the best restaurants in NZ. It is run by Fleur Sullivan who moved to Moeraki to recover from illness, but was so inspired by the local food and ingredients available, she set up her restaurant there.
It is a quirky wooden building with all raw wood inside as well. Past patrons have written their reviews all over the walls and window frames with whatever pen they could find. They cover the place – there are thousands of them.
The specials of the day are handwritten on a piece of A4 paper and photocopied. Fleur herself answers the phones and greets the patrons as they arrive and farewells them as they leave. Her desk is in the middle of the restaurant. Bruce and I had a good 10 minute conversation with her about some of her experiences. She told us she is 78, and she still comes to work each day, even when she has a cold as she had tonight. Amazing lady.
Bruce had blue cod with a coriander, chilli and coconut dressing (with veges); and I had the  3 fillet meal (moki, gurnard and elephant fish) with a fennel dressing (and veges). The fish just melted in your mouth. Bruce’s dressing was particularly nice, so I stole a bit of that for my elephant fish. Thanks to Emma and Justin for their gift of a voucher towards the meal. It was brought out to us once we had ordered, and we were both overwhelmed by it. It made a special night that much more special.
Wonderful place, Moeraki, and a wonderful meal.
Away From Home NZ 