Moeraki

Posturing on the Boulders
Chick Hatching?
Moeraki Boulders
Maori Story (click to enlarge)

A very sweet fellow working at Penguin Place asked about our trip and advised us to stop at Moeraki to see the famous Moeraki Bboulders. There is a Maori myth about the origin of the boulders and rather than restate it, I will include a photo and you can read it.
It was a stormy Sunday when we left Blackhead Cottage, and we went into the village of Moeraki before going to see the boulders at the nearby beach. We instantly discovered Fleurs Place, a famous ramshackle restaurant at the water’s edge. We wandered inside and realized that this was definitely someplace special. Because we had just eaten breakfast, we opted for coffee and date scones. We didn’t have a reservation anyway and the place was fully booked for lunch. While taking photos of the outside, we were waved in by a NZ couple we had sat with on our Milford Sound trip. They raved about the food, and it looked fantastic. It will go on my list of places to return to on the next visit. Lizzie, Doug and Debs take note – this place is very atmospheric and looks well worth a detour.

I looked at Fleur’s cookbook with a testimonial on the front cover by Rick Stein of the famous Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, UK – a good sign. We ate at his restaurant about 25 years ago when on holiday, and the meal was one I’ll never forget, ever. I don’t think I ordered the platter but the Fruits de Mer was huge and didn’t have little bits of things on it as in North America, there was a whole lobster, clams, mussels and chunks of fresh fish. It looked spectacular and also a challenge to eat because one has to remove the shells etc. I always make a mess with dishes like that and as a consequence never order lobster or crab unless I’m sure all the shelling has been completed already. We also ordered crème brulee, a too well-known dessert today, but 25 years ago, I’d never had it and was very impressed with having to crack the top with a whack of my spoon. Fortunately Duncan was well versed in the joys and etiquette of crème brulee. So I take a blurb from Rick Stein very seriously indeed. We bought Fleur’s savoury scones to take with us and ended up eating them for lunch several days later. They were heavenly with potato, cheese, fresh herbs and a curry flavour. I later bought Fleur’s cookbook, and my spouse is lugging it all over the Antipodes in anticipation of my actually using it when we get back home. He is a long suffering fellow to do the carting, but my suitcase won’t hold another item. I actually split the zipper open at one point but luckily with a bit of fiddling, it repaired itself.

The Moeraki Boulders were really terrific as was the beach. All the tourists were having a great time posing on them so I did too. Duncan being more reserved than I, was a bit embarrassed by my popping out of one as if it were an egg. I’ll let you be the judge as to whether I am a convincing chick!