MOERAKI BOULDERS
Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 8:18 pm
'Moeraki Boulders'
This stamp doesn’t shown a watercraft but the story is interesting.
Maori legend provides an explanation for the origin of the mysterious Moeraki Boulders on Koekohe Beach in North Otago. It tells of the loss of the Arai-te-uru, a legendary sailing canoe from the island of Hawaiki. Travelling south in search of precious greenstone, Arai-te-uru capsized near Shag Point reef and her crew was lost. The canoe's petrified hull became the reef and a nearby rock is the body of Arai-te-uru's commander. Eel baskets, calabashes, and kumara washed ashore from the wreck and were transformed into the giant Moeraki Boulders. However, the scientific explanation for the origin of the Moeraki Boulders is simply that they have been weathered out of the siltstone from the sea cliff.
More is given on the boulders on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeraki_Boulders
Source New Zealand Post website.
New Zealand 1991 50c sg 1615, scott.
This stamp doesn’t shown a watercraft but the story is interesting.
Maori legend provides an explanation for the origin of the mysterious Moeraki Boulders on Koekohe Beach in North Otago. It tells of the loss of the Arai-te-uru, a legendary sailing canoe from the island of Hawaiki. Travelling south in search of precious greenstone, Arai-te-uru capsized near Shag Point reef and her crew was lost. The canoe's petrified hull became the reef and a nearby rock is the body of Arai-te-uru's commander. Eel baskets, calabashes, and kumara washed ashore from the wreck and were transformed into the giant Moeraki Boulders. However, the scientific explanation for the origin of the Moeraki Boulders is simply that they have been weathered out of the siltstone from the sea cliff.
More is given on the boulders on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeraki_Boulders
Source New Zealand Post website.
New Zealand 1991 50c sg 1615, scott.