Elephant Rocks, located near Duntroon in North Otago, are honestly some of the most interesting and amazing geological features I’ve seen. (Although, let be honest, I say that about almost every rock I see, sorry for the enthusiasm). The rocks are located roughly a 40 minute drive from Oamaru, and well worth the trip. If that’s not exciting enough, just a few hundred meters up the road are two set locations for the NARNIA movies.
We visited Elephant Rocks as part of a ‘Stone-Day’ trip from Dunedin. We visited the Moeraki Boulders, Elephant Rocks, Fossils-in-Narnia, the Whitestone Cheese Factory (yum) and then Riverstone Kitchen (and their castle) for dinner. We left around lunch time, and returned to Dunedin around 10pm. A perfect road trip.
To get there, get yourself on State Highway 83, which is just north of Oamaru. Drive for 40km (30 minutes) then turn left on to Livingstone-Duntroon Rd. If you hit the small town of Duntroon you’ve gone too far (although the sweet little town is worth a quick pit-stop to look round, have an ice-cream and pick up some info on the local geology) Drive roughly 4 minutes down the road (turn to the left when you hit Island-Cliff Duntroon Rd, its clearly marked).
Anyway, the rocks are a little walk off the road, but its pretty clearly marked and there is a wee car-parking area off the road. When we went there were bikes lining the fence, so maybe another time we will do some cycling in the area (I always say that, huh?)
The rocks themselves are Weathered Limestone Rocks, ranging from 1-10m in size, and are remnants of the Otekaike Limestone formation from the Oligocene, 33.9-23 million years ago. (side note: in Te Reo ‘kaike’ means ‘to pile in a heap’). The rocks are scattered on grassy farmland, which means you may see the odd sheep roaming around. It also means its a great place for a picnic, game of soccer, or any other summer-grassy-park activity.
Only one of the rock structures resembles an elephant (i you look at it just right). but still, they are fun to explore and climb and jump off and oooh and aaahhh at.
