If every rock has a tale to tell, those of the Waitaki District on New Zealand’s South Island would fill a library. This is a land of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone — basic sedimentary rock. Yet from this simple matter, time, wind, and rain have composed a wondrous story.
The narrative is in the Elephant Rocks, giant dollops of limestone scattered among grazing sheep on a farmer’s field. Their scooped shapes take on different forms, depending on where you stand and at what elevation. (Yes, visitors are allowed to scramble all over them.) These are the remains of shells, sea urchins, coral, plankton, and diatoms that drifted down to what was a seabed 25 million years ago, forming thick sheets of limestone. If you perch atop one of those boulders as the sun sets, the otherworldly landscape makes it clear why director Andrew Adamson filmed scenes from 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe here.
Near the town of Ōmārama, you can take in more fantastic features at the Clay Cliffs, a mix of clay, gravel conglomerate, and sandstone from an ancient lakebed. Wind and rain have eroded the original deposit into Seussian spires and box canyons, leaving what looks like a drip castle rising from the bush. Meanwhile, the Valley of the Whales, with its cross-bedded and creamy limestone slabs, is a cake of frozen time.
