After visiting Earthquakes near Duntroon, we drove about six kilometres further south to an area in the Maerewhenua Valley known as The Elephants. A short walk from a parking bay led to an amazing set of large grey boulders. These limestone rock formations vary from one to ten metres across and lie scattered across a grass paddock on a gently-sloping hillside over an area of about 200 metres. The rocks are rounded from weathering but, despite their names, do not specifically resemble elephant shapes. A set of limestone outcrops borders the area on two of its sides.
As noted on the Information Sign, these large rocks are the weathered remnants of the Otekaike Limestone formation which lies above the Oligocene Kokoamu Greensand (we encountered reference to this sequence at the Information Panel at Earthquakes). Thus the rocks originated at the bottom of the sea some 25 million years ago. When these strata lifted and surfaced, the forces of wind and water did their part in shaping the limestone boulders. The boulders are much larger than a person and walking amongst them makes you feel but a small actor in a large landscape. The following photos convey some sense of this:
The Elephants is a popular site for limestone bouldering (climbing). One climbing website refers to Elephants having “over 300 problems with 80% of them being V3 or below [not too difficult], hence it is a paradise for social climbers looking to improve their skills”.
There is a recent great drone-shot video clip of the Elephants on YouTube:
In 2005, The Elephants were used as the site for the filming of part of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. The scenes of Aslan’s camp were filmed here. When we visited, a deserted film set could be seen up a nearby valley:
