Some internet exploring revealed the extent of the significance of the geopark in this area, so safari suit, knaki and new wool jumpered attire, nerd up we did. A 45 minute drive south to Scourie took us to a headland for a walk to find the Lewisian Gneiss. 3 billion year old grey metamorphosed sedimentary rocks that are the oldest found in Europe. At this headland, it was possible to see a black dyke intrusion of dolerite, as well as feldspar rich granitic intrusion. The basaltic dyke is 1.7 billion years old. The pink granitic stuff was from about 1 billion years ago and apparently has some garnet like crystals in some of it. There is also a seam of quartzite from 500 million years ago. Apparently it is significant as the geology here was also important in confirming the nature of crustal movements and that it is possible for sedimentary layers to be verticalised and/or inverted such that older CAN be on top of younger rock strata.

The walk up to the headland never really revealed a "destination" as such and we left the area reminded of how spoiled we are for interesting geology in Australia, despite the age and extreme weathering of our rocks. Along the roadside on our return to Durness, we stopped at a couple of road cuttings that showed the gneiss, dolerite, granite layers really well.

Back to Durness to get supplies for dinner and then off to nearby Smoo Cave. A limestone cave that has been eaten away by both freshwater (now a waterfall into the cave) and ocean from a narrow gorge carved into the coastline, has created a really nice feature. We weren't able to pick them out, but the rocks surrounding Smoo Cave do show significant stromatolite presence...the greatest single change in the earth's atmosphere can be credited to these little guys...anoxic to oxic. A short walk down from the carpark and we had a good time exploring the cave as far as we could (chambers 1 and 2). As with everything in Durness, the cave tours weren't running but I think we got the idea mostly, only missing a floating dingy pull past the waterfall and a third blind ending chamber 3. Another short explore of the nearby award winning sandy beach with dunes and cool rocks before a quiet night in watching Philomena (also highly recommended), briefly punctuated by a short visit to the Smoo Cave Hotel to support the one place in town that is open. A very friendly stray cat was also present at the bar and made for a snuggly nice pat on Bronnie's lap mostly...see photo.

Some further internet digging has revealed that this craft village was actually built in the 1950s during the Cold War as an early detection unit in the event of a nuclear bomb blast/event. It was actually never used and had become obsolete before use in the 1960s so was handed over to the locals as housing. It was then leased to local artists as a somewhat eclectic mix of artisans, then were sold to many of those original residents. It looks like it has never really become the thriving community that it was supposed to and online reviews are accurate in that it is quite delapidated...hmm. Further digging has also revealed that the place we are staying is owned by a German fellow with a very interesting past that helps explain the black walls, artwork and some of the DVDs available to watch. He is currently the owner of an art shop (his work, we will probably avoid), cuts hair and gives massages. He is also the organiser of Durness ghost tours and Halloween extravaganzas each year. His past is less mainstream although is readily available information on the web. From 2004-2014 he was a male-male adult film star who won many awards in the field, before renouncing the industry and joining the Scottish Family party where he unsuccessfully applied for candidacy. He now has an African wife and 2 children who live behind the shop; I think I heard one of the children crying last night. There is a lot of Christian material on bookshelves and he has become quite outspoken online as a "men's advocate", questioning the overemphasis on LGBT education in schools, even going so far as to question whether it is appropriate that women automatically get the right to vote. Trip advisor reviews tell of his extreme views with during COVID demanding no masks in his shop, extreme views on Somali migration/overlords and seemingly many other conspiracy theories. He is smooth skinned, heavily tattoed and muscled...Oh well, it's been a fine place for us to stay for a couple of nights! All good.

Tomorrow we head East towards Latheron, home for the next 3 nights.