Fiddle Bow Rock.

Also known as Bow Fiddle Rock or the Elephant Rock,  situated at Portknockie.

We had booked a dolphin cruise before we left home as, last year, we had missed out on it due to bad weather. As it was becoming apparent that the only day fit for sailing this week would be today, we made the right choice. Although the trip was good with a chance to see familiar landmarks from the sea which was spectacular, we saw very little in the way of wild life. A friendly seal did wave to us as it gracefully swam past, and there were plenty of shags about, but we can see them at home.

Afterwards, we went to a local cafe to have some nourishing soup, it would have been nice if it had also been warming.

The rock, at Portknockie and seen from the boat, is metamorphosed sandstone (quartzite); the original sandstone being laid down 750 million years ago with the subsequent metamorphosis occurring at a temperature and pressure due to being buried under a 2 km thick layer of sediment. In my naivety, I had imagined the process to be volcanic.