Two old fossils

One is 20 million years old, the other just feels it!

If anyone asks is it worth a visit, the answer is yes, but you have to be prepared. We weren't, but it was a great day out anyway. We drove off map and ended up on the Great White Highway through acres of forest, past mountain hillbillies and flooded quarry pits until we thought we would never join a 'real' road again.

The road to the petrified Forest passes a very remote monastery (some cruel idea!) and a new rod they are excavating. Where they ave found remnants of trees, they have covered them in plaster for the time being. We walked down the valley to see as many trees as we could, but the boys found it too hot and they started to look rather similar. However when the wind rustled through the few shady corners, you could image the vast swathe of subtropical trees and how they were decimated by volcanic ash metres deep.

Sigri restored our spirits and after a swim in another Hot Scotland spot, we continued driving through the spectacular mountains, craggy volcanic outcrops, black, black sheep and I found a motorist trance state of mind cornering the salt flats. ( I had a 'Duel' type episode with a lorry earlier in the day.)

Twenty million years and still standing!