The Isle Of Whithorn - Dumfries and Galloway May 2022

Now that we had gained our motorhoming spurs in the Camping and Caravanning sites we thought it may be time for some 'wild camping'.

I planned a trip along the Dumfries and Galloway coast starting at the Steamboat Inn at Carsethorn finishing at the Steampacket Inn on the Isle of Whithorn. The trip was organised with alternative nights on and off sites, so that we were able to rely on facilities every second day.

We set off from Cumbria on a fine spring day with Caerlaverock Castle planned as our first stop, on route to Carsethorn. After travelling down a selection of B and C class roads ( they didn't build castles next to A roads in those days!) we eventually found the Castle.

The Castle made a very rewarding detour as it emcompasses the significant remains of a medieval, triangular, twin gated castle set in a deep moat - https://rb.gy/gcwslb . There is enough of the castle remaining to give you an idea of what it looked like in it's heyday.

After spending an hour or so exploring the castle we focussed ourselves on finding our stopping point for the night, the car park outside the Steamboat Inn, and we set off towards Dumfries.

We found the pub easily and ordered pre-dinner ciders, and enjoyed a walk along the beach before our evening meal. Our buying a meal was a condition of our free overnight stay. The pub is located right on the shore - https://thesteamboatinn.co.uk

We had booked an early meal to avoid their busy time in order that we could enjoy our meal in the company of Finn. As a result we were back on board the motorhome by 8pm, and settled down to watch TV.

Other than the pub toilets which we had access to, Carsethorn beach parking area provided public toilets, and it was on one of my trips to these that I discovered that the motorhome had a water leak.

We had a bit of a panic until I discovered that I had left the fresh water drainage tap open. I hadn't discovered this upon our departure as I had assumed that the pool of water under the motorhome was due to my ineptitude in filling the freshwater tank. We would need to fill up next day at the campsite! In my defence this was the first trip in the 125, and we hadn't been given any instruction upon picking it up.

After spending the night in the motorhome listening to the comings and goings in the car park, and now confident that the waterleak was nothing to worry about, we settled down for the night.

The next morning after a quick cooked breakfast we set off for the Silvercraig campsite in Kirkudbright - https://silvercraigscaravanpark.co.uk , where we were to stay for two nights. It was not very far away from Carsethorn, and we prepared ourselves for a leisurely trip.

Even though we made the most of the trip we managed to get there early, and were turned away as the pitches were not ready for new guests. So we parked a little way from the site and decided to explore Kirkudbright until we were allowed to enter the site.

True to form we found ourselves in the Kirkudbright Bay Inn drinking cider with the locals in no time. This was one of the few dog friendly establishments we found there. In the pub there was also another couple with a dog waiting for the campsite to allow them onto their pitch. The dogs and their owners soon got to know each other.

As we had missed the lunch service we decided to leave the pub and buy a takeaway to take back to the motorhome. With this in mind we visited a small artisan bakery where pastries ( and a chopping board?) were purchased.

As we walked along the harbour we noticed a fish vendor selling from his van and bought some fresh scallops and some fish. The vendor was very friendly and suggested some cooking techniques to us.

With our purchases in hand we soon realised that the time had come when we would be allowed onto the campsite. The number one priority was to fill up the freshwater tank, and ensure that the drainage tap was in the closed position. With the site manager keeping an interested eye on me I set about filling the tank, and stopped when the water started overflowing on me. I would later find out that the tank was not full but the overflow was due to an airlock or flowback, and we would have to return to the tap and fill up completely the next day.

With the water, supposedly, dealt with we drove onto the pitch allocated to us and set about connecting the electrics and tuning the TV to the available stations. To prove our incompetence we were initially unable to hook up to the electricity supply, but after double checking all the connections we eventually got it right. There are so many different hook up systems that it's difficult to ascertain what is on and what is off. We now know if the light comes on our microwave we have the power sorted.

With ourselves installed on our pitch thoughts turned to how we were to amuse ourselves until our meal booking in the Wee Bar at the Selkirk Arms at 6.45pm that evening. We decided to explore Kirkudbright further, and with my list of dog friendly pubs in hand we set off into town. After wandering around town we ended up in the Garret Cafe Bar - https://www.thegarrethotel.co.uk for another cider, and met our dog owning friends from the Kirkudbright Bay Inn. I have failed to say, up until now that Finn has a striking blue merle coat, and is guaranteed to generate interest from other dog owners.

After a quick look at the menu, as we were booked in to eat there the next night, we left the Garret to get ready for our meal at the Selkirk Arms.

As I'd booked our meal at the Selkirk Arms direct on the internet I did not know how classy the hotel was, it is a four star establishment, and it was off-putting when we turned up in our most casual clothes, and a dog in tow. https://www.selkirkarmshotel.co.uk . Dogs were not permitted in the general dining room when we visited, and we were quickly ushered into the Wee Bar, a room at the far end of the building. When we sat down we realised that we had this room to ourselves, as there no other diners with dogs that night. Finn was spoilt rotten by the staff, and it seemed as if we had a party of staff to ourselves. In no time at all we were sat down to a feast, which was by far the best meal we'd eaten for a long time. We felt like stars in our exclusive accomodation.

We were so impressed with the experience that we attempted to book again for the following evening. Unfortunately this was not possible at such short notice.

(Since we visited the hotel has changed it's policies and is no longer dog friendly, which is unfortunate as it is a restaurant not to be missed!).

Fully satisfied with our meal we set off back to the motorhome to settle down for the night. We then found out that our water tank was far from full, and decided to top it up again before leaving the site.

The next morning's dawn brought with it a horrible rainy day, which was good to one extent as we had no plans for the day, other than an evening meal at the Garret. At that point we had no idea of the galleries available, and the art on offer so found ourselves again in public houses!

We decided to chance the weather and when it got bad we retired to the Kirkudbright Bay Inn, where we had taken refuge on our first day. Again our dog owning friends had similar plans and after chatting for a while and with the weather clearing up slightly we took our leave.

With not much to do, and one more dog friendly pub on our list that we hadn't visited we found ourselves in the Masonic Arms. Whilst there we did consider visiting one of the galleries and museums available but the cider was more appealing. Again our dog owning friends had similar ideas and turned up at the pub.

With only an hour or so to go before our evening meal booking at the Garret we took our leave to have a brief walk around the town. It was on this walk that we found out the opportunities there were to visit galleries and museums, and we felt slightly guilty for not taking advantage of these opportunities. We decided to visit Kirkudbright again, and to be more cultured on that visit, as well as treating ourselves to another meal at the Selkirk Arms.

The weather had improved so much in the day that the walk down to our evening meal at the Garret was taken on a bright sunny evening. Unfortunately our evening meal at the Garret wasn't a patch on the previous evening's fare, so slightly disappointed on our final night in Kirkudbright we wandered back to the site.

We got up next morning, and after a quick cup of tea set to unconnecting ourselves from the pitch. As we exited, and drained our grey water waste I took the opportunity to top the water tank up fully. We then headed West to our next stop, Castle Cary campsite - https://www.campstead.com/en/Campsites/Castle-Cary-Holiday-Park-21533/ , just off the A75, the main road across Dumfries and Galloway.

Given that the traffic was light, and we were outside of the school holidays, we made good progress, and arrived at the site early. However, this time we could visit our pitch without waiting. But we did notice a small cafe as we travelled to the pitch, and, as we had not eaten that day we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast. I had a wonderful bacon roll and Sue treated herself to a fried egg roll. With sustenance on board we travelled on to the pitch to connect up to the services.

Once we had dealt with the essentials we decided to explore our surroundings and discovered a nearby woodland walk to the nearest village of Creetown. A journey we found out, in retrospect, was a waste of time as there was nothing at all to do there. The main village pub/hotel had obviously closed a number of years earlier, it's broken windows and shabby appearance a testament of it's worth as a village amenity. Creetwown is a one road village with a feeling of the dead to it. It wasn't worth the fight with the electric fencing to get there. But whilst we were there we did discover a shop that was open and bought ourselves a bottle of wine.

Feeling despondent we took the woodland walk back to the campsite, and our motorhome, and familiarised ourselves with the campsite to utilise the time until our prebooked meal at the Laird's Inn, the campsite's pub and restaurant -https://www.thelairdsinn.co.uk .

The meal was very good and lifted our spirits, and the Laird's Inn provided a good haven to sit with our drinks and watch the sun go down. We weren't impressed with our stay at Castle Cary, other than the facilities at the Laird's Inn. The site will be very popular with families given the facilities it offers but it offered very little for two old codgers and their dog!

The next day we disconnected and set out on our way to our penultimate stopover, Garlieston Harbour camp site - https://tinyurl.com/5dxnpcy2 . We decided as we left that we were not going to return to Castle Cary campsite again and focussed on the journey to Garlieston, which turned out to be a pretty little harbour town. As usual we turned up at the park early, but this time were turned around, so we found somewhere to park up along the coast road, and visited the Harbour Inn - https://the-harbour-inn.co.uk , along with all the other campers who had arrived early.

After a couple of ciders we were allowed on site, and were given a large key fob with the key for the site's toilets ( obviously to prevent the public using the toilets, as there did not appear to be any public facilities around). We were told to choose any pitch we fancied, and Sue very successfully crossed a bridge and reversed up to within inches of the pitch marker. We had selected a nice pitch on the side of a beck that ran into the sea.

We connected up to the services, got out a bottle of wine and sat back to enjoy the view before deciding to take a stroll along the shore. After exploring Garlieston we headed for the Harbour Inn for our pre-booked meal. We feasted ourselves and then returned to the motorhome for a peaceful night's rest.

The campsite in Garlieston is right on the waterfront, as is the Harbour Inn, and the stop provided a much better experience than that of Castle Cary.

The next morning after a quick drink we were up and off, and set off on the road to the Isle of Whithorn. When we had got a fair way there I noticed that I still had the large key fob in my pocket, and we decided to return to the site to give it back. Little did we know that the camp management were already on the case, as, later that evening when I checked my emails there were two messages. The first was asking for the return of the fob, and the second, following the return, thanking us and asking us to disregard the first message.

As the episode with the fob had taken some time we arrived at the Steampacket on the Isle of Whithorn whilst they were providing their lunch service. We took advantage of the location, and the excellent chef, and ordered some seafood for our lunch.

Following our lunch, which I must say was excellent, we asked where the best place to park the motorhome would be. We were directed to a field behind, and owned by the pub, where there other motorhomes already in situ.

The Steampacket Inn -https://www.thesteampacketinn.co.uk , in addition to providing top class food also has a brewery, the Five Kingdoms Brewery, which produces exceptional real ales. The Five Kingdom name was allegedly adopted as from the field where we parked the motorhome the kingdoms of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man are visible on a good day. On the day we were there we were lucky enough just to see Scotland!

Once we had set up the motorhome for our overnight stay we took a walk around the harbour and treated ourselves to a late afternoon drink in the pub. The weather had turned for the worse.

As we had booked an early evening tea the staff agreed that we stay on, and let us eat early. Fully replete we returned to the motorhome for the last night of our trip.

The next morning there was a certain amount of excitement as we had decided to treat ourselves and had booked a cooked breakfast in the pub.

After breakfast we managed to extricate the motorhome from the muddy field, as the overnight rain had softened the ground somewhat. We then set off on the long journey back, retracing our steps along the coast road.

By far the best trip so far.