After alot of trawling the internet we finally found a campsite that had room for us for a few days respite and welcome change of scenary - we really wanted to go up to Dumfries and Galloway but just couldnt find a site open or with room so we extended our search to Wales - no joy and then started on the peak district - nothing - east coast - rammed and finally we resigned ourselves to more garden time and a real staycation in our own house - we even measured for carpets thinking we might just crack on with redecorating the dining room..... and then a random campsite we had contacted on line answered our email and we booked four days at Balloch O Dee, a farm campsite near Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway - so a day wasted chasing the bloomin interweb but a result!!!!!
It was a very nice camping as well - Although it got busy and the pitches were as spacious as the Solway view so it was noisy but still not too big, nice facilities, a bit quirky - lots of hens and quite a large number of dogs - friendly owner and best of all a fire pit!!! It has currently become my new favourite camping - although I am fickle but anywhere that allows a fire is always high on my list. the weather was favourable - at least for the first two nights when we sat out enjoying glorious scottish evenings with a hearty fire slowly smoking ourselves to rival any smoke house product... amazing clear skies and wonderful milky way... extra bonus - NO MIDGES!!! We had very good days walking the coastal paths - sadly neglected and very over grown so quite intrepid in placed but still passable - although some of the gorse was well over our heads!!! Lots of beach trawling and toe dipping - the weather did eventually catch up with us but we enjoyed laying in the van listening to the storm raging and the rain on the roof - its been a while since we were able to do that for real - not just inthe back yard!
We managed to take advantage of the eat out to help our scheme - fish and chips in Portpatrick and very fab steak sandwiches in the Steam Packet in the Isle of Whithorn. I spent an afternoon sketching in Port Logan under wild skies and we had a pleasant morning mulling the never changing bookshops in Wigtown. For some unknown reason we had never wandered away from the village centre so this time we followed the signs for the old harbour and we delighted to find a lovely walk which included the martyrs grave and most sinisterly the Wigtown martyrs stake where the Solway martyrs Margaret Lachlan and Margaret Wilson who were Scottish Covenanters were executed by Scottish Episcopalians in 1685 by tying them to the stake on the towns mudflats and allowing the drown with the rising tide - interesting what you can discover in the backstreets of small scottish towns...
Another back 'lane' discovery - in the middle of nowhere down a lane (with grass in the middle) not nearly a high road or even a B road we found a beautiful sculptured bush perfectly cut to display a bird - attached was a wee plaque saying simply Sams Bird...
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