"A Brief Encounter In These Parts....." Creetown by nickandchris

After exploring to the west of Kirkcudbright, we pressed on, with the intention of a spot of free overnight camping somewhere enroute to Garlieston.

Once passed Fleet Bay, the A75 follows the coast all the way to Creetown, before detouring inland a little to circumnavigate the mouth of the River Cree. I had ear-marked Carsluith Castle as a place to see and as it was on our route, we had no problem finding it. An immaculate ruin, beautifully maintained by Historic Scotland and free admission.

Watching the sun go down...

By now, the sun had come out and it was really rather hot so after exporing the castle, we started to look for somewhere to pull up for the rest of the afternoon and night. Just a little further on was a large layby shielded from the roads by bushes,a mere mile outside Creetown. It looked out over Wigtown Sands and was really rather picutesque, with the tide in.

We spent a very hot afternoon watching as the tide dropped, the long fishing net hung across the river gradually becoming more and more visible.This was really a rather idyllic spot BUT the traffic noise was relentless during the afternoon and evening, being the trunk road to Stranraer. It did drop off during the night but then we had to contend with the lorries parking up!

Ancient grounds

The following morning, we decided to travel by motorbike to visit Cairnholy, about five miles back down the road. This is an amazing place and in the morning sunshine, we were deeply impressed, especially when we had an enthusiastic local from New York explain it all to us.

From Cairnholy, we drove back to the van, loaded up the motorbike and headed off for Garlieston.

• Pros:Spectacular sunsets.
• Cons:All main road with little chance to get into the hinterland.
• In a nutshell:Plenty of ancient stones, cairns, etc.