Having a good time anyway

I had decided to come out to Galloway because the Galloway Forest Park is one of the darkest skies in Europe, which means that when night falls, you see the stars. Real stars. Lots of real stars. I was excited about it and I had been planning it for the longest time - I'd read about it in a BBC article that I chanced upon this past January and pretty much had been wanting to go since then.

Although Galloway is beautiful, it is not the easiest place to get to by public transport. Scratch one off the perfect solo trip.

I stayed in a bunkhouse lodge at the Galloway Activity Centre near the tiny village of Parton (and by tiny I mean a population of probably 20 people) where I met some people who were absolutely super.

Galloway Activity Centre
Loch Ken, Parton, Castle Douglas
DG7 3NQ
Tel: 01644 420626

Situated ten miles north of Castle Douglas on the A713 road to Ayr

The first night I was in Galloway, it was cloudy. And by cloudy, I mean you would look out the window and not be able to see a single thing. Galloway is one of the darkest places on earth, so when it's cloudy out, you aren't able to see the city lights reflecting off the clouds like you would be able to do in a big city.

It's just black. It's the blackest black you've ever seen. It's stepping outside and not being able to see ten metres in front of you because it really is pitch black.

I was a little bit disappointed, because after all I had gone to see the stars, hadn't I? Still, I had a while more there, so I wasn't too upset.



My first full day in Galloway, I had intended to go to the Forest Park and take a walk around, take some photos and enjoy being around beautiful nature.

Unfortunately, when I got up in the morning, not only was it cloudy, but also cold and rainy. (I later learned that the right word would actually be 'chilly' - it doesn't get 'cold' in Britain until it hits sub-zero.) Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre is a nice place, though - it's well-positioned right next to the loch, and there's some wildlife to be seen even when it's raining.







On a photography-related note, I am in love with my new Tamron 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 aspherical lens!!! I've only just started learning how to take photos, but I'm already realising that lenses with a high zoom are a must for wildlife which tends to run away pretty quick if you get too close. I've been using it a lot since I got it, and it's absolutely brilliant!

I saw so many adorable garden birds, although I didn't know their names. There were plenty of robins and I think a few finches (were they finches? I have no idea, I'm rubbish with birds) gathering around the bird-feeder near Clatteringshaws Visitor Centre.

It took a pretty long time for the rain to stop. It's a very fine, misty kind of rain that you get here, and if it isn't that, it's heavier droplets that start and stop and make it hard to get around and do anything, which meant that for the most part, my day was spent indoors. Not ideal for the vision of walking through the woods that I'd had in my head!

Still though, if not for the rain, you wouldn't see pretty things like this:



So there's a good side to everything!

There's also a recreation of an iron-age house in Galloway, based on stuff they'd found on excavations in the area (no it's not authentic - imagine if it had been a real iron-age house thousands of years old though!).







Of course, I had nice proper walking boots on, because it is the forest, and the area was muddy. Walking boots are essential if you're going to outdoorsy areas - leave your Converses at home!!! These are waterproof with leather lining and proper ankle support.



Galloway is pretty sparsely populated. The villages are well spread-out, and there's barely any public transport going between them. So what's a girl to do when you need to get to point A to B without any transport?

A girl hitch-hikes. (With caution, of course. Safety first!)

It is an experience, hitch-hiking - you jump into a stranger's vehicle, travel with them along whichever way they're going, and strike up the most random of conversations and have good company while all the while never learning the other person's name.

Hitch-hiking is common around rural areas such as these - because transport is so hard to come by (most buses operate once every few hours!) it's common to have people 'thumb it' everywhere they go. Just stick out your thumb and wait for someone to pick you up!

The first guy I hitched with was a truck driver who was a great load of fun to talk to! I've since hitch-hiked four times, and the first was still the best - really chatty and friendly, and took me all the way to the town New Galloway. It's pretty awesome jumping in for a ride in a massive delivery truck.

I got off in New Galloway, here.



And because I was hungry from walking, I had lunch.



I am incredibly jealous of the people who live here - their houses are right next to a running stream!



If you're hitchhiking, I've also learned that you should stick out your thumb at the end of a village and not in the middle of it - people are more likely to be going your way!



I happened to come across this pretty gate and thought it looked quaint and nice with the weathered wood and moss-covered stone walls.



I decided to go on the Red Kite trail to see if I could spot any nice birds. And I saw lots of them.



Alright fine, so I cheated. I went to the red kite feeding station in Laurieston and the skies were teeming with kites!





These birds are massive!

Red kites were hunted from the area of Dumfries and Galloway in the past; the red kite trail is a conservation project that reintroduced these birds. The kite that we fly in the sky on a string was named after the red kite bird because both are able to perform quick swift movements in the air!

The feeding station is just one of several points on the red kite trail, but it is an easy place to go to and pretty much guarantee a sighting of kites.

Bellymack Hill Farm - Kite feeding station
Laurieston
Castle Douglas DG7 2PJ

Red kite feeding time is at 2PM daily; the hide is open from 12nn-4pm daily throughout the year.

As an added bonus, because the kite feeding station is on a sheep farm, I got to play with some sheepdogs!





HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT FACE.











This collie-dog kept coming up to me with a stick in his mouth and wanted to play fetch!



And they even had puppies for sale!!! I wish I'd been able to bring one home.











I do not apologise for the clearly (not) excessive numbers of photos of cute fluffy adorable collie-dogs.

Also, I'm attracted like a magnet towards anything and everything that's turquoise in colour - so I was super happy to see a random turquoise bench!!



On the way out of the farm I also got to see some wild mushrooms growing, which was pretty cool. I have no idea if they're edible though.



And by then it was already about 5PM and beginning to get darker, so it was time to hitch my way back to the bunkhouse and shelter and accommodation and nice things like that.

Now, I had come out to Galloway to see the stars. But for two whole nights, it was impossible to see anything - I'd been due to come back to Edinburgh on my third day, but I wasn't going to leave without having another shot at seeing the stars. So I extended my stay in Galloway by one more night and had another whole day out. But that's another story. :)



TIPS

• For goodness' sake, please rent a car. Cars save so much trouble - they're a shelter from the rain and cold, and they save you from having to hitch your way across everywhere, and thus not needing to worry about whether the stranger's car you're getting into is safe, whether you're even going to meet any nice person who's willing to take you in their vehicle, etc etc.

• GOOD OUTDOOR GEAR! You never know what the weather will be like, so please: waterproof (and windproof) warm jacket - preferably fleece-lined with hood; waterproof pants; waterproof boots and a good pair of walking socks; and gloves in case it gets cold enough that your fingers start freezing. That's the bare minimum. I didn't have waterproof pants, I was wearing jeans, and I regretted it so badly.

• Bring a sleeping bag!!! Even though I had proper accommodation, the heaters weren't nearly hot enough to keep me warm in rural Scotland. In addition, the Galloway Activities Centre encourages you to bring your own sleeping bag so it's proper outdoorsy; it's an extra £6.50 for bedlinen.

• Bring a map! Especially in rural areas, you want to go in knowing where you are at any point in time - it makes you feel so much more at ease than if you had no idea where you were. Even being able to put your finger on a map and say "this is where I am" is much better than "oh crap I'm lost and I don't have a clue how to get out of it."

• Be flexible! Rain wasn't ideal when I got there, but you can't change the weather, only work around it. Being flexible means you will be able to have a good time even if your day doesn't go exactly according to plan.