Travels in a Campervan: Caerlaverock castles and aire

Nido's parked up a the Caerlaverock 'Castle Corner Campsite' (///shave.patch.coverings), but it's pretty much an aire. In fact, it's so like an aire that sat here looking out at vans from several countries, we could very easily be in France. The Dumfries and Galloway communities are smashing it when it comes to motorhome and campervan park-ups. Caerlaverock Community Council only ask for a £10 donation (cash or via Paypal) which we've paid; this is an absolute bargain for this wonderful park-up, including the full service point.

We had a very peaceful night's sleep at the Barrasgate Farm aire, waking early to clear blue skies and warm sunshine. On the way out I popped over to speak to the owner - Marion - to thank her for providing such a welcome stopover. We had a good chat and she knows what campervan and motorhome owners want, so I wish her success and we'll definitely stop there again if passing.

Just a few minutes down the road is the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve (///shine.simulates.trim). We pulled up in the small car park, alongside another motorhome and walked through the farm yard and long the tree-lined lane into the nature reserve. 90% of the Reserve is flooded by the high tide twice a day, providing food for nearly 140,000 wintering birds like pintail, shelduck and oystercatcher. But spring is here now with lots of warm sunshine today. We walked along the well maintained boardwalks, through the reed beds and in to a bird-hide, overlooking the Solway Firth. There was a profusion of skylarks and lapwings; we could also hear small birds in the reeds but don't know enough to identify them.

It was then another short hop to this aire. We walked through the most wonderful mixed deciduous forest, with an abundance of old oak trees and loads of new saplings. The trees were moss covered and there was plenty of oxalis (wood sorrel) to chew on, with its distinct sharp lemony flavour. The path meandered through the forest, occasionally popping out to provide lovely views over the Solway Firth. We arrived at the 'old' Caerlaverock castle first. There are just the foundations to see now, but there are information boards and markers on the ground to show the halls, courtyard and towers. Further on was the younger and more substantial 'new' Caerlaverock Castle. It's an unusual triangular shape with towers and is surrounded by a water moat. First built in the 13th Century, it was later 'blinged-up' by the Maxwell family in the 17th Century.

After lunch we were planning to move on to another stop just 3 miles up the road, where we planned to spend the night. Glencaple Pier (///basically.soldiers.fuse) has parking for several vans, but is popular due to the excellent adjacent cafe and the pub across the road. In addition, it has superb views over the River Nith, the estuary with the Lakeland Fells in the distance. It was already very busy so we hightailed it back to Caerlaverock Castle Corner and bagged our old spot, just getting in as several more vans arrived behind us - phew!

We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out, enjoying the warm sunshine, peace and quiet. After dinner, as the sun was still shining, we walked back to the castle to wander around, with the lengthening shadows throwing a different light and the ravens and swallows enjoying their sole access to the ruins.

The tech updates to the van seem to be working out. The Ecoflow River Max 2 is really making a difference in our ability to stay off-grid for longer. At the moment I'm recharging it as we drive, but with only short hops, we may eventually need to find some electric hook up to fully boost it up. Perhaps in the future I'll also invest in the solar panels.

Talking of Solar, the new NDS MPPT solar controller is doing its job. The leisure battery remains topped up and we've no worries about running out of power. The old PWM controller was clearly bust as the battery never seemed to be full, even in the brightest sunshine.

Finally, the Netgear Nighthawk MR1100 LTE router is giving us much better mobile internet access. The SMARTY SIM doesn't seem to be compatible, so I've replaced it with a Tesco Mobile one for now. When we travel to France I plan to purchase a SIM from FREE, which will give us more data than we could ever use. Alongside the new router, the Poynting Puck 2 aerial fitted to the van roof is definitely helping to boost the signal. So fingers crossed, the tech upgrades are going to really make a difference in the future.