Laredo, Spain to Hamble, UK

Confession time: We willingly went straight to Burger King this time on our onward journey. Do not pass 'go', do not collect £200. At least we ate at lunchtime for once on a travel day. In brighter news, the countryside went from the plains of Spain to much more interesting gnarly rocks then mountains, tunnels, lots of meadows and woods, and before we knew it we were descending into our final night's stay in Spain, at Laredo.

Strange place. Big, wide crescent of a beach with some good dunes, a large Gibraltar-esque rock (Santoño) facing it across the bay, but spoiled a bit by graffiti and with a neglected, faded feel, like a cross between a rundown UK coastal town and an out-of-season Benidorm. Still, the locals seemed happy enough, lots of teenagers bombing around on bikes and families out for evening strolls. We grabbed an ice cream from a decent parlour as we explored the promenade, the kids running up and down the dunes and Skye dodging all other dogs, as usual.

Speaking of teenagers, we were sharing the small, walled-in urban campsite (Camping Carlos V) with a gang of 20 or so, and discretely asked to move to a pitch further away from them, as they seemed to be coming to life just as we were bedding down. They didn't seem so joyous in the rain that came overnight though, Faye spotting at least one casualty with soaking wet feet sat outside the toilet block at 3am on the phone, presumably to mum...

Both Faye and I headed out on a morning run first thing in the drizzle, Faye completing an extremely successful hill drop set and me an acceptable (but nothing more) 2-mile time trial. I did spot lots of backpackers as I ran, finally putting two and two together: this nondescript little town is on the main Camino de Santiago route.

Back at the site, we packed up in the rain, then Lidl for supplies, and to the Santander Brittany Ferries terminal to board for the overnight to Portsmouth. Suddenly, British faces and number plates everywhere. And what a contrast to the Mediterranean Grimaldi Line car ferries we've also used recently: Modern, clean boat, friendly crew, easy boarding, and even passable buffet food (obviously very expensive though). Despite Skye hating being muzzled on the way to our pet-friendly, bunk-bedded cabin, she soon settled in, using the dog 'toilet deck' almost immediately, against 24 hours of nervously holding it all in last time we took her on a Channel ferry.

The crossing involved reading and video games in the cabin, going in pairs to the buffet for meals, and eating too many sweets and chocolates that the kids had bought at Lidl before we left! There was a sneaky impromptu restaurant visit for Faye and me on one of the meal shifts, although we were rumbled by Maya who managed to locate us and give us her best schoolteacher telling off, arms crossed: 'Had a nice secret meal, did we?'

We arrived in Portsmouth as the sun was setting, and within half an hour we were on the motorway for the short drive to the little village of Hamble at the mouth of the river of the same name, and Mercury Yacht Harbour, where we stayed at the pleasant holiday park with a big flat field for campervans and motor homes. Nostalgia-fest for me - the family yacht chartering business was here for many years, and the memories came back strong as we walked the dog around the place in the fading light.

Next morning Faye headed out for an easy run around the local countryside, while we all showered, packed up and got ready to make the short trip to meet up with David and Janet, my step dad and his wife, at their home just up the road, ready to make the trip up to canal country and a week together on a narrowboat.