Day 1

We dropped Duke off at his aunty and uncle in Sotogrande and headed off towards Tarifa about 9 ish.

It was a cloudy start, which was nice for travelling, cool and no need to squint through gaffas.

First stop was café and tostada past the Dos Mares hotel beyond Tarifa, an old favourite haunt of Mum's in years gone by.

Second stop was in El Palmar, not far from our destination of Conil de la Frontera. All along this coast, surfing is the thing and all the bars and cafes are full of surfer dudes.

We arrived at our hotel and had to wait half an hour to check in as the four people in front of us had no reservation, but plenty of expectations and took ages. Worth it though, as the room is very clean and quiet, being away from the road.

Miraculously, and I use the term advisedly, I have been able to walk almost normally, thanks to Voltaren Retard anti-inflammatory tablets, which have reduced the agonising pain of my arthritic hips to a faint memory! I could barely mange a few metres on Sunday and today I have walked 11 kilometres around the old town, without too much difficulty beyond a throbbing knee. I would not have believed it had it not happened to me.

Dinner was taken in the old town, very reasonable and delicious locally caught tuna. After a nightcap of Baileys over ice, it is definitely time for bed.