Okay, so we needed to pack the car first. Would it all fit? Is that the kitchen sink? We’d been providing plenty of free entertainment for our street over the past few days and departure day was no exception as we struggled to fit all our camping gear in the car while the children got increasingly irritated and hungry. Oh dear. We were obviously amateurs at both packing and parenting. Finally we were off with a flourish, but much later than planned (thanks for the lovely wave, dear neighbours at no. 26!)

Would we make our ferry to Hoek van Holland? Yes, we jolly well would. Despite our Sat Nav, which determinedly sent us in the opposite direction to Harwich and was still insisting we had 30 minutes left to drive while we were boarding the ferry! Garmin, we now have major trust issues.

We can recommend the ferry. The cabins are surprisingly comfortable and the whisky in the lounge is quite adequate for soothing frazzled nerves.