1: Morocco Revisited!

So, once again we're looking for a respite from the long, cold English winter and Morocco is in our sights once more. This will be our second trip, but we left Morocco last time with so much more we wanted to see and we don't feel this will simply be a re-run of our previous journey.

If you want to travel on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry with dogs you have to book tickets way in advance and we've missed the moment for that. We decide to take the Newhaven - Dieppe ferry and hot foot it down through France and into Spain in 3.5 days to catch the ferry that runs from Barcelona to Nador on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

We are catching the early ferry from Newhaven and as long as you arrive the night before departure after the last ferry has left, you can stay in your vehicle at the port so as to be ready bright and early the next morning.

We hit the ground running in Dieppe and get a good number of miles under our belt before finding an aire to stay overnight in the town of Saran just outside Orleans.

The weather is still decidedly wintery and we wake the next morning to freezing conditions and to a sky heavy with un-fallen snow. Luckily the central heating in Lionel works very efficiently and we stay warm.

We then have our first ‘technical blip’ when the fridge door falls off! Yikes! Thankfully Nick has the necessary tools and know-how to fix it and we're soon back in business.

The weather remains icy throughout France and one morning we wake to -9 degrees and freezing fog - whose idea was this?

A highlight of the drive is approaching and driving across the Millau Viaduct which is the highest in Europe. Reaching a height of 343 meters (1,125 feet), it is taller than the Eiffel Tower and is both awe inspiring and beautiful.

What a delight it is when the snow covered Pyrenees come into view, the sun is shining causing the snow on the mountains to glitter, it really lifts our spirits.

We have found the only aire near to Barcelona's city centre. It's no more than a parking lot but it is secure and right near to a metro station. We walk the dogs and head into the city. We've both been here before and we don't have anything we especially want to see this time so we just wander until we find a place we like the look of to stop for a drink (or two).

We both really enjoyed flamenco when we experienced it in Jerez and Nick manages to find a place in the Gothic Quarter where we can watch it this evening.

The show is more touristy and is less atmospheric than our experience in Jerez but it is great nonetheless and it is fantastic to wander though the ancient, narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter.

For reasons best known to the ferry company, they insist that we must check in four hours before the ferry is due to leave! This means leaving the aire and driving through the very hectic Barcelona rush hour in the dark - pretty stressful especially as the sat nav starts to get a bit dithery at the crucial moment.

We manage to find the port unscathed; we check in and then absolutely nothing happens until about thirty minutes before the ship is due to sail - good job we got here on time!

The early arrival does mean we can have a wander around the port area, find some breakfast and watch the sun rise.

Loading Lionel onto the ferry is pretty quick and efficient.... then we're off!

This ship is very different from the Portsmouth - Santander ferry, much of the ship is closed - including the cinema and the Panoramic Bar so there isn't much to do except watch highlights of the African Cup of Nations football on the many TVs. There is however a very nice a la carte restaurant where the service is impeccable and you can get a very nice bottle of wine.

We forget that immigration formalities are carried out on the ferry once we dock in Morocco and so there is a last minute scramble to find the necessary forms and fill them in.

The port of Nador is actually some way outside of the town and it shares its piers and harbour entrance with the Spanish enclave of Melila.

It's a pretty mucky, dusty and run down port town with lots of hawkers trying to sell SIM cards, so we decide to head off to the neighbouring town to find an ATM and supermarket to stock up.

We then head east to the coastal town of Saidia which is the last stop before the (closed) border with Algeria.... but more on that in the next blog!