On 30 December we said goodbye to one of our dogs, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel called Baxter. The kicker is that this happened whilst we were aboard a New Year cruise of the South Pacific islands so we couldn’t be there with him at the end.

He had been suffering from the early stages of congestive heart failure for the past couple of years (a common condition for the breed), and whilst he was in good spirits when he was dropped off with my sister-in-law, he seemed to go downhill very quickly.

Thanks to the Starlink satellite internet aboard the cruise ship we were able to monitor is condition and talk through everything with the vet, and ultimately say good bye.

The family is heartbroken, and his passing is only going to be felt more over the coming weeks now that we are back at home.

He was a very good boy - the best, in fact.