Awoke to weather in Brecon much the same as yesterday - sunny periods interspersed with rain or vice versa. After breakfast we packed up and headed out south for Merthyr Tydfil through The Brecon Beacons National Park. It was fine all the way through so we go to see some great countryside although there was cloud down over the peaks.
At MT we turned eastwards towards Abergavenny and then onwards to Monmouth. Unremarkable A road but not overly busy and reasonably easy to Navigate until we got to Monmouth where we had to follow the inevitable tangled string looking for the turn off through the Forest of Dean which we traversed to Gloucester. The forest was great although tracts of farmland intervene but the spring green of the deciduous trees was brilliant.
Circumnavigating the ring road around Gloucester took us onto the road to Cirencester where we deviated again to head due south through Chippenham. Then we turned east remarking on the White Horse at Cherhill? and then taking a quick detour around the Avebury Stone Circles before getting back onto the road to Marlborough.
Marlborough was busy with some sort of food festival but we found a car park off the main street fairly easily and then had a light lunch at Azuza.
Heading south out of Marlborough towards Andover we had a minor 'incident' when we took a wrong turn, and in reversing to turn around, the rear right corner of the car was clipped by a bus which didn't stop. No serious damage so not much to do except carry on. At Andover we got too the A30 or one of its variants and headed east to Basingstoke where we lost the A30 somehow but after some SOP navigation found a back way through Old Basing and Newnham to Hook where it didn't take much effort to find Ian and Jean's place. Ian was working in the garden when we arrived and Jean arrived back from shopping shortly afterward.
It was great to catch up with Jean and Ian and we had a good conversation for a while over a cup of tea. Ian suggested that we go out for a walk across the common which we gladly accepted and walked for an hour so, seeing some New Forest ponies hat have been moved to there, as well as a couple of nice deer (yum - ooh, perhaps not).
On the way back we dropped in to a local pub for a drink and then back to I and J's in time for a lovely rice and chilli dinner prepared by Jean.
Further conversation etc after dinner but I admit to getting a bit drowsy around 10:30pm but not before giving a recitation of Clancy of The Overflow which seemed to be well accepted. And then to bed.
