Before we left on the 1st we had to have a quick re-think of plans as the ship carrying the truck is now late with the earliest pickup being about the 14th instead of the 8th. So a quick change of plans, some extra time in Witlshire, then fly to Iceland to meet the others. On Day 1 we collected a small Fiat 500 - bright yellow - and headed off to Salisbury to meet up with Robert and Nel who kindly allowed us to have our UK mobile phone sim cards sent to their home. As it was we stumbled across them in Salisbury town centre as we were looking for accommodation and then had a drink at a local pub. Went back to their place for cuppa in the back garden and then off to Lena's B&B.
As it turned out we had arrived on a bank holiday weekend AND the weather was fine. Visited Salisbury Cathedral while Deborah looked for family history connections - found several in the floor. The walk from Lena's to town and back was along the Avon River a name we were to see several times over for the next week - but not the same one apparently. Due to the long weekend we left town and stayed at Swaynes Fir farm - B&B in the farmhouse and caravans in the adjacent paddock!
We've criss-crossed Wiltshire and occasionally Hampshire. Visited New Milton to find Deborah's grandmother's home - gone. Back through various forests to stay at Chippenham to visit the History Centre for a couple of days research. Presumed the local Information Centre wold be open during a long weakend - nope - so after trying several B&B ended up a Best Western! Fortunately we did better for the next 3 days and stayed at Vine Cottage at a small village called Rowde.
