Two's Company

Driving in Canada is dead easy.

The roads go straight, really straight, straight for miles and miles and miles…

Well, I say driving is easy, but of course you drive on the right and sit on the left, that’s just alien. It’s bonkers. You feel unnatural.

Then there is the bright yellow middle line, you become transfixed, while driving what feels on the wrong side of the road, straining eyes into the distance straight ahead for miles. OMG, that’s like brain numbing!

As you’re driving along thinking you’re in the middle of nowhere, suddenly there’s a sign telling you to watch out for moose for the next 7km or that skidoos may cross your path. All of which brought back happy memories of signs for kangaroos or koalas last year.

Nevertheless, we made it to Alma.

Lake St Jean was on our list for our first full day of self-driving adventure — the full tour was in the region of 170 miles.

The scale and size of this place is starting to get a little mind-blowing when you think of the circuit; that’s massive in comparison to the 30-mile round trip of Windermere.

Lake St Jean is 44 miles long and 22 miles wide. That makes me smile, because it’s only 21 miles from Dover to Calais. I mean… wow!

Having said all that, we enjoyed the countryside, trying to take in the views and capture a few photo memories of our day around the lake.

The rapids, or Chute des Pères, were fantastic and our stroll through the woods to find them was fun, even if we did come across some trees with what looked like a huge amount of spider webs or possibly fall webworm silk encasing the branches. That really got our attention.

Our final stop, as the afternoon drew late and the temperature dropped significantly, saw us briefly encounter the indigenous community of Innu people.

Along the shore of the lake, four teepees had been created, one representing each season and each explaining how the land, water, clothing and animals were significant to their ancestral life.

It was a fascinating little stop, the whole day gave us the chance to see something completely different from the towns and cities we’d visited so far.

Eventually returning to Alma, tired yet fulfilled after a full day exploring this beautiful part of Québec, we reflected on just how enormous this place really is.

And tomorrow, we were heading onwards again…!