Day Two - See, I told you I'd be back!

Ok, so again it is late at night (currently 12.52am), but I am proud of myself for showing commitment to this project :D

So, how has my roadtrip been so far? Well, its been great! Unfortunately the weather has been miserable, as we all woke up to rain at 7.30am in the morning, which continued virtually all the way through the 500km drive to L'anse St Jean in the Saguenay region. I can still hear the pitter-patter outside, but it is only light compared to what it was...

Unfortunately I do not yet have a picture of our hire car, which I got all excited about when I heard it was a Pontiac G5, as the Pontiac G8 is a rebadged Holden Commordore. It ended up being a major disappointment, as the car does not have any form of central locking (yeah, you have to push the button and hold the door handle as you shut it) and must be the only car on the planet to still have manual windows. However, it somehow has a boot big enough for 4 people, the stereo is decent (has auxillary input for ipod :D), and the motor/auto transmission is quite good... thats my car rant for the day.

So we got to Quebec no problems, but once there we got lost and spent an hour driving around in circles trying to find our way out - the road signs are terrible! They make no distinction between whether hay are saying that there is an exit coming up, or whether it is informing us of the road we are already traveling on (it varied between the two a lot!). After an enjoyable drive, wee finally reached our destination at around 4pm, and to our surprise it was 'dusk' already! With the help of the low lying clouds and surrounding forests (as well as being very far north), it was as dark as midnight by 4.30pm! (see pictures below for proof!)

Anyway, the hostel itself is wonderful. It is one floor beneath a house (belonging to the owners), and it contains probably 4 or 5 rooms for different groups that choose to stay here. It is about 80km from the nearest major city (Chicoutimi), and to get here we had to drive up a rough, sometimes-steep road to get to the 'middle of nowhere'. But it is beautiful from what we've seen in the dark :P It is clean, has a wonderful kitchen, decent bedrooms, a nice area to play boardgames or use their computer to access free internet (there is also wifi offered, which is what I'm using on my laptop). The bathroom appears to be very luxurious with the showered descending from the roof, but the water just seems to fall from it, with absolutely no pressure at all… its even worse than what we have in Brisbane!!!

So tonight we went to the local grocery store to buy some food, and had some wine with peanut buttered toast, followed by steaks and pasta cooked up by Jezza and myself. We subsequently started to play the boardgame 'Risk', which was good fun but took even longer than Monopoly to finish, so we ended up packing up early. All the while we had my portable speakers playing, and we then attempted to watch a movie (it was now around 12am), but we were all falling asleep. So here I am now, sitting on the top bed on a bunk bed, with Jerome, Flora (both from Switzerland) and Elodie (from France) sleeping soundly as my laptop whirrs…

Tomorrow, we plan to cook pancakes (no premade mixes!), have some cereal, and do a decent hike before it gets dark early. Then we'll head to Chicoutimi and maybe see a movie (preferable 2012 in English!), go to a restaurant, and then go to a bar or club after that. Should be a good day! As you know, you'll (hopefully) hear all about it tomorrow!

Below are some of the best photos I've take so far :) Oh, and please remember to say hello via a comment! I like to know who is reading!

Till next time,

Jono.

P.S. After posting the 16 photos, it is now 1.44am... took a lot longer to do this one! Goodnight!

(Roadtrip!)

(Beautiful scene during drive in Quebec)

(Elodie, looking sly as our awesome driver)

(Jezza was the first to fall asleep, before we even got to Quebec...)

(Yep, the Christmas lights are up already!)

(Proof that it really was dark at 4.30pm!)

(low-lying clouds in the mountain forests)

(the beautiful streets of Quebec - can't wait to have a better look when my family comes over in December!!!)

(This thing is meant for brushing your teeth right? Apparently not. Its for cleaning the snow and ice off the car. If only there was some in the first place...)

Dinner at the hostel!

Cheers!

The bedroom at the hostel - good quality for $20/night!!!

The kitchen - its got everything! Except salt, which we had to borrow from the owners :P

The gang (from left): Me, Flora, Jerome, and Elodie

Playing the game 'Risk' - note how I (blue characters) almost conquered North America!!!