Yes – we have internet again! I rang Mrs Verizon yesterday who looked at her big map of coverage and said there was no 3G in Quebec, so we have been unable to use our phones to get online. Here at the KOA though, wifi is dribbling out of a server somewhere and the computer is able to suck up just enough to publish these blogs.

We saw our first “Beware Moose” sign today – a moose silhouette on a yellow diamond. Its interesting how each state chooses to illustrate these warnings. The deer on the signs in Virginia are lithe little things, clearly in mid leap. In New York state they were sturdy bucks with muscular rumps, and here in Quebec they are more like reindeer on a 1930s Christmas card; leaping with long curving front legs and a big rack of antlers. The moose was much more sedate, plodding slowly across the road. Actually the best sign here is the one for a “technology park” which has a microscope, the whirling orbit of a neutron and a couple of cogs meshing together. It suggests that the site is home to a frenetic team of white-coated scientists working around the clock to design a nuclear powered personal hovercraft. Or something.

After yesterday’s rain the grey skies were beginning to be streaked with blue when we got up. It was cool and damp outside but as the morning wore on, the sun began to win the battle and we set out to see something of the park. The road through it is a little frustrating; lined with a forest so dense its hard to get a view. We turned off to Lake Edouard though and were rewarded with a jewel of a lake, a long strip of beach and even a place to buy food. It was becoming popular too so we put up our chairs and settled in for a relaxing day in the sun. After 636 pages I finally finished the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I had a moment of near panic just before the end when I realised that having followed these characters day in and day out for the past couple of weeks they were about to vanish. Its an extraordinary book, written with huge depth and imagination. I shall miss it.

Tom was happy though as it meant I could devote more time to throwing him into the lake which he insisted I do many times over. And so another afternoon was whiled away and before we all got too scorched we went on a little walk through the woods with our junior ranger taking us from one checkpoint to another telling us about aspects of forest life which he read from a leaflet. The mosquitoes were out in force after yesterdays rain so we looked like a troup of morris dancers as we walked, slapping away at our ankles.

Pink and happy we hopped back into a hot Harvey for a charge up the motorway to Qebec City. Levis is just the other side of the river from Quebec and took about 2 hours to get to. T and P played dinosaur top trumps in the back and I watched gauges and played with the cruise control. The KOA is just off the highway (as usual..) and extremely well organised (as usual…), though the wifi is distinctly 20 watt (as usual). Philippa said the girls at the check-in desk really liked old Harv and said we didn’t need a pass to open the barrier as they would always wave us through. They also ordered a pizza for us to be delivered at the site. Very civilised. T tore off around the site after supper and is now applied to his bunk like thick molasses. We will get up early tomorrow (er, for us) and get a bus into Quebec. That means I had better get to bed.