Matapedia to St Epiphane, 175-515km, Days 8-30.

It's been a hell of a three weeks!

This part of Quebec has been so beautiful, with the rolling Appalachian Mountains, farmlands and forests, quiet country roads, and the way Spring has just exploded across the country before our very eyes!

From Matapedia, we rode out onto the plateau to St Francois with Danielle and her horse Gypsy. What a beautiful day, down along the Restigouche river, up onto the plateau, a beautiful lunch stop, and then riding on alone as we waved goodbye to Danielle and plunged on alone into a torrential downpour. But the sun soon came out, followed by rainbows, and a beautiful day ended with the hospitality of Jason and Franceska. From St Francois we headed into the woods for two beautiful days along steep river valleys, met with a delightfully unexpected refuge for skidoo riders for a peaceful night, and then up to Ste Florence and the hospitality of Maryline. From there we headed off to St Leon le Grand and the beautiful barn of Jean-Guy, then on towards Val d'Irene and the haven of Camille and Andre's for a rest day.

After a reprovision, we were off again, leaving our network of contacts and heading out towards Lac Des Aigles. We spent a few nights on the road, including a welcome shelter from the rain at Frederick and Stephanie's ranch and a beautiful (maybe illegal 😉) camp by a lake in the woods. From there it was some steady days along pleasant roads, including a beautiful stop at Marie-Christine's bison farm, until we had a rest day by St Paul de le Croix, at Alain's place. From there we headed off, intending to make our way towards Kamouraska, avoiding the busy areas around Riviere du Loup. However, last week did not go according to plan...

It's a fact that the world is no longer designed for horses. Every time you take horses on the road, you are exposing them, yourself and other road users to risk. So far, the horses have been excellent with traffic, and I am always risk adverse in decision making. However, on this day we had approximately two kilometres of relatively busy road until we could turn back onto quiet dirt roads. As we came around a corner, a young guy on a scooter was coming towards us, and instead of slowing down or continuing as normal, he waved his arm in the air and hollered at us as he approached. I believe in his mind he was cheering us on. However, it did not have the desired effect. Fredo jumped sideways and collided with the bike, before bolting off into the paddock and out of sight. The scooter guy was uninjured (although his bike was wrecked). What followed was several hours of trying to locate Fredo and the kind assistance of several local and passing people who helped direct her off the main road, catch her, secure her, help me find a vet, provide translation services, and finally host us as Fredo recovers from her injury. She sustained a deep gauge in her chest area, which is healing slowly but steadily.

I guess you sometimes can't choose the adventure you're given. We have been so very fortunate in the kindness of the people we have met, especially Lison and Martin, who had the surprise of unexpectedly hosting two horses and two Tasmanian girls! We have been helping them out around the farm and in the garden, and have been learning about Quebec culture and being welcomed into the local community. Sometimes horribly unexpected events can have beautifully unexpected outcomes, and although I wish that day had turned out differently, we are now able to spend some time in a beautiful part of the world that we would only ever have passed through.

Ella arrived from New Brunswick on Friday, and hopefully Jack will be dropped off in the next few days. Very excited to have the whole team back together again! Even though our plans for the next couple of weeks will depend on how Fredo recovers, there is a certain calmness in being able to take a breather from constant travel. Despite the unexpected vet bills and caring for Fredo, this adventure continues to unfold and we take each day, each week, and each unexpected event as it comes.