Niagara Falls

Yesterday I went to Niagara Falls - having seen the cost of the tours, which take you to places you probably don’t want to go to and just want your money - I used my Canada Coaches Route Pass and made my own way there. My Route Pass allows me to go virtually anywhere in Southern Canada, as long as it’s within the 15 day and 19 journey limit, which should get me to everywhere I’m planning on going and I can make some extra side trips if I wish.

The bus to Niagara Falls took 2 hours and dropped us off about 30 minutes from the main tourist area of the town. So we walked along the side of the gorge towards town and slowly got our first glimpse of the falls. There are 2 major falls, the American Falls you see first are on the American side (obviously) and then the main Horseshoe Falls are just a bit further along. We saw Rainbow Bridge first, which is the bridge that spans the river from Canada to America, not sure why it’s called the Rainbow Bridge, it wasn’t very colourful. As you walk along the road towards the town, there is a plaque which marks the spot where the falls used to be in the 1700s, but they have actually moved nearly 7 miles from their original spot.

The falls aren’t the highest in the world, they rank 50th, but the Horseshoe Falls are very wide and the volume of water that goes over is very impressive. Apparently it’s a million bathtubs of water a minute and I’m guessing that’s an average bathtub.

To do the complete tourist thing in Niagara, I had to go on a Maid of the Mist boat, which takes you right up to the base of the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. You buy your ticket, walk down to the embarkation point, put the lovely blue poncho on and get on the boat. Luckily it wasn’t busy so there wasn’t much of a fight for prime spots along the railings, which I can imagine in high season could be chaotic.

First off we went past the American Falls, these are smaller in height as they have giant rocks at the base, but are impressive. To the right is the smaller Bridal Veil Falls, which I guess is meant to look like a Bride’s Veil, but I’m not so sure. The spray from these falls was minimal, but the ponchos did their job.

Then we headed towards the Horseshoe Falls, being told the story of a seven year old boy who fell over the falls and was rescued by the crew of a Maid in the Mist boat, with only a broken bone. Numerous other people have deliberately jumped over the falls in barrels and other devices, some survived with bruises, broken bones and quite a few have died in their attempts.

As we got closer to the Horseshoe Falls, the spray got heavier, the wind more breezy and generally wetter. So much so that the hood of my poncho blew off and I got soaked, the water at one point was more like a torrential downpour, rather than the gentle mist the boat’s name implied. Of course photos had to be taken in front of the falls, but cameras were getting very wet and people’s attempt to keep them dry was amusing. Not sure the lady’s camera covered in Ziploc bags will have taken very good photos. I gave up trying to keep dry and my camera is now suffering for it, not majorly but it is feeling a bit poorly, I‘m sure it will get better soon.

After the boat ride, it was a walk up to Table Rock, the point where the Niagara River goes over the falls. This is where you can do the ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ and ‘Niagara Fury’ or something. And of course, spend more money in the gift shops, cafes etc. But it’s also the place to take photos of the falls from the top. I’m sure this is the place that the photos of my grandmother were taken many years ago. Even if the photos had only half her arm and head in them and a bit of mist, I’m pretty sure it’s the right place - my grandmother and her friend were never very good at taking photos and we had to guess which person was in the photo from just an arm or a halo of grey hair.

I read that ‘wow’ wouldn’t be far from anyone’s lips who visited the falls, but I didn’t utter a wow once. They are spectacular, but I don’t know if my expectations were too high and I felt slightly disappointed by them. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen taller falls in a more natural setting (without the tourist traps), though none quite as powerful and big… I’m very glad I went to see them, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, but maybe waterfalls that you come across driving around a bend in the mountains are more my thing.

Niagara Falls, the town, is divided into a hugely touristy part and the local community. The tourist part is really touristy, with a casino, Hershey shop with a Hershey Kiss on top, Planet Hollywood and lots of shiny, buildings with flashing lights all over the place, trying to get the tourist dollar and a lot succeeding. It felt a bit like Blackpool (when I visited years ago) with a huge waterfall, it even has a tower you can ride up.

The drive back to Toronto took us back along the edge of Lake Ontario and we could easily see Toronto and the CN Tower, the view from the tower must have been excellent, shame I went up the day before!

I’ve only one more whole day in Toronto, then I’m off to Kingston, the old capital of the nation, for a couple of days.