Having checked into our Hotel we must confess we felt a little ripped off by our 'falls view' from our room, below (this photo was taken using the super zoom lens). But what we found most shocking was the resort and area that surrounded Niagara was just so tacky, the tourist area of clifton hill was just a joke. It is hard to believe that just 500 yards from one of the most beautiful site of nature streets littered with tack that makes blackpool seem like a 5* resort (not that we have ever been there...but we've seen the pictures!!) We did take pictures to prove it but we actually forgot to upload them opps!!
Contented with our stay in Canada we felt it was time to return to the USA, we do however think that it was made a little too easy for those trying to flee the great white north illegally??? maybe all the gingers fleeing the persecution in the Commonwealth......(Hannah you know what I'm talking about)
As we crossed the International Bridge the views of the falls improved greatly,
Eh sonior queek makea rrrun forr thee border!!! (to find this funny please affect a Mexican accent)
Passing through passport control was relatively painless (no jokes about rubber gloves please)
'Do you have anything with you?'
'Just my brother....'
We arrived back in the USA and entered Niagara Falls State Park and crossed, for the first time on foot, Niagara River. we were amazed at the speed at which the water flowed yet how quiet it was, the immense roar of the falls almost inaudible from our vantage point which, as you can see, was not far at all from the edge of oblivion
Eventually we reached our destination for the evening, the American side of the Falls and aptly named 'American Falls' quite incredible, the roar now very much audible, as nearly 500,000 gallons of water rushed over the edge every second and plummeted onto the rocks below....
As the light began to fail and the stomachs began to rumble the two migrants decided to once again make a dash for the border to return, this time to the Commonwealth, where Routemasters run and the Queen is on the money...as it should be! We ate a delicious meal at Montana's restaurant a Canadian Bar and Grill chain, more on that later.... We should mention here that the US side of the resort / area is tacky but it is less spoilt than the Canadian side; we have to be honest we always thought it would be the other way around. The tack was more inside tack rather than in you face; however the most obvious eyesore is the massive casino! Honestly there is no way in a million years if I was a gambler that i would come here over Vagas!!!
Then to bed for tomorrow was a special day.
The morning arrived, oh joy! morning of all mornings you have come... Sunday when we can go to church and celebrate in the joys of the Lord.... some of Yellowstone has rubbed off on me. It also happened to be Chris's Birthday. Three cards were opened and Chris wasn't sure which was the greatest... the Epic from Hannah, the poo in the pool joke from Kate or the Man United insult from the parentals????
A moose also appeared...
We then spent nearly an hour on Skype to mum and dad, although 2/3 of our readers already know this and I'm pretty sure the other 1/3 doesn't care. Nevertheless we did speak to mum and dad who seemed determined to congratulate Chris on making it to twenty years old... that's right all odds defied he made it!!!
We had determined that we would not return to the USA and would today visit the Canadian side of the falls.. but first we had to once again ascend on of the tallest buildings in North America, the Skylon Tower, from there we got our first real views of the falls...
We even managed to get along...
The Canadian Falls with the tiny Maid of the Mist boats disappearing into the mists of Horseshoe falls, we planned to go down there later on.
and the rocky based American Falls...
it was amazing to watch the sea-birds surfing off the edge of the falls disappearing into the mist and then flying out. Such brave little birdies...
The International Bridge joining the United States of America (right) with Canada (left) the boundary being right in the centre of the bridge at the mid point of the Niagara river.
We then made our way down to the Maid of the Mist, yesterday we had spotted that the of the two entrances the Canadian Maid of the Mist was quieter. However today it was the busier, only had to wait 10minutes so we are not complaining!!! Waiting gave us time to apply our such flattering poncho's and get annoyed with screaming children...no change there then!!
Eventually boarding the maid of the mist we went against the crowd, everyone heads to the front, obviously this is a good spot you see yourself head into the mist, however when you are a good 3/4 of the way back to board the chance of getting a good spot is minimal. Whilst waiting we had the opportunity to spot the route of the boat the best pictures we believe would be from the back as the boat turns to return to dock revealing a rather spectacular view. So you guessed it we head for the rear!
Once on the boat you already got a feel for the shear power of the falls as the wind picked up dramatically it was like being in a storm back home, the spray and the winds were quite amazing.
The American Falls were stunning the rocks that have obviously detached over the years vary in size but the most significant one's are the size of small two story houses quite incredible.
What is most significant at the Canadian falls is the Mist, it is really incredible and it will all depend on wind direction as to how much and how early it soaks you!!! As you can see you get covered in a wet bubble.....
...as a drenched Christoph shows here.....no gel in the morning, hair styled by nature in the afternoon!!!!
We had sneaked across the boarder whilst on the water haha no passport control out here haha! But on docking had returned to the Canadian side still we thought it was appropriate to raise the union flag on the boat to claim the Niagara river, Maid of the Mist IV and Niagara Falls for Her Majesty!
We disembarked the Maid of the Mist only to be stuck in a queue for a good 15 minutes waiting for elevators (lifts, dad). We hadn't moved an inch in 15 minutes before a jovial employee announced there had been an emergency upstairs and we would remain here until it was sorted and with that he disappeared! A few minutes later after lots of questions and even the photographic employees looking confused the announcement came that we could be here another 30 minutes....at this point it was asked...
..'are there stairs??' a simple and sane question considering in lifts you are told in case of fire use the stairs it was concluded there must be a set!
'yes, you can risk taking them as we don't know where they go' .... OK well they are stairs so one assumes they would go up or down and unless they go below the earths crust we would not be to far wrong to say they would go upwards!
With that people appeared from the lifts, it was announced that a power failure had been the problem and that they were running tests to check the elevators were now properly working before they would let us on.
5 minutes later we arrived at the surface now in need of some food. Chocolate seemed the common need for us both, as a result we went for the mini Rolos, Mongo won the battle against the ever present MandM's!! We were joined in our meal of Rolos and juice by a finch, very friendly he was to... so polite!!!!!
From here we made our way down the Niagara state park (Ontario, Canada) walkway that follows the Niagara river to the Canadian Falls. On passing the American falls a fabulous rainbow was becoming ever present. A delightful ray of colours against such a stunning back drop.
Similarly at the Canadian Falls it was just magical and amazingly beautiful...
Over the past two weeks,the number of fountains that we'd seen made it difficult to comprehend that this water rushing over the edge was not being pumped back to the top to flow over again and again. the only way any of this water was getting back to the top was evaporation and precipitation, the millions and millions of gallons of water was all fresh. Amazingly looking into the water we noticed that the river itself could not be more than 1 to 2 feet deep at the edge of the falls, though when watching the water it seems so much deeper.
We began to make our way back to Montana's restaurant for dinner before returning to the park for the 10pm firework display, customary on Sunday and Friday nights... and Chris' Birthday. As we passed the Skylon tower we noticed the sun setting behind it created an almost extra-terrestrial effect on the tower.
At Montana's as we waited for our meal Kate discovered that, oh joy of joys, the table came with a paper table cloth and a pot of crayons... can put two and two together as only she can...(this is not true, many people can put two and two together...even Kate) and set to work decorating the table with her drawings, flowers, trees and the Union Flag were her muses; no questions as to where this table's occupants came from...
The food arrived..... Dribble.....Dribble....Dribble (sorry but I don't know how to spell allllgghhhhh.... oh I guess I do) Is that not the best looking steak that you've ever seen....
Dinner consumed we set off back to the falls, at only 7:30 one of us had the intention of finding a 'good spot and holding it until 10pm' who could that have been??? nevertheless a good spot was found... a prime spot in fact not too close that we'd be craning our necks upwards but not so far away that we wouldn't see anything.
Interesting fact we were told by our lift operator at the Skylon tower that 800 years ago the two sets of falls were joined, though over the years the Canadian falls (right) have eroded backwards upriver. he also said that in about 12,000 years time there will be nothing here but some rapids. Thanks to erosion, every second that these great falls exist the move themselves a second closer to their death...
with the sun setting, now seemed as good as any to once again assert British claim and dominion over the land upon which we stood. Here we see tha Great Flag raised with some of her junior apprentice nations. One day they will be called Great America and Great Canada, but not yet...
The fort had been held for maybe an hour when it became necessary for a change of the guard... that is only for as long as half of the guard party needs to bugger off to answer the call of nature (must be all the running water), can you spot her... she's in there.
Eventually darkness fell and the lights came on colouring the falls beautifully...
Then, at 10pm on the dot a huge explosion signalled the commencement of festivities, at last something to drown out the sound of the car horns of Spanish Football supporters, apparently they'd won some important footy game??? The fireworks were absolutely immense and a huge number of photo's were taken. My little camera, who has really been the star of theis trip so far, did its best but was unable to quite capture the enormity of the fireworks. no worries it was all caught on film by Kate... too big to upload to the blog though sorry. The camera, as I said did it's best and didn't let us down much...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 20TH CHRISTOPHER JULY 11TH 2010
The Adventures of Mongo and the Boy, written and experienced by
Kate 'I know what to do for two and a half hours...Sod All!!!' Davies
and
Chris 'A good soldier never abandons his post...nor does a pillock with a camera' Davies.
p.s
Whilst doing not much at our vantage point we made a little mini-movie for you, enjoy... Woah! Banter!
Mum and Dad, if you're not quite sure what's going on here then watch this it's really funny!
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