Canada with Michael and Amy - Canadian Niagara Falls

I had been to the Niagara Falls on the Canadian side in 1993 on another sabbatical. It was nice to go back and take time to enjoy it all. It was pretty brief last time.

After our drive down we found our motel. Then we drove to a nice diner for dinner. Then we drove down to the falls and caught the last 5 minutes of the light show. Very cool. Then we worked out the geography and returned to our motel for the exciting day coming up.

After breakfast we walked down through Clifton Hill, this mini–Las Vegas weird area complete with Frankenstein Burger King. We did not linger. Instead, we headed for the first boat ride of the day. All decked out in our red ponchos we joined a big Korean school group and headed out onto the Niagara River. 

AI tells me that “ The Niagara River is a 58-kilometer waterway flowing north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the international border between Ontario, Canada, and New York, USA. It is renowned for hosting the massive Niagara Falls, which features the highest flow rate in North America. The river serves as a major tourist destination, ecological corridor for over 1250 species, and a significant source of hydroelectric power.“ Goat Island splits the river with the American and Bridle Falls on one side, and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls on the other. Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by flow rate. The two smaller American Falls crash down on rocks and are collapsing slowly becoming a steep rapid rather than waterfalls.

The USA boat is the Maid of the Mist. The Canadian boat is the Niagara City Cruises. They travel almost under the Horseshoe Falls for quite some time allowing people to experience the spray both coming off the falls and being blown back off the surface creating quite the wind. It was an amazing thing to stand their and just be blasted. The red ponchos worked well.

Having experienced below the falls we decided to be uber-touristy. we walked up to the top of the falls and watched the water flowing over the plunge point. Little birds were floating with the current to that point and then taking off using the up draft from the waterfall. What fun they were having. The last time I was there it was calmer. But even with the waves it is mesmerising to just watch that water calmly flow to the edge and go over. Up to 168,000 cubic metres of water thunders over the brink of the Horseshoe Falls every second, traveling 65 kilometres per hour. Such quiet power.

We then went up to the old Niagara Parks Power Station and tunnel. This was where the work of Nikola Tesla was used to generate power. It is now set out to tell the story of Tesla – the real inventor and scientist, and Edison who was keen to defend his Direct Current system even though it was inferior. We might remember his name more, but he doesn’t come out of this story well. You can find out more about the “Ware of Currents” here. Tesla won the war and we use Alternating Current. So, a great display about the Power Station and Tesla, and after a quick snack and coffee in the café we ventured down 55m into the tunnel. This was the old overflow tunnel and is now a tourist attraction that takes you nearly 700m back to the falls where we were offered a different perspective on this awesome phenomenon.

We walked back to the main visitor centre, where Amy left us for a work zoom call. After lunch and then went down 40m into Journey Behind The Falls. These were first dur in 1832 to allow people to go behind the falls and experience the ”Sheet of Falling Water”. I can’t imagine what that would have been like for those workmen digging by hand and the falls roared. It was awesome to go out to the end of these tunnels and be deafened and soaked with the power and force of that water. Again, these tunnels offered a lightly different perspective from right at the edge of the Falls from the Power Station Tunnel. What a day! You can find my Facebook past of the day here

After a little rest we set off to Niagara on the Lake, a beautiful little village on Lake Ontario. On the way we tried to do some wine tasting but had left a bit late. We did find one place that did “ice wine” who were willing to offer a quick tasting. The grapes are left on the vine until they freeze, and the result is a lovely, sweet dessert wine. Amy bought a wee not cheap bottle which we drank slowly back in Toronto. Thanks Amy.

NOTL is a sweet little place with wonderful street decorations – big flower tubs and hanging pots. Colourful and delightful. We found a lovely little restaurant and had a very nice meal to end a wonderful day.

The next day Amy wanted to experience dawn at the Falls. The sun came up over the American Falls and offered and magical way to finish  our time. Michael drove us to a Tim Hortons – a Canadian institution for breakfast, and we took it to Crystal Beach where we quickly ate and drank – it was cold.

The next stop was Niagara Park Butterfly House. What an amazing place. they import butterfly cocoon from all over the world, hatch them and then you can experience them flying in this beautiful warn enclosure. We watched some hatching and then quite some time enjoying having them fly around us, land on us, and just living their best life on all the food (plants) they were provided. I’d go again in a heartbeat. A joy filled way to finish a grand adventure. And then it was back to Toronto and more adventures there. You can find my other facebook photos here