Niagara, City with a Waterfall

Today is scheduled for a trip to Niagara, the city with its famous waterfall. First off to Mike's for breakfast. 

On the way I finally manage to get a picture of one of the North American robins. They are quite abundant, but never stay still enough for long enough to get a photo.

Vera reinforces the Facebook training from last night, which seems to have stuck, and shows him how to access and navigate this blog so that he will be able to follow our progress.

Then over the road to the Eastgate Mall bus station to catch the 44 to Confederation Parkway interchange where we pick up the long distance Go bus to Niagara. All of this done on our Presto travel cards. The bus to Niagara is full, we get the last two seats but have to split up, other people have to stand. 90 minutes later we are in Niagara bus station.

We set off walking, down to the river and if we simply follow this upstream we must find the falls. Right?

Some interesting and quirky houses along the way

Eventually a plume of spray suggests that something big is just round the corner

The American falls 

and the even more impressive Canadian falls. The water is really green, with green streaks running down the fall. The spray surges back up, as if trying to return to the upper river. We stare at the endless flow of water, surging over the lip

It's lunchtime, so we grab a burger each and share a beer. I've nearly finished when suddenly the last mouthful of burger is grabbed out of my hand. A seagul has swooped from behind, over my shoulder, and flown off in triumph. Much to the amusement of people nearby.

After lunch we go on The Journey Behind The Falls. This is a tunnel that has been dug through the rock upstream of the falls, with two tunnels then driven at right angles to this to create observation windows onto the falling water. I also learn that most of the river water is diverted through hydro-electric tunnels and never goes over the waterfall. The falls in full flow must have been even more spectacular than today, but the scheme has reduced the rate of erosion and means the rate of recession has been reduced from 10 feet per year to only one foot every ten years

The whole tunnel vibrates from the water that crashes into the fall base. The observation windows are just a sheet of water, occasionally blown into the tunnel by the turbulence of the backdraft

The water flowing over the lip, as seen from below

We don't fancy the walk back to the bus station, so go and enquire about the green line city bus. It turns out that we can't use our Presto cards on this, nor can they sell a ticket to get us to the station. Only a 24 hour pass costing $10. Each. Public transport in Ontario has been so good and seamless, up to now. 

We go and lie on the grass, in the shade of a tree, and ponder our options. At 4.30 the option we fancy is the early bird dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top of the skylon tower. This option runs out at 5 o'clock so we are now under some time pressure. Luckily I have my local guide who knows the way, and we arrive with two minutes to spare.

The restaurant is 250 above the ground and the views, in the clear air, are quite amazing. The falls look spectacular from above

After dinner we wander around the observation deck, and then start our journey back. Our bus leaves at 19.42, we have 15 minutes to get there. The Skylon reception desk phones for a taxi. 12 minutes to get there. The yellow cab approaches. 8 minutes to go. The driver doesn't think we will make it, but also doesn't think the bus will be leaving on time. 

We reach the station, the bus is sat there, our driver parks in front of the bus, and we've made it with seconds to spare. We're really happy, so I phone Mike to let him know that we're on our way back to Hamilton. No phone. Where's my phone? I search my pockets, I search my bag. No phone. I'm resigned to the loss, but it's a big deal for Vera as her phone has been having a lot of connection issues.

So we get off the bus, I empty my bag (still no phone). Vera repeatedly calls my phone, hoping the driver will answer, but no luck. Our plan now is to return to the Skylon, get details of the taxi, try and call them. We go into a coffee shop and ask if the can get us a cab - luckily my local guide speaks the local language. A yellow cab arrives, and we pour out our tale of woes to Abdul. He takes charge, calling the control room to find that our first driver was Mert. He calls Mert. Mert finds my phone. Abdul and Mert arrange a rendezvous, the phone is exchanged, and we get back to the bus station for the 20.42 back to Hamilton 

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