Part 5 - Niagara Falls

So it was a super early start today - up at 4.15am - to get to the airport for our flight to Toronto.  We were a bit delayed taking off and the flight was just over 5 hours so with the time difference by the time we arrived in Toronto it was after 4pm.  We then had to go an pick up our rental car and get on the road to Niagara Falls.  By this stage it was Friday afternoon, and peak hour, so the drive out to Niagara Falls which should have taken just over an hour, took over two hours.

We arrived in Niagara Falls about 6.45pm, checked into our hotel, and then wandered down to check out the Falls.  Thankfully given it was summer, and they have daylight savings, the sun doesn't go down until around 8.30pm, so we had plenty of sunlight left.

Having been here once before with mum, I had pre-warned Wade how tacky a place the town of Niagara Falls was.  He soon realised I wasn't lying!  He likened it to Sideshow Alley at the Ekka on crack and was very surprised that there could be such a demand for that many versions of haunted houses in the space of a few blocks!!

Once we got through that section though, we made our way down to where you could view the falls which was much more of a spectacular sight!  Once it gets dark, they light both the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls up in different colours.  Noting we had limited time here, we decided to do the Journey Behind the Falls tonight.  This takes you down to a viewing platform right beside the Canadian Falls where you can see the full force of the falls.  You also get to walk through the tunnels behind the falls, to a couple of viewing portals - it was crazy how loud the falls were from behind here.  Given it was a Friday too, they also had a concert on and fireworks at 10pm, so we hung around to see these and then headed back to the hotel to bed.

We got up nice and early and headed back down to the falls, so we jump on the boat that takes you up close and personal with the falls.  After putting on the required raincoat we got on the boat and off we went.  The boat takes you pretty close to the American Falls, but right in under the Canadian Falls - which is pretty amazing.  Clearly the raincoats don't quite cut it because we both still came off pretty wet!

After the boat trip we wandered back along the pathways to the top of the Canadian Falls and took a few more photos.  After this we headed back to our hotel to check out and drive back to Toronto.  In the end, we had spent less than 24 hours in Niagara Falls - which is basically all you need.  The Falls are amazing - the rest - not so much (but we knew this going in which is exactly why we only planned to stay that long)!

Here are some photos from our time in Niagara

Niagara Falls at night

Some shots from the Journey Behind the Falls

Morning walk to the boat - more Geese - still no ducks!

All ready for our boat ride!

Niagara Falls during the day

An example of the streets surrounding the falls!