NIAGARA FALLS – it also rains and blows a gale

Saturday – The day has not dawned well.  It is raining and the wind is strong enough to take you to the other side of the street without much effort.  But first things first – and that means breakfast. The hotel has a small breakfast area. Did I say small?  It is tiny, tiny.

There is no hot food only basic pastries, muffins and toast.  Juice and coffee is available but of course seating is at a premium.  This is not helped by thoughtless people who buy their hot meals elsewhere and then bring them back to the hotel.  Why they cannot take them to their room is beyond me, but no they plonk themselves in this matchbox and continue to stuff themselves.  But enough – let’s get on with the day.

We are told that today is the last day of the season for Maid of the Mist and as a special thank you to their customers they are not charging fees.  We decide that we are brave enough to face the weather so off we go.  We are practically at right angles to the footpath as we push ourselves along and wonder if this is such a good idea.

We arrive at the Tourist Centre which is only about 5 minutes from the Falls – Kylie and I are in desperate need of coffee and as luck will have it there is a small eatery with all kinds of food and a coffee shop.  While we are slurping we decide to see the Niagara Falls movie all about the discovery and history and going over the falls in a barrel.  Some fun!  They also have a Souvenir outlet so we will visit that on our return.

Back out into the wind and rain – but it is only light and in no time we are at the place where we don our lovely blue wet weather gear – see photo above.  Definitely not haute couture but it serves the purpose.  One size fits all – and away we go.

Walking down the pathway in the rain – what an adventure.  Our boat returns from the previous journey and we are ready to board.  These photos are taken from my point and shoot waterproof camera – not my big Canon.  All the tourists head toward the front of the boat from where, they hope, they will get some really good action shots of the Falls.  We decide that we will head the other way towards the back of the boat where there looks to be reasonable shelter.  We are correct.

On the left side we pass the American Falls.  Aren’t they incredible?  See that tiny platform on the left side of the photo?  That is where we stood last night.

Even though the weather is lousy, the cruise is really great.  There are some people who have had second thoughts and decided to come and join us at the back of the boat in relatively dry conditions but there is still plenty of room for us to walk from side to side and take photos so that is OK.

Arriving at the main part of the Falls – Horseshoe Falls – the boat does a few 360 degree turns so that no matter where you are standing you get a good view.

You also get more wet than you are already which is to be expected and I must admit the blue capes are doing their job extremely well, keeping our jackets and our heads dry.  Bottom of my jeans and shoes are a different story.  The noise of the water falling is incredible – such a roaring noise – like a train coming through a tunnel.

After a few spins it is time to head back to the dock but we still get more photos so that is good.  As we are coming back there is another boat full of blue caped crusaders heading up the river – they are in for a real treat.   Once back on the dock we head for the souvenir shops (of course).

We also decide we are really hungry by now so we decide to venture into the Days Inn because they have a Denny’s Restaurant.  Quite a few people inside but that does not deter us – it is dry and out of the weather.  We had planned on some night photography but because of the weather we have decided an early night is the best plan.

Heading back to our hotel we start to dry off our trousers – have nice hot showers and are soon tucked up in between the sheets – we are on the move again tomorrow.

Highlight of the day : the Maid of the Mist