Wet Wet Wet

MP3 track of the day - Love is all around: Wet Wet Wet (actually anything by Wet Wet Wet will do)

Weather: Sunny but very windy in the morning
Raining, very windy and down to 5oc in the afternoon












Well 24hrs ago I was sat in the same seat deciding whether to go to Niagara Falls or not; I'd just been on the BBC weather website and it said 'heavy rain' for Toronto ... however Niagara is about 40 miles from here (Couldn't get a weather report for Niagara). I looked at the clouds outside and all seemed okay, so I decided to let fate decide; I continued to get ready as normal and if I made the 10am bus then I went, if not then I'll go to Niagara another day.

I then went for breakfast; I decided to be a little more 'Canadian' and I ordered pancakes with maple syrup. Now, coming from the UK, I was expecting those small scotch pancakes ... the pancakes cost $5.00 (around £3.00) so around 4 I thought would be good value. What I got were two pancakes the size of my pate and two times thicker than said scotch pancakes. Looking at it, I reckon I had the equivalent of 12 scotch pancakes and funnily enough, I didn't eat it all.

I did make it to the bus station (Derby's bus station is allot better) and boarded the 'non-stop' Coach Canada to Niagara. Getting off at the bus station all seemed well, the sky was bright with fluffy white clouds; however once off the coach I was hit by, what seemed like hurricane force winds (okay maybe not, but they were really strong). Still, instead of getting the 'Niagara shuttle' to the falls, I decided to take the 30min walk along the waters edge (worth it in my opinion).

The falls are stunning (check out my pics of Flickr), simply stunning. the amount of water that flows off these falls is staggering and apparently 20% of the worlds fresh water flows here. I decided to take pictures along the falls first, then have lunch, followed by a tour 'behind the falls' and finally going on board the 'maid of the mist' (as it turned out this was the best itinerary and you will find out why below).

Once I had taken photos, the heavens opened and I decided to grab something to eat (pizza). It was still spitting after lunch and so I decided to take a trip 'behind the falls'. This was ace; there was a tunnel which allowed you to see the water from behind the falls (it was just like staring into a sheet of moving white ... there is an image on Flickr). Then there was another tunnel to a viewing platform that was just at the side of the falls. The first platform was pretty well protected and I felt I was just inches from the falls themselves ... It was incredible. The second platform was an open platform which I stayed on for about 10 seconds; the power of the falls was so immense that I couldn't keep my eyes open and I was getting battered by the water. Being thoroughly wet I decided to leave this attraction and move onto the 'maid of the mists' (I was already wet so why not?).

When I had walked the 20 mins to the maid of the mists I was pretty much dry (thanks to my super dry trousers) but decided to go on it anyway. This trip made the 'behind the falls' look like I little sprinkle of water. The ship went straight into the mist of the falls and it was so difficult to look at where we were going. When I wasn't getting battered by the water the views were fantastic, simply stunning.

Now on board the ship I made my only mistake of the day; my hands were getting cold and so I put my gloves on. When I got off the ship I could put my hands into fists and water would pour out of the gloves (much to the amusement of the Chinese tourists); my feet felt they were submerged in cold water and, thigh down, I was totally wet. I therefore decided three things;

• One it was it time to head for home (I'd been at the falls for 4 hours),


• Secondly I decided to walk back as it was still windy and so I would get dryer, and warmer, more quickly than taking a shuttle.


• Finally the third thing was just how impressive these falls were. Going on the 'maid of the mist' gave me a real appreciation for the power off 'mother nature', simply incredible.

The other thing that was weird was that I was on the boarder between two countries; during my voyage on the ship, I was very close to the coast of the USA. It was difficult to work out; coming from the UK there is a sea between us and any other nation, this was just a river with bridges connecting the two countries. Both nations had flags flying, with the Americans (what a surprise) having the largest flag.

I got back to my hostel around 6pm; I changed my socks, looked after my feet (very important for travelling, number one priority) and hung up my gloves. I then went out for something to eat, went through my photos and headed to sleep.

It has been a good day!