Day Sixteen ... now that's a waterfall

Ah Niagara  ... you are truly amazing! Today we spent the day at Niagara Falls, exploring all facets of the Falls. When we got up this morning we couldn't see the Falls from our hotel but we could see the water plume rising from the river ... so our anticipation was high. [I've included some photos from last night from our room]

We headed out and made our way to the Maid of the Mist. We were unsure about how long the queue would be so decided to head straight there to see if we could get on the earliest boat possible. When you purchase your tickets you book for a day not a time and getting on the boat is on a first come first served basis.

As it turns out ... we were the first in the queue! And first on the boat so we had prime position at the front of the boat. We received our complimentary pink poncho and were warned that if we stayed out the front we would get wet ... and that we did.

The Maid is a 20 minute trip that takes you right up onto Horseshoe Falls. The Falls have a flow of 2.5 million litres/sec (in summer) so the pounding water is intense. I chickened out when we got to the most central part of the journey ... but Ian stayed the distance along with Kooky and Roo (who ended up absolutely drenched). The entire cruise was a fantastic experience. To be that close to the pounding Falls is an experience you just need to have.

After a cruise we headed back to the car so Ian could get changed into some dry clothes before we headed off to Goat Island. This island sits just above the Falls and is accessible via a walk bridge.  It is about 1 km² and whilst you can catch a trolley car/bus to take you around we instead chose to walk it.

We circumnavigated the island starting at the quieter end (away from the Falls) and where you can see the river quite peaceful, where it splits around the island to either head to American and Bridal Falls in one direction or to Horseshoe Falls in the other. As the river nears the Falls it appears to become more choppy, white capped and to flow more rapidly. As we wandered the island we also completed two Ad Labs - one of which was all about the very brainless people who have gone over the Falls (some who survived but most did not).

At the end of the island closest to the Falls there are viewing platforms which allow you to see them close up. The rainbows were in full force, you could see the Maid of the Mist below and you can marvel at the sheer force of nature. 

Leaving behind Goat Island we headed to the hotel one last time to grab a power brick the kind desk staff were charging for us (we both crashed last night and forgot to pop them on to charge), and then we headed towards Rainbow Bridge, which is the bridge that connects the US to Canada across the river.

Going through a turnstile gate at the bridge we left America and walked across to Canada. We went through immigration where we had to produce our passports and were asked what the nature of our visit was and how long we were staying in Canada (um ... to see the Falls from the other side and maybe a couple of hours) and then we entered Canada. 

We then spent a pleasant couple of hours viewing the Falls from Canada, having a delicious ice cream from Reg's Candy Kitchen (having a lovely chat with Reg about how to pronounce pecan and a not so lovely chat about climate change), wandering down to the far end of the Falls through the spray and getting a little wet again and completing our first Ad Lab in Canada.

We then returned to the US (again through immigration  ... again asked about what we did in Canada). We sat by the Niagara River eating our leftovers from dinner last night (yes we are cheap!) and enjoyed watching the madness of the river. We then headed to the car, repacked our suitcases and navigated our way to Buffalo Niagara International Airport where we said goodbye to our little box on wheels and dropped off our bags and went to security.

Our journey to our gate took a little longer than usual as when we got to security Ian's ticket for the flight had an error in it (his name was Jian) so we had to go back yo check in to have it corrected. Then when we got to security again his birth date was wrong  ... so back we went to have that fixed. It was quite a comedy of errors! Luckily we were at the airport in plenty of time. 

Our flight to Chicago was delayed by about an hour but the pilot (and air traffic control) did a great job catching us up some time and we arrived into O'Hare only about half an hour late. The airport is really industrial but very impressive. We blitzed the airport  ... negotiating all the signs and people to get to the luggage carousel, collect our luggage, and then get to the station to catch the train to the city.

The train dropped us at a station just a couple of blocks from our hotel.  With the assistance of the station supervisor we were headed in the right direction and with suitcases in tow we walked in the drizzling rain to reach it.  Quickly checked in to our room for the next 3 nights and as I finish the blog, Ian is checking emails 

For all my ladies who love pretty things  ... these are in the window at Macy's (yes I did stop in the rain to take photos!)

Another fabulous day. Travelling is so much fun. (I am sure all of my curly girl friends will understand and forgive my wayward hair today ... constant sprays of water and warmth  = frizz!).

Today's tally  ...

Photos  - 525

Steps - 24,985

Kms walked - 19.13 km

Ad Labs - 3 (our first one in Canada too!)