After our stay in Toronto, we headed towards our next destinations in the Niagara region, bright and early. This portion of the trip was one of the more highly anticipated ones, as the Niagara Falls was something that the whole family had been looking forward to for a long time.
Our first order of the day, however, was to stop at wineries of the Niagara region. While I dislike drinking, I do like visiting wineries and vineyards, as they tend to be fairly scenic locations. On this journey, we stopped at two in particular: the Jackson-Trigg Niagara Estate, and the Peller Estates.
Along the way, we also stopped at the picturesque town of Niagara-on-the-Lake for photos.
Thereafter, we headed onwards, making a short stop to look at two hydroelectric power plants along the Niagara River (For those interested: The Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations on the Canadian side, and the Robert Moses Niagara Hydroelectric Power Station on the American side).
Then another short stop at the Niagara Whirlpool, which was an interesting natural geological formation, and quite an impressive sight.
From there, it was straight on to the town of Niagara Falls (Ontario) itself, where we were staying for the duration of our visit to the area. As we were on the Canadian side, we explored the area around the Horseshoe Falls first. Standing by the falls was a multi-sensory experience, with the sight and sound of the vast volumes of water thundering over the edge.
We also spent some time after nightfall to capture the falls after dark, but I'd say that I was somewhat less impressed with the lighting that was used to light up the falls. While the beams of light were fun to capture (as seen below), the falls themselves looked poorly and unevenly lit, and it was a bit of a let down for such a major tourist attraction.
Early the next morning, we crossed the international border via the Rainbow Bridge into the United States, so as to spend the day visiting the American side of the falls. Do note that traffic can build up at the international crossings, so an early start is always beneficial.
On this side, we got to experience the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls up close. We wandered the top of the escarpment, exploring Goat Island for all the different views, as well as going down to river level, via the Cave of the Winds attraction.
We also boarded the Maid of the Mist from the American side (though there's apparently no big difference in experience whether it's done from the Canadian or American sides), and it was definitely unforgettable. With these attractions, you're likely to get somewhat wet though, even with the provided raincoats, so be prepared.
The short GoPro video that I shot (badly) while we were on the boat gives a would give you a bit of an idea of how it was when we were up against the might of the Horseshoe Falls, much like the what boat in the photo above was doing.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msaqUJdNYhE]
After spending the entire day on the American side, we headed back across the border to Canada. Thus ended the final portion of our massive Canadian journey, and we began our long journey back to Singapore early the next morning.
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Till the next time,
Raylen