Leaving Kingston we traveled to Niagara Falls through Toronto, the traffic was horrendous and we thought we would never make it. Finally arriving at the Sheraton to a partially overcast day, after a quick bite in the Hard Rock Cafe it was off to explore the Falls.
Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States; more specifically, between the province of Ontario and New York state. They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge.
From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Horseshoe Falls lies on the border of the United States and Canada with the American Falls entirely on the United States' side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the United States' side, separated from the other waterfalls by Luna Island. The international boundary line was originally drawn through Horseshoe Falls in 1819, but the boundary has long been in dispute due to natural erosion and construction.
Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world that has a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m). Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by flow rate. The falls are 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, and 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Toronto, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Falls was formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide. More than six million cubic feet (168,000 m3) of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost four million cubic feet (110,000 m3) on average.
Niagara Falls is famed both for its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Balancing recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century.
The boat trip to under the falls was a great experience we but great.
We also did the Journey Behind the Falls tour behind the falls where you go through the tunnels.
The Journey consists of an observation platform and series of tunnels near the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian shore of the Niagara River. The tunnels and platform can be reached by elevators from the street level entrance.
The two tunnels extend approximately 46 metres (151 ft) behind the waterfall and allow visitors to view water cascading in front of the open cave entrances. Earlier in the attraction's history visitors were permitted far closer to the portals' edge to view a perspective to the sides and below the falling water. Barricades now exist further back from the ledge at the end of the tunnels to ensure visitor safety.
The observation deck provides a vantage point looking up with the falls to the right, allowing photographers a full view of the famous landmark. The deck is sprayed with water from the cascade so we were provided with plastic raincoats.
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| Original Unused tunnels |
Night views of the city.
They light up the falls as it gets dark, the lights remained on until about 10pm.
Monday morning was raining so we decided to head back via the USA after a casual breakfast.
The view from the restaurant was a bit misty..
We headed off to the USA border where we were stopped and had to go through immigration, the trip to the Canadian border took us longer than expected as we got caught up in a traffic jam due to a truck accident and then the GPS wanted to take us on a different route that would have added 100 km so we gave her a miss and navigated our own way to the Canadian border where we had to wait an hour due to the holiday traffic.
