Eliza_1

Today I visited Niagara Falls, which is the most spectacular falls I have ever seen. The postcards really don’t do them justice!! Our tour guides name was Larry and he was the entrepreneur on our cruise boat The Maid of the Mist. He was really informative and told us that there was no way we would be washed away by the falls because our boat was named after the mythical Ongiara Indian character who has “carried” passengers into the through the whirlpools of the Falls to safety since 1846. We arrived at the boat dock on the Canadian side of the falls (the Falls are situated on the border division of USA and Canada) near the bottom of Cliffton Hill, at around 9.30am. There was around 20 of us all wrapped up in our warmest jackets, scarves and beanies, trying not to shiver in the cold morning air (we were later told the temperature at that time in the morning is -4 in the autumn months). The noise was incredible. It was almost impossible to talk to the other tourists (or complain about the cold), so we communicated based on a set of nods, head shakes and thumbs up/down. At around 9.45am (right on schedule), we saw the Maid pull into view, through the watery mist. It reminded me of a heroic movie scene for some reason. When the boat was pulled onto the large wooden dock we first met Larry, he jumped down the small set of ladder rungs and shouted introductions in a very happy way (all I could think was how sore this poor mans throat would be after a day at work). Larry gave us a rundown on our tour, we would be setting off from this point on the Niagara River and then travel towards the [|American] and [|Bridal Veil] Falls, and we would then experience the dense mist of the renowned [|Horseshoe Falls] and curve around back to our port, near Queen Victoria Park. The whole tour would take around ½ hour. After been issued our navy blue Maid of the Mist rain ponchos, we were given a quick rundown on safety pre-cautions and emergency protocol. We learned that the Maid of the Mist was involved in the rescue of 7 year old Roger Wood ward in July 1960, when he became the first person to survive a plunge over Horseshoe Falls with nothing but a life jacket. Larry pleaded that we not make this day as eventful. We then boarded the Maid, we had two options: we could go inside the vessel and watch the falls through glass and with the accompaniment of Larry’s voice over or we could stay on deck and experience the full blown Niagara experience. I opted for the second choice (once in a lifetime hey!) and stayed on deck as we moved off port. We could still hear Larry’s commentary at this stage and learned that less than 10% of the Falls water came from the approaching American Falls, with the remaining 90% coming from the Horseshoe Falls, and it was this mass volume of water flow that gave the water the greenish colouring. As the American Falls drew nearer the noise increased, Larry went on to tell us that these Falls were 55m in height and 330m long and is backed by the Bridal Veil Falls (the baby of the three waterfalls) which is only 17m wide and 24m in height. Looking up at the Falls felt like I was watching a massive white sheet been endlessly dropped and I could not even begin to comprehend the 6 million cubic feet of water that was falling over the crest-line every minute. If I thought this was unbelievable however upon approaching Horseshoe Falls I was amazed. At this stage Larry’s commentary had been completely drowned over by the sheer volume of noise. I put in the ear plugs that were supplied on board the Maid. You could tell by the shape of the Falls how it had derived its name as it had an enormous curving shape. (I later learned the Horseshoe Falls were 53m in height and 152m in width). The nearer the boat approached, the less I could actually see as the mist at this stage was very dense. We curved around beneath the base of these falls and nearly everyone came out on deck to experience it. Words still can’t describe the beauty. As we drew away from the falls I went inside the Maid for a little break (and a coffee) and listened to Larry inform us about the Falls contribution to generating the world’s largest amount of hydroelectricity. I sat down too watch all the tiny falls around us tried there best to outdo their big brothers and as we pulled into port I felt almost sad. It was one of the best experiences in my life. And as we said thanks and farewell to Larry I assured I would always treasure the memory of the tour. i have included some pictures of the falls.