falls guide

On the second day of our recent trip to Toronto, we travelled to Niagara Falls, which was a breathtaking experience! We were driven there by Paula’s nephew Eugene, who grew up in Hong Kong but who now lives in Canada. And we were accompanied by Eugene’s younger brother Eric and their mother Christina, Paula’s sister, who had also travelled to Toronto for the wedding. This was my first sight of the falls:

Niagara Falls is actually two separate waterfalls, and the previous photo is a view of the American Falls, separated by Goat Island from the Canadian Falls, also known as the Horseshoe Falls because of their distinctive curved shape:

In fact, if you look closely at the first photo above, you will notice a small separate waterfall on the right. This is the Bridal Veil Falls, separated from the American Falls by Luna Island. Both Goat Island and Luna Island are part of the US state of New York, so effectively the Horseshoe Falls straddles the international border between the USA and Canada.

There is a promenade along the top of the gorge on the Canadian side of the river, which we walked along and then returned to where we started. This is a different view of the American Falls that I took as we walked back:

You will probably have noticed boats in each of the last three photos, and that would be our next objective. As we made our way slowly down to the water level I spotted a notice that read “Ponchos will be distributed after ticket verification”. My initial thought was that I wouldn’t bother, because there would only be some spray, but in the end I’m glad I ignored my first reaction to the notice:

In fact, there wasn’t much spray as we passed the American Falls, but it certainly got a lot wetter as we approached the Horseshoe Falls:

After taking the previous photo, I decided to put my phone away, because we were no longer dealing with spray. It was like torrential rain as we ventured within 15 metres of the base of the waterfall.

After our boat ride, Eugene planned to cross to the US side of the river with his mother and brother and spend the night there, so Paula and I would catch a bus back to Toronto. But first, we would venture into the city of Niagara Falls to see whether there was anything interesting to see. We immediately found ourselves in ‘Strange Street’. To understand why I gave this thoroughfare such a name, check out the next two photos:

We turned left where I took the second photo and immediately found ourselves walking past a small park filled with life-size models of dinosaurs. I identified a brontosaurus and a stegosaurus, and this terrifying rendition of Tyrannosaurus rex:

After passing the park, we cut back down towards the river, because we’d been told that the bus terminus was located just upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. Of course, I took a few more photos, including this one of the American Falls:

The final four photos are all closer views of the Horseshoe Falls, although the third photo also shows the American Falls in the distance and therefore provides some measure of the relative positions of the two waterfalls:

The last photo is a view from the top of the waterfall.

And that was our visit to Niagara Falls. My next report will describe the first of three days walking forest trails.

the magic roundabout

Paula and I have just returned from a memorable trip to Toronto. The reason for the trip had been to attend the wedding celebrations of Paula’s brother’s daughter, but we decided to extend our stay so that we could also fit in some sightseeing. Paula had mentioned visiting a tower in the city centre on our first day, but I didn’t really think about it, even when I heard Paula’s nephew Eugene booking a table for lunch in the tower’s restaurant.

However, as we approached the city centre, the penny finally dropped. The CN Tower is unmistakeable:

And it is obvious where the tower’s restaurant is located.

We were early, so we took a short walk around the immediate area. Directly across the street from the tower is what would once have been a railway locomotive depot in the form of a roundhouse, where spur lines radiate out in all directions from a central turntable. It now appears to be a kind of railway museum, and I took the next two photos here:

And then it was time for lunch. Although our table was next to the window, and I was sitting nearest to the window, it took me several minutes to notice that we were actually moving relative to the outside world. From that point, I stood up every five–ten minutes to take a photo of the ground below:

The water in the distance in the first two photos is Lake Ontario, one of North America’s five Great Lakes. Incidentally, one rotation of the restaurant took about 75 minutes.

After lunch, we took a ferry to Centre Island, the largest of a group of islands off the city’s waterfront that are known collectively as the Toronto Islands. Although ferries are frequent, they do appear to be always crowded. I took this photo from the ferry as we crossed to the island:

The terrain of Centre Island can best be described as parkland:

We saw quite a lot of wild geese on the island, including this small gaggle:

Smaller islands are connected to the main island by bridges:

I took the previous photo, and also the next photo, while waiting in the long queue for the ferry back to the city:

And that was our first day in Toronto. We went to Niagara Falls the following day.