| Lakes Erie and Ontario are joined by the quite short Niagara River, and the famous falls are part of this river. We
took a coach trip to Canada to see the falls, mainly to avoid complications
crossing the border with the RV and because they look much better from the
Canadian side. This is the American Falls, the smaller of the two main ones! |  |
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Even then they are most impressive. One of the best side trips is to go to
the 'Cave of the Winds' which is behind the falls. The line of tiny people
in yellow plastic macs at the bottom right are going there. |
| Another view with the comparatively small Bridal Falls
now showing more clearly on the far right. It is odd that the best view of
the American Falls is from the Canadian side. |  |
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The Americans had to build an observation tower to enable the falls to be
seen from their side. This shot was taken later in the day and the light is
being refracted by the mist to make a rainbow. |
| A close up of the tower with hundreds of people gazing
back at the falls. Makes you realise how insignificant we are in the face of
nature. |  |
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One of the most famous trips (and a licence to print money) is on one of the
five '"Maid of the Mist" boats which take you right up almost under the
Canadian or Horseshoe Falls. All the people on these trips have blue
raincoats. The boats from Canada were all full but those from the American
side had a bit more space. |
| The Canadian or Horseshoe Falls are truly impressive
with over a quarter of a million gallons a second pouring over its 675m
width in the quieter times and half as much again at peak. Sometimes they
are not so visible because of the spray which rises as a cloud. The falls
are 65m high and the pool at the bottom is as deep as the falls are high. |  |
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The boats come up right close and hover there with their powerful engines
holding them against the current and turbulent waters. The spray certainly
soaks those on the upper deck - which is why they come. |
| You can go behind the Horseshoe Falls through 200m of
tunnels, cut in 1939, although the noise is deafening. The spray soaks you
here as well. More yellow plastic bag raincoats. The water used to cut
through the rock and move the falls westward over a foot each year until the
20th century. Now erosion is less than an inch a year because so much water
is diverted to feed the huge hydroelectric power stations which supply most
of New York and Ontario. But the original falls were located over seven
miles downstream at the Niagara escarpment. |  |
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An interesting sideline is the railway and ramps where the Maid of the Mist
boats are stored each winter. The lakes are fresh water and freeze in the
winter resulting in chunks of ice on the falls and in the river. So the
boats only run in the season. Weather conditions in the winter can result in
an ice bridge across the river below the falls as high as a ten story
building. Since 1964 an ice boom in Lake Erie has reduced the ice and made
it less dangerous and damaging. |
| Downstream are the power stations. This is on the
American side and is not operating at full power today (they don't need so
much air conditioning.) The Canadian side is being enhanced and will have a
40% increase in output when it is completed. |  |
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Besides the power houses, there are huge arrays of switchgear to manage the
output as it is carried away. This is the Canadian gantry feeding the
switching station from the Sir Adam Beck power station itself. It has been
producing clean power since 1958. The first power station to generate power
from the Canadian side of the falls was just above the falls and produced
2100hp of dc current to power the electric railway. |
| A shot of the tour bus. These are common and are made
by the same manufacturers who build the RVs. Our tour had twelve passengers
but we lost one at the first stop. |  |
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The best way to see the falls and especially the rapids on the river is on
this jet boat which we spotted hurtling upriver towards the falls. I'm told
that on this trip you really do get WET! |
| The trip stopped at a botanical garden with a floral
clock whilst we waited for the chimes. The clock is so densely planted that
they weed and clip it from a plank resting on the plants and don't cause
significant damage. |  |
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The trip lasted over five hours and it was getting to be dusk by the end.
The falls are overlooked by an array of hotels and restaurants and casinos
for those not so inspired by nature. |
| We just admired the flowerbeds in the dying sun which
brought out the colours in the flowers and foliage really well. |  |
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And we end with a rare view of us with the water falling over the Horseshoe
Falls behind us and a rainbow arching overhead. |
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