Blog Post No. 10 – Niagara Region

On Wednesday July 17 we followed the 401 highway from Waterloo to Hamilton, then took the QEW highway to St. Catherine’s, where we stopped for provisions and did some banking.  We then continued to the “Lundy’s Lane Tourist Area” on the outskirts of Niagara Falls, and checked into Scott’s Campground and RV Park for two nights.  It was still very hot, so the girls had a swim in the pool before dinner.  After dinner we purchased our Niagara Falls Adventure passes, which included entrance to four popular attractions as well as unlimited access to the local bus system for 48 hours.  We took the bus to the main visitor centre at Table Rock, directly overlooking Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian portion of Niagara Falls), and did the first of the four activities in the package – the Journey Behind the Falls.  This involved taking an elevator down to a level near the base of the falls, and following tunnels which led to an observation area below the falls as well as two portals in behind the falls, where all we could see was a wall of water in front of us.  After a snack at Table Rock, we returned to our campsite for the night.

                                         10 Photos above: at Niagara Falls, the first evening

Thursday July 18 was Lyndsay’s 13^th birthday!  She wanted pancakes for her birthday breakfast, and Shannon wanted to go to IHOP some time on our trip, so we combined the two requests and took a bus partway into town to where we had seen an IHOP the previous evening, and had a nice breakfast.  The first attraction we went to this day was the whirlpool cable car, which carried us over a section of the river well downstream of the falls where there is a huge whirlpool.  It was interesting, but there was a long lineup, and it was another very hot and muggy day.  We then took the bus north to the end of the line at Queenston Heights, an important battlefield in the War of 1812.  Two heroes of the war were Laura Secord and General Isaac Brock, and they are both commemorated at this location.  After viewing the Laura Secord statue we went to the Brock monument/tomb, and climbed the spiral staircase (all 265 steps) to the top.  It was interesting in that the stairs had a radius of likely not more than 1 m, and all you could see above you was the bottom of the next level of stairs.  Shannon was in the lead, and then me, Lyndsay and Rhonda. None of us could see any of the others, although we could converse.  This monument dates from the same period as the Lord Nelson monument in London, and is actually a little higher.

Whirlpool Cable Car

Laura Secord Monument

                              Brock Monument - we climbed all the way to the top, in the sweltering heat!

We got back on the bus and headed back south (upstream) towards the Floral Clock, which I wanted to see, but now it was pouring with rain so we stayed on the bus to Souvenir City, where we watched a glass blower at work.  Our next stop was the Whirlpool Rapids, located upstream of the whirlpool and downstream of the falls, where we walked along the river and learned of its power (Class 6 rapids – generally considered not runnable), and learned about some of the people who had tried and (mostly) failed.  Continuing south, we had dinner across from the American falls, and then went down to the highlight of our visit, the Maid of the Mist boat cruise into the spray of the waterfall.  It was awesome, and we all got soaked.  We then walked back to Table Rock, spent some time in the gift shops, and returned to our campsite, where Salty was very happy to see us, having been left in the (air conditioned) motorhome all day.  An amazing day overall.

2 photos above: Whirlpool Rapids

                                                                 American falls

Canadian falls

                                         3 photos above taken on "The Maid of the Mist"

                                            Nearing the end of our time at Niagara Falls

On Friday July 19 we packed up the RV and had a swim before leaving the campsite about noon.  Our next stop was Fort George, at Niagara-on-the-Lake, where we learned more about the War of 1812.  In addition to the tour and watching the various demonstrations, Rhonda bought a fife and Lyndsay bought a jaw harp.  We then continued west towards Hamilton but I was getting sleepy, and it was another hot and muggy day, so we stopped for a coke and a quick swim in Lake Ontario at a beach in Hamilton.  This turned out to be our only swim in Lake Ontario.  From there we continued east on the QEW towards Toronto.

Above 5 photos: at Fort George

                                                            Below: Lake Ontario at Hamilton