Archive for: Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls visit

We decided to visit Niagara Falls for the day on Thursday. The weather was forecast as good so we set out reasonably early and drove the 3.5 hours to the Falls.

Once there we checked out the falls themselves. Although we had visited the falls several times we had never visited in the summer so this was a new experience for us. We had only seen it before with snow and ice and on this visit it was warm and sunny with no snow in sight!

The Canadian Falls

The American Falls

Once we had given the girls the lowdown on where everything was we separated and arranged to meet later in the evening. We when decided to go on the Maid of the Mist boat ride as it had never been operating when we had been before.

Fortunately there wasn’t much of a queue and after paying our $14.50 each we were given a rather attractive blue plastic poncho and on board we went.

Sailing past the American Falls

And approaching the Horseshoe Falls

We really enjoyed the ride even though you do get very very wet!

After this we took the people mover bus to the butterfly conservatory. The buses run all day and you can get a pass for $7.50 which allows unlimited use all day. The butterfly conservatory is 9 km away so unless you choose to drive (and loose your parking space) the people mover is the best bet.

The butterfly conservatory is pretty large and there are thousands of butterflies of all sizes and colours. I love butterflies so really wanted to do this and was so glad we did. here are some of the beautiful butterflies on show.

Lots of Blue Morphos feeding on fruit.

A Blue Morpho in all its glory.

A Banded Peacock

Beautiful orange and black one

Owl butterfly from the top.

Even butterflies have to do it somewhere! These are Common Mormons

After the butterfly conservatory and stopping off for some dinner we wandered back to the falls and managed to see several rainbows.

We also visited the new ride in the visitors centre called Niagara’s Fury. This is a film made in the Ice Age animation theme showing how the falls were formed. You then go into another room onto a platform and take a ride down the falls. You are given a rain poncho before entering with the promise you will get wet. However if having a tiny amount of spay on your face constitutes getting wet then I suppose technically they are right. We were disappointed with this ride and would not recommend it.

We waited until after dark to see the light show which unfortunately started nearly half an hour late. We then drove home and got there about 1 am. Phew what a day.

I will post these pics and more in my photo album in due corse.

Another hectic week

Judy & David drove down to Niagara Falls on Sunday and spent two nights there. They loved the falls and the spectacular views but hated the commercialization on the actual town. This was our view too when we have visited in the past. Fortunately they had great weather and so had a great couple of days. They came back to our house on Tuesday and we went out for a meal in the evening.

On Wednesday we stayed in for a rest, other than taking the hire car back to Avis. On Thursday we drove up to Ottawa. We set out nice and early and too highway 7 as it is far more scenic than going along the 401 etc. We stopped off in Perth for a Tim’s and got to Ottawa late morning. Although we couldn’t check into the hotel that early we left the car there and got the bus into the city. The hotel is outside the main city area so it cost us just $3 each to bus in.

Once in the city we walked to Parliament Hill which looked great. The sun was shining it was 25C and everything looked beautiful.

The views across the Ottawa River were great too.

Once we had done the sightseeing on Parliament Hill we went to the Byward Market area to look around the stores and the stalls. We also went into the main shopping centre.

After all this we were hungary so we took Judy & David to the Hard Rock Cafe as they had never been to one before. They really liked it and we had a great meal. After this we headed back to the hotel and checked in. We met up an hour later in the bar area for a couple of drinks and a chat then went to bed exhausted.

Next morning we decided we didn’t want to shop and decided to visit Gatineau Park on the Quebec side of Ottawa. We found it quite easily but also found than many areas were still covered in snow and some were inaccessible.

Some of the lakes were stunning however!

After a few hours at the park we drove back home.

Saturday we didn’t do much and Sunday we sat on the deck in the morning as the weather was so nice. In the afternoon I took my aunt to a couple of local open houses. We are still tentatively looking and she was really interested to see the different styles of house, so we have a good couple of hours house hunting.

In the evening we went to Montanans for dinner and then relaxed in the evening.

Today they return to the airport for the journey home and it is poring with rain and thundering, so could be an interesting drive!

BTW, both have decided they love Canada and want to live here – is this what happens to everyone when they visit this country?