Soggy

Toronto day 3

Although I was visiting Toronto, I ended up spending far more time in the wider area than just the city. After a weekend in the civilised wilds I went for the reverse experience for my last day on this side of Canada. I did the ultimate in gaudy and tamed, at a wild site - I went on a Niagara Falls tour.

It was an early start, I needed to be in the city by 7:50am, which meant getting up a bit after 6, but there was plenty of coach time for napping. I made my way in, found a cup of tea any my way to the pick up point. I saw a group of people standing around, with the look of waiting for something a little unknown. I asked the nearest couple if they were also waiting for this tour, and immediately my 'compatriots sensor' went off. 'Sydney, I reckon', so I asked, and yep, Sydney. We talked, then moved over to join the rest of the group. The coach turned up, and we all piled on board.

I immediately had reservations about the tour guide/driver. I'd chosen this company because they had the best reviews and price. Our guide, however, spoke entirely in a monotone. Although the information he was sharing was interesting, the delivery was most definitely not. But that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. It was quickly established that Australians dominated the group, with at least half if not more. Over the course of the day I chatted to all of them, from Melbourne and Sydney. I think perceptions of Tasmania must also be improving - all were excited to hear I'm from there, and declared their love of it.

Our first stop was the Skylon Tower, looking out over the falls and surrounding area. I wasn't sure whether to go up, it was an extra little bit of money, but in the end I'm glad I did. It gave a fantastic view of the falls, the river, and across into the American side.

Next we drove down to the falls, intending on going on the Maid of the Mist boat, but we're told the lifts down to the boats weren't working, and they had a whole crowd stuck at the bottom. So the tour got mixed up a little, and we went to Niagara on the Lake for lunch (instead of later in the afternoon), stopping at a couple of points of interest on the way. It's a quaint little town, I was excited that a little bit of It's a Wonderful Life was filmed there. I got some lunch, wandered a little but very quickly got bored - it's very touristy. I decided to take a slow walk back to the bus, through the park. There I found a squirrel posing up a tree, quite unconcerned by me getting within a couple of metres with my camera.

Our next stop was a vineyard, where we tried samples of ice wine, a particular speciality of this kind of region - made with grapes picked in midwinter. To me it just tasted like concentrated cordial. I generally don't like wine, but I do at least like my alcohol to taste like alcohol. If I want to drink straight cordial, I will do that for much less money. One of the Aussies was very unimpressed, he was telling me he has had various vineyard interests over the years, and used all the words so he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

We then went back to the falls, for a second go at the Maid of the Mist. This time all was in operation, so down we went. Decked out in our blue plastic bags we crammed into a boat and went out for the mist experience. We passed another boat, and it looked like it was packed with very cold penguins. I suspect our boat looked just the same.

I wrapped my camera in my plastic bag protection and snapped away. Once we got into the main part of the Horseshow Fall (the Canadian one) there wasn't much to see because of the spray, but there was such power around us. The water was beating, and the spray being pushed with the force of a strong wind. One of my favourite moments of flying is immediately after landing, when man battles nature against the momentum of a chunk of metal skidding down a patch of tarmac, the sound of the wind and the force of the brakes. It was similar in the fall, as the boat goes in as far as is safe, but you know that just beyond that point is a fight for life, as humans stretch their reach to the uncontrollable elements.

We survived. A little damp. But excited. And after that there's not much more to tell. I slept for much of the two hours back to Toronto, then did some washing, ate dinner, watched some Shaun the Sheep with Tierney, packed and then my Toronto days were all over.

Thanks Tierney, and your family, for letting me stay and showing me around. There's always a spare bed for you in Australia should you like to visit. :)