Life in the Big Apple - Part Two - A nice trip out

Before we embarked on our trip to New York I had paid a visit to the travel agent to book trips.  These trips were to be a secret until the day of my wife’s birthday.
Our family and friends had all agreed to contribute towards the trips and I had told them that I was going to book a Helicopter ride and a Broadway Show, most likely Phantom of the Opera.  As I mentioned in Part one, this didn’t exactly go to plan.

While I was going through the screens one trip just stood out.  I really could not take my eyes off it.  The only thing that put me off was the price.  I really had to talk myself into this one but I managed to justify it to myself.  When I took into consideration the cost of the Helicopter ride (About £200 for 15 minutes) and the cost of the show (£120) then a full day excursion to Niagara Falls seemed reasonable by comparison.

On Tuesday December 13^th we were on a trip of a lifetime.  I had always said that if we went to New York then I’d have to take my wife to Niagara as well and this was my fulfilment of an age old promise.

We were collected from our Hotel at 5.40am and driven to the airport for our flight.  One of the benefits of being up so early was the view as we departed the city. As we looked back we could see the skyline all lit up.  It was worth the early start already.

The flight to Buffalo was only an hour long and as we didn’t have any bags and were not flying international we managed to get through the airport really quickly and met our driver just outside the arrival gates.

After a few days in the big city the first thing we noticed was how much space there was.  The houses seemed to be surrounded by land and lots of it.  It was nice to not be surrounded by huge buildings and the atmosphere was really peaceful and quiet.

The Driver pointed out a few landmarks on the journey and we got our first glimpse of the spray from the falls after about 30 - 40 minutes.  Shortly after we reached the Rainbow Bridge and crossed over to the Canadian Border, the first part of the trip was to be a visit to the Canadian side so we had to wait patiently at passport control but this wasn’t too busy and we had a pretty good view of the falls as well. We also noticed that it had started to snow, there was already a decent covering from previous days but nowhere near enough to cause any issues to our trip, it was just enough to create a nice environment.

The first stop after clearing immigration was the Rapids.  The driver parked outside the Starbucks/ Hard Rock Cafe and we walked down to the river.  We were just opposite the American falls with the Horseshoe falls to our right.  I had forgotten just how fast the water flows from the falls down the gorge and we were in the winter season and the amount of water going over is much lower than in the summer.  After a few minutes here and our inevitable snowball fight we got back into the minibus.  Sadly the Zipline was closed for the season.

As part of the trip we had tickets for either the Scenic Tunnels or the boat trip, as it was closed season we were told that we would be viewing the tunnels later in the day but the next stop was the whirlpool.  On the way there we actually saw the Maid of the Mist boats on the dry dock over on the American side as if to emphasize that fact that there were to be no boat trips today.

The whirlpool is a natural occurrence.  All of the water from the falls flows down the Niagara River but as the river actually does a 90 degree turn it forms a whirlpool effect as all of the fast flowing water tries to follow the natural flow of the water.  It is quite a spectacle to see and during the open season there is a cable car that will take you directly over the whirlpool so you can get an even better view. 

After a quick stop for Souvenirs it was time for lunch, we had been booked in at a restaurant with views of the falls and while we ate we noticed that the snow had started to come down again.  Luckily by the time we had finished it had cleared up.  Now that lunch was done it was time to hit the tunnels.

The scenic tunnels have 3 separate viewing sections, for me the first one is the most impressive as it gave us our first real demonstration of the sheer magnitude of the Horseshoe Falls.  As you walk down the tunnel you can hear the water roaring and at the end you are greeted by 2 viewing portals that look out directly at the waterfall, you actually get the chance to look up at the huge volume of water that is tipping over the edge.  I could visit this place again and again and never fail to be impressed by it.  During the summer months you can actually go outside into a lower viewing platform but I assume this was closed due to the ice and the temperature.

Tunnels 2 and 3 take you behind the falls themselves and while they are still impressive all you really get to see is running water and a little bit of spray.  After we had been to see the last tunnel we could not resist going back to the spectacular views offered by the first tunnel.

Finally it was time to go to the main event; it was time to stand next to one of the world’s greatest forces of nature. 



Niagara Falls may not be the tallest waterfall in the world, nor the widest or even have the greatest flow of water passing over it but you cannot take away the fact that it is pretty damn impressive.  Even in low season it just gets to you and hypnotises you. I have no idea why it is possible for a waterfall to create such an emotional response by my wife admitted to being close to tears at the sight of it and I felt a real calmness just by being it its presence.  Our final visit of the day was to the Rainbow Falls back on the American side.  We first went to the Viewing platform and then we managed to get close to the falls themselves.  One huge difference to this side was the wind.  It was so much windier on this side, maybe because it is less enclosed than the Canadian side.  This also made it much colder so none of us wanted to stay very long which is a real shame as it is still an amazing spectacle to behold.  

At about 4.30 we said our farewell to Niagara and by 9pm we were back at our Hotel after one of the most unforgettable adventures of our lives.  I somehow get the feeling that this was not the last time we will visit Niagara, maybe next time we can stay a little longer.