Reunion part II

On Monday it is Victoria Day in Canada, and all stores are closed. We contemplate going as planned to the Mer Bleue Bog conservation area, and then to Gatineau Park, to see some nice nature and vistas, but it is again grey and threatens to rain continuously, which it does on and off in the morning. So we sit, drink coffee and talk about all sorts of things. Eventually it clears up long enough to go for a walk in the immediate area and along a path by the river behind some large houses. We stand at the dam and watch the water rush by. In the one hour that we walk outside I manage to get sunburned on my neck.

At four o'clock we have to pick up the rental car for the trip the next two days. Because everything is closed, we have to get it at the airport. We get a Subaru Imprezza, and on the whole I have to say I was "imprezzed" with it, except for the super loose gas pedal, which made for pain in the front of the lower leg in stop-go traffic, or off cruise control.

On the way back from the airport we see a dead beaver by the side of the road. The big flat tail is plainly visible, there is no chance we are wrong. It seems the heavy rains and resulting pools of water in areas of unused land are making them very active, because it is very rare that you see this, and I saw one just a few days before. We drive back home and BBQ bacon wrapped chicken tournedos with watermelon and feta cheese salad. We have to get up early the next day, so we pack our stuff, and don't stay up too late.

On Tuesday we get up at 05:30 and are on the road by 06:00. We leave the usual photographer behind, as he has to go to work. We have breakfast at the brand spanking new Mallory Town truck stop, where Carla fulfills the first requirement for Canadian citizenship when she is converted to Tim Horton's coffee.

The grey skies clear up once we pass Napanee, and is warm and sunny by the time we stop again at Port Hope for another something to drink, more Timmie's coffee for her, and a tea for me. We make it through Toronto with relatively little traffic delays, except for the initial entrance onto the Don Valley Parkway, due to people racing ahead to cut in at the last minute when a lane ends. The down town Toronto skyline is dominated by the CN Tower, once supposed to be the tallest free standing structure in the world.

We continue along the Gardiner express way to the QEW, and are seeing Lake Ontario as a more or less regular companion on our left when we get close to Hamilton. We clip the very west end of lake Ontario via the Burlington Bay James N. Allen Skyway, and see the not so pretty steelworks of companies like Stelco on our right.

At Grimsby we get gas and collect some touristic pamphlets and magazines. From there it is not that far to our exit off the highway to Niagara Stone Road which we follow to Niagara on the Lake. Along the way we pass orchards (likely peach) and vineyards on each side of the road. This is after all "Fruitland Ontario". We arrive in Niagara on the Lake at 12:30, and since it is too early to check in to the hotel, we keep going along the parkway to Niagara Falls.

 We park the car across from the disused Toronto Power Generating Station of the Toronto Electric Light Company. It is such a terrible pity that this gorgeous building is not converted in to anything and left to decay. Hello.....developers.......opportunity........location, location, location!

 A picture of the decommissioned power building from an earlier trip.

We walk the short distance to the falls, observe the water rushing by and over the edge and take some pictures. At the building on table rock we explore the Adventure Passes on offer for the area. They include the Maid of the Mist, the Journey Behind the Falls, the White Water Walk and Niagara's fury. We go have lunch at Elements on the Falls restaurants upstairs. The iced tea is not instant but real, and the service is friendly and attentive. It is just too bad that they use refrigerated and somewhat stale bread for their otherwise tasty sandwiches. I get the impression they are made in advance and refrigerated, and the sandwich and salad plates put together when ordered. Not cool for the price tag, which makes you expect a freshly toasted sandwich.

Skyline at the falls. Photo credit: Carla

View upstream from the falls with in the center the scow which has been stuck there since 1918.

Photo credit: Carla

We purchase our adventure passes from a sweet lady who tries to speak German to us. (No, sorry, Dutch.) and walk along the river to the maid of the mist. Carla now really begins to feel that she sees far more tulips here than in Holland, every flower bed is still filled with them. Near the maid of the mist ticket booth we find a spectacular magnolia, miraculously still fully in bloom, even though the flowers have just begun to brown.

Magnolia near the Maid of the Mist. Unexpected beauty. Photo credit: Carla

There are no line-ups for the boat ride, and we get our cheesy picture taken, and are handed our blue plastic ponchos. We go to the boat's upper deck, dressed like two disposable smurfs and laugh because we just realised that the "can get wet" shoes we specifically brought are still in the trunk of the car. The fifteen minute boat ride is as always a thrill. You see the falls from the bottom, and so close that you actually can't see parts of them due to the spray. The water appears almost to be coming directly at you, and the height of the falls is impressive from this vantage point. The wind must be a different direction than the last time I did this, because we don't get nearly as wet as that time. When we get off the boat we both experience the sensation that the ground is still rocking for a while.

The American Falls from the water's level.

The Horseshoe falls from below, largely shrouded in their own mist.

Photo credit: Carla

When we get back to the parking area, the attendant has disappeared and the arms are left up, so we don't have to pay. Bonus! We take the car to the White Water Walk, but it is too late in the day, and they are no longer taking people down the elevator, and he woman there is none too friendly about it either. I actually have to ask her to come out of her office and serve us. Lazy lazy lazy! She could not possibly have missed us talking with the other customers waiting in the tiny little souvenir store. We go across the street and have a look in the glassblower's shop. Too much stuff crammed too close together, and what I like is as usual very expensive!

So we drive back to Niagara on the Lake, and check in to the hotel. Once we have dropped off our stuff and had a couple of glasses of water, we go for a walk in the town. It is entirely planted with.........(wait for it).............tulips. The lush plantings of annuals that you usually see have not been started yet. Most stores have closed for the day, except for the Christmas store, where some of the few other customers in the store are a group of Dutch people. Go figure.

 Proposed new design for the Canadian flag?

We walk the street and have a nice lamb wrap for dinner. Neither of us is exactly starving after the relatively late lunch, but if we don' eat we will be hungry later that night. The restaurant is full of Dutch people also. There must be a tour group, because this is more than just a coincidence. A nice lady approaches us and wishes us a nice vacation. We take the car to the water's edge and it is clear enough to make out Toronto across the lake. We drive back to the falls and park again in the same deserted and therefore free parking area. The sun is just setting, and after a little patience the coloured lights are projected on to the falls.

 American Falls under coloured floodlights. Photo credit: Carla

Horseshoe falls at night. Photo credit: Carla

By now it is about 21:30, and we decide to head back to the hotel and turn in.