Amazing Niagara Falls at night

In researching trips to Niagara falls I discovered that every evening there is a light and fireworks display. After that discovery ,no other Niagra experience would do ! Initially couldn't find a tour operator,but ultimately did .
I booked the trip a couple of days before the end of my tour, just in case ,it had to be rescheduled for any reason.
Setting off at 3pm.,a number of stops were planned en route .
It turned out to be just me and a guy from Chester called Mark .
Mark was really lovely but no oil painting, add in heart disease on medication, obviously overweight , short sighted , hard of hearing and one front tooth missing... not exactly the man of my dreams ..but lovely....did gave a sense of humour that made me laugh ...But No !!!! ....we won't be keeping in touch !!
In fact I fell asleep on the way there ...and back !🤣
En route to Niagra we visited a wine tasting place, tasting white rose,and red wine in under 30mins ...now i know why Niagra is niagra falls as risk being pissed and falling in. The place we stopped was the official winery of the Canadian Olympic team ...actually...how well did they do ?
I got really giddy especially whn Mark decided to swig bottled water,saying it was to cleanse his palate ..We both like red 🍷 though Ididn't really rate any of the wines we tried and the girl didn't know what Malbec or Zinfandel is.. tut tut !
The area around Niagra has loads of vineyards ..Surprisingly
Overall the route to Niagra is not at all what I expected..its semi rural and several lovely posh places..Id imagined just a highway with the falls at the end ..
We stopped at a viewpoint where the right hand side of the river and the land was the USA and the left side is Canadian.
We called at the smallest chapel in Canada...my shed is arguably bigger.
A further stop was at a working floral clock which was very pretty.
Another, at the Ontario hydropower station
The final en route stop was at a gondola over an area lower down from the falls, where the water has travelled to ..no opportunity to do the gondola, but it wasn't that impressive.
When, at last, we reached the falls, they were initially noticeable from the mist created from the power of the waterfall.
The falls are exactly as I imagined ,only much, much better.
It was possible to do a walk behind the falls via an underground tunnel.
Mark looked very fetching ( not ) in the yellow poncho that's provided.
I declined to wear one and stuck with my Patagonia coat with 10, 000 hydrostatic head waterproof level of protection! Much more effective!
It was incredible to be so close to the waterfall.
The power of the waterfall is intense
Next we went on the boat trip right into the mist of the waterfall
Mark reluctantly wore a red poncho for this😅...as a man city supporter, red wasn't his preferred colour. 🤣
I stuck with my coat which was seriously tested.. My trousers were absolutely soaked.,but thankfully quick drying. ..The wind blew the water and the red poncho brigade were absolutely soaked 😳 ...Im really glad to have done it ,though did stand with my back to the falls quite a lot ,as otherwise the water was harshly blown in your face,by the wind
Its possible from thr Canadian side to see both the American and Canadian falls..
Canadians proudly say that the Canadian falls are better and they are! 100%
Having experienced it from the Canadian side I'm.glad Ive not tagged it on to any proposed trip to New York..
We moved on to the Skylon tower,where it was possible to get an overview of the entire area
ie , both the American and Canadian falls, with the contributing rivers.
This was stunning and added clarity and context to my understanding of the different falls
The island in the middle is known as Goat island though there aren't any goats present.It is on the American side and people appeared to be walking round the area.
It was strange to look across the water and think that is America.
From the Skylon tower it was possible to see the border controls for America.with the red stop lights above a toll gate style set up..
Ultimately, we watched a lights and fireworks show which was fabulous.
I asked the driver to call at Macdonalds on the way back,as I was hungry, which he did.
We arrived back in Toronto about 1.5hrs later at 11.30pm. Mark thanked me for a lovely time, which it had been .I thanked him too
Our paths may yet cross again unintentionally!!! as both of us planning separately! ...to do the CN tower and the Hop on hop off bus tomorrow...we shall see ..
I've so.many photos and videos of this trip,more than I can include here.
It was a really good trip ,bucket list ticked and felt like the formal ending to my amazing let loose tour .. even though there's a couple of days left..Læs mere