A wet Fergus and Veronika in front of the American Falls at Niagara

Friday June 25th 1999

Since we were in Toronto, we decided that we had to visit Niagara Falls - after all, it is the self-declared honeymoon capital of the world, and we are sort of on honeymoon. No matter how many pictures you see of the falls, nothing quite prepares you for the majestic reality, the sheer scale of the place. Equally, nothing quite prepares you for the sheer tackiness of Clifton Hill, the main shopping area in Niagara Falls, Canada.

We opted to travel to Niagara from Toronto with a small company called Furthur Still, largely because they were cheap and because their brochure looked more interesting than the others. Right from the start we knew we were in for an alternative trip as our driver and guide explained the inspiration for the company by discussing Ken Kesey - it was clear that this was not going to be a trip for the middle-aged affluent tourist. Mind you, the bus was also a bit of a dead give-away:

Veronika in front of Bertha, our bus for the day

Niagara Falls, the town, is a small place which makes its money from the tourism generated by the waterfalls. There are actually two sets of waterfalls, the American falls, which are higher - although this is not at first obvious, as there are more rocks at the bottom of the falls - and the Horseshoe Falls, named after their shape, which are the more spectacular. Our excellent guide for the day, Tim, pictured above to the right of Bertha and a native of Niagara Falls, advised us to take a ride on the Maid of the Falls, the name for a succession of boats which have been ferrying tourists to the base of the falls since 1846. C$10 gets you a ride (about 40 minutes) to the foot of the falls, where the noise is deafening, the spray near-blinding, and the view simply stunning:

Fergus at the foot of the Horseshoe Falls, Niagara, Canada

The day we were at Niagara was very hot, so the cool water spray was welcome, despite being heavily polluted, as the Niagara River drains water from heavily industrialised areas. The water is so polluted that many people fish solely for pleasure, as they are unable to eat anything they catch, and indeed their catches are often horribly deformed.

Veronika in front of the American Falls

Perhaps the best place to get an overall view of the Falls is from Queen Victoria Park on the Canadian side. The park is a beautiful, well-arranged ornamental park with a walkway along the bank of the river and many carefully chosen vantage points. The crowds in the summer, though, are horrendous, and you often have to wait to get unobstructed access to the best views. Still, once you do have access, the views are worth it.

Veronika, with the horseshoe in the background

The spray generated is astonishing, rising so high that large parts of the walkway are constantly soaked in a fine mist. In the winter, when the temperature drops so far that the river freezes over just downstream from the falls (which do not freeze), plants near the horseshoe are crystallised, as the mist freezes on the leaves, giving a fine shine to them. In the summer, though, the mist is a welcome relief from the incessant heat.

Fergus, with the Horseshoe Falls in the background

Downstream from the falls, a peculiar formation of hard rocks left by the glaciers some 20,000 years ago forces the River Niagara to make a 90-degree turn, apparently the only river in the world to do so. This has the effect of creating a giant vortex underwater, manifesting itself at the surface as a series of whirlpools. The underwater vortex is so powerful that anything caught in it disappears for four days or more before being washed up. Again, there is a well-organised viewpoint for seeing the whirlpool.

The whirlpool of Niagara River

On the way back to Toronto, we stopped off in Oakville, purportedly the richest town in Canada, to visit Ljiljana Mesic, a friend of Veronika's from Tuzla. The Furthur Still bus driver was kind enough to take a slight detour to drop us off in Oakville, another indication of the excellent and flexible service they provide. They are soon opening up a new site in northern Ontario with a slightly different concept - they've bought some land with cottages and are going to provide free accomodation, making their money from an on-site bar and by organising boat trips, hiking, etc. Unfortunately we had to move on and were unable to take up their invitation to their opening party, but next time we're in Canada, I'm sure we'll drop by. If you're reading this, Hi Craig and Tim, and good luck with Busland!

Ljiljana, Veronika and Fergus, in Oakville, Ontario

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