The one thing I wanted to see when visiting Canada was Niagara Falls. I didn’t care too much what else I saw as long as I saw them. For today we hired a car using a local car sharing scheme which meant it was a very short walk to collect the car, but it did take us a while to figure out how to get it going due to the fob system.

As my friend was driving, once we had set off the only thing I needed to do was to ensure he was aware when he was drifting over the line for the lane unintentionally. This happened frequently over the couple of hours the drive lasted for, but it was due to him not being used to driving a left-hand side driven car. The drive through the middle of Niagara-on-the-Lake shown us how commercialised the area is, but we carried on straight through and to the waterfront as I got my first glimpse of the famous falls. We parked up at the far end of the falls and walked back along the “calmer” waters until we got to the falls themselves.

On the Canadian side of the falls you can easily see the three waterfalls that are collectively known as Niagara Falls – Bridal Veil Falls, Horseshoe Falls, and the American Falls.From both the American and Canadian sides of the falls there are boat rides out to the Horseshoe Falls on the boats known as the “Maidens of the Mist”. The Canadian side also has the ability to see behind the falls due to a tunnel that leads down almost to the level of the water but at a point where you can see between the water and the rock.

After walking so far along (trying to avoid the spray of the water which is carried quite far from the walls even in light wind) we decided it would be a good idea to get some lunch – fortunately there is a Tim Hortons in the main complex there so we were able to get some reasonable food. Afterwards we had a look around the gift shop – it’s quite big and has a massive variety of souvenirs to choose from. I decided to get a t-shirt and a fridge magnet from here.

We continued along the falls until we reached the point where the ramp is for going down to the boats, and then stayed there for some time trying to get different photos of the falls. On the way back we walked via a rose garden that didn’t actually have any roses in it.

For the drive back to Toronto we first had a drive around the area surrounding Niagara-on-the-Lake, being every careful not to cross the border, before an easy drive back.