Niagara Falls – New York State

I have dreamed of several things ever since I was a kid.  I dreamed I would play cricket for Australia. Well that’s not going to happen. Travelling was a dream. As was wanting to see a show on the West End in London and Broadway in New York (first one check, second not yet). I dreamed I would go to France and Italy (check and check). But one of my biggest dreams was that I would go to Niagara Falls. I never really wanted to go to the USA, except for Niagara Falls.  In fact, my thought was that I would see Niagara from Canadian side.

But on the 19th of August, from whichever side I could, that dream became a reality. We went to Niagara Falls!

I was so excited I was struggling to contain it.  Even as we approached the falls area and saw the mist rising back up above the top of the falls I was in wonderment.  The word awesome is used far too liberally nowadays but there simply isn’t another word to describe the falls.  The sheer power created as 168,000 cubic metres of water plummets 57 meters from the upper to the lower Niagara river every second!  Yes, that IS every second.

So for those playing at home, that is a total of 14,515,200,000 cubic meters of water every 24 hours.  If you want a visual to help understand the magnitude of this number, the MCG in Melbourne has a volume of 1,574,000 cubic meters.  You could fill the MCG with water to the brim 9,221 times every day! Tell me that’s not awesome!

We arrived at the falls and got our tickets for the Maid of the Mist.  Maid of the Mist is the cruise boat from the US side of the falls.  If you are in Canada, you can see Niagara from Canadian side by going on the Hornblower cruise. As we waited in line we were given a plastic poncho.  The reason for this is that the tour boat takes you right out past the three waterfalls and whilst it’s not possible to go under the water flow, there is an amazing amount of water spray that is created when that much water falls from such a height and crashes into rocks and more water.  We were able to get onto our cruise boat from first in line and took the spot right at the front of the bow, best position on the boat.

I got the GoPro ready so we could film the whole trip (will hopefully put the video up on YouTube sometime.  Thank the Lord that the GoPro has a waterproof case).  Then we were off.

Interesting fact…  

Did you know that Niagara falls actually consists of three waterfalls? I didn’t.  They are The American Falls (these are the closest to the Visitor Centre). Then the Bridal Veil Falls (these are right next to the American falls and quite small). Finally the Horseshoe falls (As the name suggests, these falls bend around in a horseshoe shape and are the biggest of the three falls).

We progressed past the American and Bridal Veil falls, we got a little bit damp from the spray, I had to wipe the lens of my camera once or twice.  We marvelled at the view and the sound of the water crashing down.  Then we approached the Horseshoe falls.  Oh! My! Gosh!  The sound was just deafening.  We had to yell to communicate with each other and we were standing so close we were all touching.  The water spray was like someone was holding a hose in front of us.

The captain took us right into the spray.  The engines of the boat were working just to keep us in the same position such was the power of the current created by the water flow.

We were only there for a few minutes, but if felt longer and it didn’t feel long enough.  We headed back to the docks and were all in simple amazement at the majesty and awesome power of what we had just seen.  I would go back there time and time again.  If you are anywhere near that area of the Unites States, actually, even if you aren’t.  You need to go to Niagara Falls.  I have done my best to describe it in words and with the pictures I have put up here, but honestly, words and pictures don’t even come close.  This is something that you have to see!  Seriously the best $50 we have ever spent!  Seriously.