CANADA EH?

In the northernmost part of New York state there is a town called Niagara Falls. Why it’s called that I don’t know but Natalie battled through the wind, sleet and snow to get us there. We parked up in a ubiquitous Walmart and because we were British, the Assistant Manager Ed let us hook up to an electricity point. Natalie hit upon the idea of seeing if the heater worked when the gas was on and hey presto, it did. For the first time on our journey we had heat all night. It was bliss. She’s sometimes much cleverer than me at that type of thing… Venturing outside to attach the cable was a feat befitting Scott and Oakes at the Antarctic.

Awaking in an icicle sarcophagus, next morning we drove to Niagara Falls, and prayed they were not frozen. Pitting our wits against horizontal snow, we entered the town to find a dirty, industrial mess. For some unknown reason, Indian curry houses were dotted everywhere. We saw the American Falls and the more famous Horseshoe Falls across Goat Island. The weather was not the best so neither impressed much, but we got some snowy photographs and talked to a black squirrel, ate fries and drank hot chocolate in Denny’s diner, while the waitress brought endless refills and free buns and cream, bless her cotton socks.

I think Natalie had one too many!

Amazingly in 1969 they turned off the 675,000 gallon-a-second flow of water to study the geology, channel the flow and make safe certain dangerous, precipitous billion ton rock-faces. Next day, the Canadian Border Patrol let us in and stamped our passports for a full six months even though we need to leave the states within a month. The view of both sets of falls is far more impressive from the Canadian side. One thing that is bigger and better than in the States. The Canadians have capitalised on tourism far more than the Yanks. Casinos and Wax museums, IMAX cinemas and trips on a miniature London eye abound. We treated ourselves to a Cadburys Caramel, paid for with currency with the Queen’s face on.

And so to Toronto.

Where the mad folk live.