New York - Niagara Falls

Sunday, 7 August 2011

This is a much anticipated part of our Overseas Adventure.  The opportunity to see the 'Big Apple'.  We enjoyed our Sunday meetings as usual, and after lunch and after making sure we had everything, we made our way to the airport mid afternoon.  Denver International Airport (DIA), is about an hours drive from home on the freeway. It's like an oasis away from the city in the middle of vast open land.  Our flight to Newark, NY took about the same time as flying to Perth or New Zealand from Adelaide.  Night had fallen and our first glimpse was of the city lights of New Jersey.  This is the most north and east any of us, besides Rick, have ever been! We found our way to the Air Train, which is the same as a monorail, which took us to the shutte bus.  This took us to the car rental place.  We were given a choice which SUV we wanted and ended up with a lovely Chrysler.  A real pleasure to drive! By this time, it's about 11pm, and we still hadn't eaten, but soon found sustinance in the form of Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts!!  I know, very bad at 11pm, but this is the tourist life and you have to make the best of it!!

Monday, 8 August 2011

With the help of our trusty GPS, we then drove about 7 hours through the night towards Niagara Falls.  Our car was so large, the kids dropped the back seat completely flat and slept the whole way lying down!  This is a luxury after our small crowded car driving to California!  I wrote to Jonathon on Rick's Iphone, so that was handy, although I did experience motion sickness as a result!!  After a nap of sorts, I took over the driving as the sky began to lighten and dawn attempted to break through.  It was an overcast morning, but nevertheless, the lush woodlands of upstate New York are just beautiful.  The trees are very different again, with green grass and thick stands of woods.  What a lovely place!  The great thing about travelling in America are the highways.  Double or triple lanes going in both directions.  Big, wide roads that make merging and overtaking very trouble free.  Set the cruise control and enjoy the drive!  I drove the last couple of hours until we reached the town of Niagara passing over the very wide Niagara River with its glass smooth surface.  What a sight, this magificent body of water, lazily making it's way towards the falls. 

An overcast, early morning view of Niagara Falls from the US side..

At this point it's actually very early.  Perhaps about 7am, but we decide to see if we can see the falls anyway.  We drove to the State Park on the New York, US border and walked around.  You hear the water before you see it, and then, there it is!!  An absolutely, huge volume of water cascading with such force over a cliff edge. 

There are actually two main falls, which I didn't realise.  It is such a sight.  We stood and watched for some time and then decided we needed to see it from the opposite bank which is actually Cananda!!

Border Control to enter Canada.  There is also the walkway if you want to walk across!

Now this is something, going through border control in a car! We passed scrutiny, which is even better! Even at a reasonably early hour, there are alot of people already.  We eventually parked in the only available area close by, for $20 for the day.  Wow!!  From this perspective, the falls are absolutely astonishing. You feel the power of the water.  They are truely beautiful and a description does not do justice enough.  Thank goodness for photography, even my poor attempts!! 

The Niagara River suddenly drops into a cavity..

It's very amazing we are seeing this!

The Bennallack's between the two falls!! (In Canada!)

Spectacular sight!

The 'Maid of Mist' on a cruise

This would make a great painting!
We stood just on the left earlier in the day on the US side..

The 'Horse-shoe Fall'

After some time, we boarded the 'Maid of the Mist' to experience the falls close up!  This was fun! We all donned blue plastic ponchos, and as the boat came closer and closer, hoods went on and we wrapped ourselves tighter in our plastic!  It felt like we were in a severe winter rainstorm.  The water splashing us and the wind whipping our faces.  It was immensely exhilirating!

Donning the poncho!

Rick & I looking georgeous!

Up close, you can really feel the intensity of the falls..

All wet, but worth it!

All of this has taken the entire morning!  After the boat ride, we venture into the town, which is set up to cater completely for tourists!  The souvenir shops, the eateries and sideshows.  We found a small Indian restaurant and being particularly partial to Indian food, we enjoyed an amazing lunch.  Yum!!  This is when we realise we are no longer in America!!  Haha!  We spent some time looking at different shops and made a few purchases, in particular some Canandian t-shirts, evidence we were here!!

At the exchange, we got some Canadian money!  (We are such tourists!)

The Curry Queen - such a good lunch!

Sarah has met her moose!

We spent another half hour meandering back to the car, enjoying the spectacular sight of the Falls again.

An artist at work.  Now this would be the perfect life!

Our lack of sleep was catching up with Rick & I, so we all decided to continue our journey.  Fortunately, border control allowed us to re-enter the United States, and from Niagara we drove about 2 hours to Palmyra.  I was a bit oblivious to this leg, as I crashed in the rear of the car!  After finding some accomodation, we were glad to rest for a bit.  For dinner, we ended up going to a local supermarket thinking we could make use of the microwave etc at the motel.  Instead, there was a restaurant inside the supermarket, and several delicious meal combinations from a deli counter.  So we indulged.  It's so nice not to eat fast food all the time!  We are constantly fascinated by new food experiences.  I have discovered this vegetable called Jicama (hee-kah-muh).  It looks a bit like a pale large potato, but is actually juicy and slightly sweet. You peel it and eat it raw, with dips, in salads or stir fry.  I first experienced it in San Diego with mexican food, and now again in a local sweet salad.  I'm a fan!! (I wonder if you can get it in Australia?)

We drove over to Palymyra to see the Temple lights at night, and then pretty much returned for an early night.  A real bed is heaven when you haven't used one for many hours!!