The power of the falls

Having done our research we decided the best transport option for the day was to hire car. And so we set off to the obscurely located hire depot some 2 kilometres from our hobbit hole mid morning, treaking through a seedy part of town (cigar shops and massage parlors) to get there. After the usual signing away of our lives we soon found ourselves weaving in and out of the lanes on the wrong side of the road in order to get to freeway. Discovering that not only will the locals refuse to drive to the left we also found out they have poorly signed turnpikes. So after a couple of annoying diversions through back streets, some clever navigational skills from our (previously mentioned) guide we finally got pointed in the correct direction for Niagra. The locals don't seem to care so much about speed limits so join them we did. Wide roads, thousands of vechiles, grey dull skies, steam pouring out of factories and lakes as big as oceans sum up the journey.

Upon arrival at the falls town we were absolutely awe struck at the tacky commercialism/theme park ambiance of the place. Made even weirder by the lack of people. It's winter and mid week so there are places like the Haunted House (every day is Halloween... apparently) Ripley's believe it or not and the Guinness world record museum. What more could anyone possibly ask more for when all you started out wanting was a waterfall? The falls themselves are truly awesome. It was raining nearby. Just there. This is due to the mist the falls throw up from the sheer power of a million litres per second being thrown down 39 stories of sheer cliff. The sound of the thundering resonates through everything nearby. We took the plunge and went down in the tunnels underneath. This is where the power is truley experienced. Getting drenched in the mist and spray and splashes and rain we had a thoroughly enjoyable time snapping away with every device we held.

The 3hr drive back to town was uneventful apart from traffic congestion but there was no stress as we were in no particular hurry. Arriving in the dark at filling up for 95c p/l ( and wondering how this " world parity" thing works in Aus) We headed off to China town for dinner and then home via the skate park to grab more snaps.