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Niagara Falls: is it the real deal?

From Embarking on the Journey of my Life in Niagara Falls, Canada on Nov 10 '07

Howe has visited no places in Niagara Falls
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So today David, Yin and Cacing(Yin’s Bf) took me on a short hike to a waterfall called Balls Falls and then to the Niagara Falls. We drove for about an hour and a half and parked in a gravel parking lot, the parking lot had no attendant at the booth in fact it was just a trust based parking system. Supplying you with an envelope for you to place your money in and drop it in a deposit slot after tearing off the ticket section to place on your dash board. And YES we paid! For those tight arses of you who asked sub consciously in the back of your heads. Hahaha

Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
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After a slight confusion as to where to begin the trail because of no signage, we eventually found it and began walking along it. It was a relatively easy hike, although we did end up getting lost for a brief moment finding our way onto what look like a cornfield with grass up to our waists. Then we found Balls Falls which was all dried up and didn’t even trickle with water. For those of you who don’t know the story, when Yin and David came to Australia, I took them on a hike to see several waterfalls around Lorne and all of them were dried up. So I guess they haven’t let me live that down as yet. But now, who would have thought ones in Canada would have been dried up too, it must have been their way of getting back at me. After the hike we drove for another 30 minutes and parked at the Niagara Falls Casino and started walking to the falls.

Homeless in Balls Falls
Homeless in Balls Falls
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I was so excited walking up to the falls, it was misty and what I initially thought were rain drops from above, turned out to be the mist from the falls, droplets of water being blown from the wind and trickling itself down. As we got closer and closer to the falls, these droplets felt like heavy rain. People were wearing ponchos and some carried umbrellas. I covered myself with my hooded jacket and still managed to get drenched. My pants were wet and it looked like I pissed myself, it was unbelievable at how much you can get wet just from the mist. I first saw the American Falls at which I thought “is that it?” Feeling a bit let down. But then I got corrected and turned my head to the right and there was a waterfall that blew my mind, at the magnitude of it was bloody huge. Just gallons and gallons of water gushing down endlessly like a giant tap on full blast. I wanted to get on the Maid of the Mist (the boat that runs closely past the falls) but we found out it only ran during summer. So the next best thing was ‘The Journey Behind The Falls’, a series of tunnels built underground that took us almost to the edge of the rushing water, then another tunnel passage leading us to the base of the falls.

I have to admit, the Niagara Falls is one impressive and mind blowing sight, it is definitely the real deal.


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