Getting Up
We wake around 8, but we can't get up yet.. after yesterdays travel we are in need of coffee. There's a filter coffee machine in the room, which looks nicer than the instant coffee rubbish they usualy give you in hotel room, so we give it a go (to be honest we'd drink anything that was hot and black at this point). They've provided us with a big sheet of filter paper and a sachet of filter coffee, I have a go at folding the paper but it just wont go in properly, so Emma has a go saying "i know how to do it". She pops the paper flat on top of the machine, pushes it in with her fist and then stands there looking very pleased with herself.... Doh!
Double Doh!, it turns out that the sachet of coffee actualy contains a kind of huge filter coffee tea bag thing so we didnt need the filter paper at all... <slaps head in dismay>
After having such fun with the coffee we'd lost track of time so when Kathryn and Steve knock on the door we're still half naked, as we're not convinced that Canada is ready to see my bare naked bum yet so they go for a walk and come back half an hour later.
Maid of the Mist
After we've packed the car we wander back down to the falls (without breakfast i might point out!!!!) as we're going on the Maid of the Mist, which for those that dont know, is a boat that takes you right upto the bottom of Niagara falls. We get our tickets (ca$13 ea.) and queue up expecting to wait ages, but they have about 4 boats working in rotation and they're pretty organised so we're at the dock in less than 10 minutes. We get given our oh so stylish blue plastic kagools and board the boat.
We get on the boat and climb up to the top deck, which is already somewhat full, but we manage to get close to the left (or "port" for nautical term fans) side. The boat pulls away and heads straight over to the American falls. These are the straight falls which are somewhat smaller than the horseshoe shaped Canadia falls a little further up the river, having said that they are still very impressive and noisy :D.
The boat then works to take us up the river against the fast moving water to the Canadian falls. Now these are the real deal, they're really noisy and such a fantastic sight, especialy when the sun catches the top of the falls making them shine through the spray. Talking of spray, its very very wet here and the camera has now taken refuge under the blue plastic kagool and my head and back are thoroughly soaked through!! Top Tip for anyone going - those macs have hoods and strings to tighten them for a reason!
After being there for what seemed like ages, the boat turned round and took us back to the dock and none too soon to as I was becoming concerned that I was starting to dissolve. Back on dry land and everyone we all take of the macs, Kathryn, Steve and Emma all throw theirs in the bins - the heathens, I keep mine 'cos its fab souvenir and I also think I look kinda cool in it :D
Lunch and Shops
We go get some lunch at a cafe, Kathryn, Steve and I all have nice juicy roast beef with onion in a big bun with a huge portion of fries, Emma has a turkey wrap with a crisp green salad and wins the right to feel all healthy and smug for the rest of the day. During lunch we get to see our first piece of genuine Canadian wildlife when we get visited by a cheeky grey squirrel who starts plundering the left plates on a nearby table for chips.
After lunch the girls go off in search of fridge magnets and other tat to clog up our houses back home, so Steve and go to the edge of the falls to get some more pics and get our second thorough soaking of the day for our troubles. We get our pics as quick as we can so the cameras don't get completely drowned and then we're off.
We get back to where we're supposed to meet the girls.. but they're not there... this, when they're shopping, is not a good sign. We walk into the nearest gift shop to see if they're there, which they're not but we do see our first bear, a huge 7 foot teddy bear in a mountie uniform. Outside the shop we find the girls who for the first time in their lives have not found a single thing to buy, not even a single fridge magnet, Steve and I are frankly gobsmacked.
Back to Toronto
Its Steve's turn to get his hands on the monster Tahoe, you can tell this by the grin on his face when the keys come out the bag. So after some silly pics with our heads hanging out the car in the car park we set off....... in the wrong direction, but at least we get to see a little more of suburban Niagara while we look for the right road.
On the way back along the QEW we see our second wild animal of the day, only this time its a dead raccoon by the side of the road :(, which is a little sad but judging by the size of it I reckon it will have given the car's radiator as good as it got back. The drive back to Toronto was very easy (especialy because I wasnt actualy driving :D) though it got a little more hairy when we reached the outskirts and saw several cars where the drivers had no hands on the steering wheel in the slow moving traffic jams.. one woman was not even looking at the road as she was putting on lipstick using the mirror on the sun visor!!!
So despite all lunatics on the road we somehow make it back to Toronto and get the bags dropped off at the hotel. We now need to get the car back to Avis and get some go go juice (petrol), we get some directions from the receptionist and we're off again. Steve's quite pleased with himself for navigating the Toronto one way system and finding the petrol station first time... shame he does not have so much luck with the petrol pump.. but then neither do I.. it just wont give us any petrol. The woman from inside keeps repeating something over the tannoy but neither of us can make out a word shes saying.. eventualy she gives up, comes out and flicks the big switch with the big "ON" sticker next to it, at which point the pumps whirs into life and she walks back in muttering something under her breath, somehow I don't think it was "gee, i love British Tourists".
With the "gas" finaly in and paid for, we point the car down the road at Avis, only to find when we get there that we're on the right hand side, Avis' car park is on the left and theres a huge central reservation in the way...hmmm. So we go round the block hoping there is a back entrance... which there is yay :D (Actualy, thats not entirely true, I had suggested that we keep turning left till we get back round, which would have put us back where we were... doh! and the back entrance was just good fortune - Carlos). The car seems to only just fit in the garage door then we drive down a ramp and into a maze of a car park which ends at the avis drop point. Steve and I wave a teary goodbye to our new best friend as we leave "T" (The Tahoe) and head back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel we all go down to the bar in the basement for a few drinks, but its just Coke for me as i'm on Antibiotics. Having had our fill of drinks and bar snacks and had thoroughly good relax we all go back to the rooms for showers so we smell a little nicer for when we go out for dinner.
Evening Fun
Em and I go and knock on Kathryn and Steve, but they're not ready as there is some problem with an invoice related to Steves business, bascially the invoice has not been payed, which I suppose is about as big as problems with invoices go! So there are emails flying here, there and everywhere with the end result that we still dont know the purchase order number. In olden days it would have taken hours on the phone or weeks of writing letters to get this little done, now with the power of the internet we can get nothing done in litteraly minutes from anywhere in the world... Isn't technology ace :D
We go down to the lake shore for dinner at a place Kathryn read about called "Pier 4" (no prizes for guessing where it is!). We have a drink outside and admire a huge shiny yacht moored up beside the restaurant and then waste about 10 minute trying to figure out how to get in to the resaurant itself, somehow we manage to miss the entrance completely several times... its seemingly not a good day for spotting obvious things.
Its a fish resaurant (not surprising with it being next to lake ontario) but even so we decide not to go for the seafood platter for 2 at Ca$99, infact I completely give fish a miss and decide to go for chicken instead. All the dinners were tasty, with the exception of the spinach that they insisted on putting on everyones plate, which was a little bit tough and bitter. Steve and I are a little traumatised by this and feel we have to order a piece of cheesecake each purely as comfort food, and WOW, how comfortable were they!!! The slices must have been 8cm high and tasted lurvly.. Emma grabs a fork and just has one mouthfull of cake and gets to wear the smug healthy eater badge for the second time today.
Its still really warm when we walk home, so we take it nice a slowly along the lakefront which is fairly buzzing with bars and cafes, but as we're so knackered after a long day so we don't stop at any of them but instead got straight back to the hotel and are all in bad by 10:30.... we're sooo rock'n'roll!!!!
