Niagara Falls – Canada

We are so glad we made the decision to go across the border from the Niagara Falls in the USA to Niagara Falls in Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at another KOA (Kamps of America) park, and in the process met some really lovely people. The kids went for a night time swim in the heated pool and we met a couple and their son who were from England, but were travelling around Canada before moving permanently to New Zealand. The next day we had the good fortune to meet some gorgeous ladies who were busily cooking food on the fire by their cabin. It turned out that they were part Welsh and part Mohawk Indian!

June and Marilyn came bearing gifts from their heritage for the children………and from that moment on a friendship was formed! In fact, we shared a cooked lunch with them swapping stories and finding out about their native ancestors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marilyn had walked around Lake Erie with native Grandmothers (traditional elders) , blessing the lake from all of the pollution of modern living. That in itself was a fascinating story. When we caught a shuttle bus into the city of Niagara later in the afternoon, June and Marilyn came with us……and our kids treated them like surrogate Grandmothers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our family caught the yellow elevator up to the top of the Skylan Tower where we had a scrumptious buffet, then took photos of Niagara Falls from the Observation Level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a “all-you-can-eat…….bursting-at-the-sides…..time-to-roll-home” type of meal, we met up with June and Marilyn again and made our way to Clifton Way, where the lights were bright, music was pumping, attractions were enticing…and the kids were in seventh heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered down to the cliffs to see Niagara Falls at night. The lighting was spectacular and the pictures do not do it justice. June and Marilyn also told us that a couple of weeks earlier, a Japanese student, who was in Canada studying, was swept off the cliff as she stood astride a rail to take a closer photo of the Falls. It took over a week before her body was recovered on the US side of the Falls. What a tragedy. The whole time I was at the Falls, I was reminded of a book we read at Bookclub back in Burekup called “The Falls” (Written by Joyce Carol Oats). The presence of the Falls was pretty awe-inspiring seeing nature in such a powerful state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving the Falls, we promised the children they could choose two attractions to go on or in. Kit, Flynn, Kaitlin and Jai decided to go into The Haunted House. We tried to talk Kit out of it, as I thought the Fun Centre (which Amber and Chayse had chosen) would be much more down his alley. But Kit would have none of it! It was the Haunted House he wanted to see. We decided Trev should go with him, and according to Trev afterwards, it was just as well. The 5 of them had only been in the house for less than 5 minutes when the spooky surprises and deafening noises scared the living daylights out of Kit. Apparently, Kit was hysterical and wouldn’t let go of Trev’s legs. Luckily there was an “Exit for Chickens” about that time, so Trev made his way to the door. Kit thought he was going to be dragged into another horror room, so whilst Trev was busy trying to “save” him, Kit refused to let go of the wall (all the while screaming hysterically). I think the people behind thought this was part of the charade of the Haunted House! Needess to say, Kit was quite happy to go the Fun House after that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we had seen all the Attractions, it was pretty late. June and Marilyn had been the best surrogate Grandmothers by looking after Akaisha or watching the Chayse and Kit whilst we were with the older children. What a blessing! But our journey wasn’t over. The shuttle bus trip home was pretty entertaining in itself. We had the best bus driver you could ever want. He was absolutely hilarious and everytime we stopped, he’d get out of his seat and tell a joke. One I have to repeat is this one (I apologise in advance if you are blonde…just as the bus driver apologised to all of my kids.)

There was a brunette, a redhead and a blonde. They were in a small village, but were running from the Law, so found a tavern in which to hide. The Police were hot on their heels, so once inside, they had to find some quick hiding spots. There were three huge sacks shoved in the corner, so they each jumped into one. When the Policeman came in, he saw three very heavy and full-looking sacks. He kicked the first sack where the brunette was hiding. “Woof” said the Brunette. “Oh, puppies” thought the cop. He kicked the second sack where the redhead was hiding. “Meow” said the Redhead. “Oh, kittens” thought the cop. He kicked the third sack where the blonde was hiding. “Potatoes” said the Blonde.

The bus driver went on to say that he had told that joke about an hour earlier to another group of passengers, and there was a 19 yr old blonde girl laughing the hardest, but as she got off the bus, she said “So what was wrong with the blonde girl in the joke saying potatoes?” Apparently he answered, “If you have to ask that, this is definitely your stop!!!”

And that, my friends, is all.

Until our next blog…………………………………