0543 Back to the Canadian Niagara Falls, and to the Allegheny Nat Forest

19^th June 2016

I catch up with my fellow MG Wanderers from Queensland – Again !

I slept SO soundly last night that when I finally woke up, it took me 5 or 10 minutes to work out where I was, get my eyes open, and start the day !  I had been exhausted last night and the Portuguese digestivo before bed had pretty much finished me off !  But after a quick breakfast with Dave, checking on some of the photos on his big TV screen, and topping off my water tank with some good Canadian water, I set off back to Niagara.

Having seen (and enjoyed) the US side of the Falls on Friday, I wanted to see the Canadian side so that I could compare the two.  Added to that was the fact that my MG fellow World Wanderers (previously met in S America last year !) were also around Niagara, and I was looking forward to a fun day.

The drive from Dave’s place in Mississauga is an hour and a half (at my speed) on the freeway, so I got into Niagara at about 10.30 am.  I drove around the town for a while – and Oh Dear, Oh Dear, it is HORRIBLE !!!  The streets back from the Falls are all “House of Horrors” and “Dracula’s Castle” and similar sordid and tawdry “amusements” that stretch for some distance down what appears to be the main street.  Certainly VERY different from the US side which, being a National Park, is very much more subdued and focused on the Falls themselves.  Hmmmm – Black mark for Canada in my book – Although I acknowledge that this may well be what most people want – Just not my cup of Earl Grey !

I then found my way down to the front, above the Falls, and what a dramatic change – Even before you get to the road along the edge of the Falls, you get stunning glimpses through the trees.  This was more like it.   The MG guys had said they might be there by about 12 noon, coming up from Watkins Glen (an ex Formula 1 motor racing circuit just over the border in the US) and I said I would meet them in “the car park”, assuming it would be like the US side with only 2 or 3 car park options.  Unfortunately not – On the Canadian side you can park not only on the streets of the town (if you can find a space), but in any one of a number of car parks – Uh oh, this might be harder than expected.

I drove along the front, and the road is that close to the edge of the Falls that in one section not only is the road wet from the spray, but you have to put your wipers on if the wind is bowing the spray your way !  And you can SEE the Falls – not only are you looking across at the US Falls, but you are right there beside the Horseshoe Falls.  I couldn’t wait to park the car and go and have a closer look at the view.  In the end I went and parked in the very expensive ($22) car park nearest the Falls because a) I was still sore from not only my day walking on the US side but also from my day in and out of Dave’s Elise yesterday, and b) I thought that if I watched this section of the road, surely the MG’s would come along this bit ?

Walking up the road beside the Falls, the view is spectacular,  On the US side you really have to get down in the Maid of the Mist to see the Falls properly, but from this side, they are right there in front of you.  Just stunning, and I had a wonderful stroll along the path, (along with hoards of others !) and really enjoyed seeing the Falls in all their glory.  At one point the path is right next to where the water disappears over the Falls, and the noise and the sensation are just magnificent.  It is also very evident that 90% of the water is over the Horseshoe Falls, and only 10% over the US Falls – The Horseshoe Falls are massive. 

I wandered right up to the end southern end of the road, and then made my way back, keeping my eye open for the Australian MG’s.  Knowing some of them before the trip started in Queensland, and then meeting up with them in Argentina last year, it was just too big a coincidence that we were crossing paths again, so I was keen to try to make it happen !  I detoured up to Nicola Tesla’s statue – as detailed previously, he was responsible not only for the processes that enabled hydro electric power, but his name is now synonymous with electric cars since his name was chosen for the currently market leading Tesla cars. 

By this time it was 10 past 12, and I was leaning on the railing with the Falls in front of me, and I thought “If only the cars would come past now, I could get a great photo of them with the Falls in the background.  And, believe it or not, almost on cue, I looked up the road and here came Ian and Lorraine’s blue MGB GT (identical to one that Janet and I owned in Dubai in 1978), and right behind it, Dave and Laurel’s MGA, affectionately known as RIP.  I couldn’t

believe it – and between shouting and whistling at them, I did manage to not only get some photos of them with the Falls in the background, but also let them know where I was parked. 

So we met up in the car park, (the other cars had already left and headed north up into Ontario for their next meeting), and headed off along the path so they could get some photos, and went up into  a restaurant over looking the Horseshoe Falls for some lunch

and a chat to catch up.  So good to find them again !  They are heading over to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and then shipping from Halifax over to Europe, from where, next summer, I believe they are heading across Russia to Vladivostock !  (Thinks, Oooooh, that might be a fun adventure !!)

Anyway, after lunch they had to head north, so after I gave them my Newfoundland maps and some hints of the best places to go there, they took off north into Ontario, and I set of south, towards Buffalo. And it turned out to be the perfect place to cross back into the USA on a busy Sunday evening (Father’s Day), because although there were massive queues across the bridge coming back into Canada, going my way I had one car in front of me at the border, and was through in about 5 minutes.

The only hold up was that the border security lady couldn’t find “Queensland” number plates listed anywhere in her books, I told her our system was a State based one like in the US, and eventually she seemed to accept that, and told me to have a great trip, and I was off !

I was headed to Indianapolis so the plan was just to get as far as I could tonight, then hit the road hard tomorrow.  The trouble is that this whole area around the Great Lakes if so built up that it is hard to get away from the city streets and find places where camping might be possible !  So I looked on the map and found a little National Forest area called Allegheny that had some camp sites marked, and I wandered south on increasingly narrow country roads towards the park.  The drive was absolutely delightful, out in really remote countryside, for a while on the Amish Trail with buggies and Amish people walking along the road (no vehicles or other modern items like electricity in their lives), and just driving through the rolling hills and fields in the afternoon sunshine.  Very pleasnt.

I finally reached the Allegheny National Forest at about 7 pm, and there wasn’t a soul in the little camping area (which only had about 8 spots beside a river), so I set up right beside the river, cooked my supper, and went to sleep in the heart of the forest, miles from anywhere.  What a great day.

Pics are here :-  https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/6299195705596056001?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_Z05X1i4CorwE