Yesterday we helped out at Emily & Jack’s cousin, Giacomo’s, birthday party. He is five years old so the house was filled by 12 other five year olds – fortunately there were plenty of parents on hand to act as crowd control. Jack and Emily were also great help in entertaining these children.
Today we took the short journey around Lake Ontario from Toronto to Niagara. The weather was extremely dreary but at least by the time we had parked up the rain had stopped and the cloud cover was starting to break. We had done Niagara in the year we came across to the US, but wanted to see it again. The Canadian side of the Niagara gives the best views of the falls but is unfortunately totally commercialised, and reminds us of some of the tackier seaside resorts, like Blackpool, in the UK (as you can see from the attached photo - Jack has put some weight on from eating too many Dunkin Donuts). Before we went our images of what it would be like were more like those of Hollywood movies – the reality is bitterly disappointing. Therefore this time we chose the more serene haven of Niagara on the Lake to stay in. Despite the horror of the town the falls themselves are spectacular so we spent some time admiring the glorious sight and turned a blind eye to the 
inability of the Canadian government to maintain the pristine beauty of the surrounding area.After a short visit to the falls we sped up to Niagara on the Lake and as the horror of Niagara town disappeared into the distance and the scenery improved the weather brightened in sympathy. Mark has decided rather than take the damp, docile trip on the Maid of the Mist into the falls at Niagara we would do the jet boat ride into the whirlpool. The whirlpool itself is about 7 miles or so down the Niagara river, where the river takes a 90o turn. The water pours over the Niagara falls, emptying the Great Lakes of Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, into Lake Ontario before passing down the St Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. After the falls at Niagara the river passes through a gorge creating some of the most vicious white water rapids in the world. To get to the whirlpool on the jet boat from Niagara on the lake you have to travel upstream through some of these rapids. There are two options on these jet boats; the covered one that is a bit less dangerous (you can tip over but not fall out) and it keeps you dry – or the open top one. We of course chose the latter. They kindly provide you with some clothing – an old jumper that smelt like a decaying kipper (intended to keep you warm), a waterproof suit (of sorts), a poncho and some very soggy water shoes. None of which provide any protection from the wet or cold! The journey goes upstream of the Niagara River – initially passing a no wake zone at 6mph the boat speeds up to 50mph. To demonstrate the manoeuvrability of the boat they spin it through 360o, which is great fun. Next they take you up through the rapids called the Devil’s hole which are class 5 rapids with 20 foot waves – this is where you get really wet. After going back through these rapids a couple of times you get taken to the whirlpool – where the water looks calm. The whirlpool is a few hundred yards across and over 200 feet deep and apparently if you fall in your body might not surface for a week or three – so not the place to go swimming. The crew of the boat explains that we can’t go further upstream to the class 6 rapids known as the Himalayas as the journey back takes us over a bow wave at the entrance to the whirlpool that would barrel roll the boat and we’d all take a dip into the rapids. Instead we head back and do a couple more trips through the Devil’s hole, then journey home very wet and cold. Luckily we were staying at the King William III hotel – which sounds very glamorous but is more of a hostel than hotel but it where the jet boat business is run from therefore 30 seconds away from the boat yard. Those hot showers felt so good!!!!
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