Lounging our way to Canada (6 days, 6 flights, 6 lounges) - Day 3

[BONZO]

Lounging our way to Canada – the cast:

Me: Shaun, 53 – Bar Steward –making sure all drinks are up to standard

Alison, 48, Trolley Dolly – your helpful inflight attendant

Link to trip report index:
Here

Saturday 11th April

We woke up very early this morning as expected – around 3.45! We lazed around for a while, reading and drinking coffee before showering and getting dressed. We searched in vain for our planning spreadsheet only to find out that Alison had neither printed it nor saved it to her ipad –oh my, how the mighty have fallen! (We sent a message to DD at home asking her to email it, which she did later in the day!)

Anyway we finally remembered one of the suggested options – Sunset Grill, so we just needed to find it! Luckily, before we left for Canada I downloaded an app called HERE to my phone. The beauty was that you could download maps and information to work offline so that there was no need to worry about roaming charges. It worked a treat but boy does it take up a lot of space.

So, we used the app to navigate to Sunset Grill that was actually open at this time of morning, 07:00. Unlike New York or other American cities, Toronto seems to take time to get going– more of this later and in the summary. Sunset Grill on Richmond Street was surrounded by many quiet roads and very few people out apart from street cleaners and other workers.



Breakfast was quite good – pancakes and maple syrup for Alison, and a cooked selection for me together with dark rye toast, plus coffee for us both. Good service and it came to $20. They even offered HP sauce not just brown sauce – how very English!










We had a slow wander back to the hotel down Yonge Street – it was a bit cloudy this morning but not too bad - we had coats on this time! We picked up bags etc and headed out to the front of the hotel to get the tour bus to Niagara. On the way out, Alison needed a last washroom call so I headed out to the street to see if the coach had arrived at the meeting point. As I went down the steps I noticed a coach in about the right place and as I arrived it pulled away! There was no signage on the side and I thought “oh no, not again” and explained what had happened to Alison as she arrived by my side. :angry:


We mulled over what our next steps should be if that really was our coach but no need to worry as ours turned up with a big BG Tour logo on the side. Not sure where the other pickups were but lost of people decamped and used the washrooms in the hotel.


As we were the last on the coach we couldn’t sit next to each other but no big deal – I’ll be spending 24 x 7 with Alison this trip for better or for worse! It was a 15 seater so not big.


Our Sri Lankan guide pointed out items of interest as we travelled out of Toronto and after a while we arrived at our first stop which was a winery, famed for Ice wine. We sampled a couple of their red and white wines which were ok and then for a couple of dollars we could try the ice wine. All very nice but nothing special to be honest although some of the German contingent bought a bottle of the ice wine for later.


Next stop was a small airport. Pretty similar in size and build to Boulder airport for our Grand Canyon trip last year except we were the only people there.

The guide asked who wanted to do (a) the helicopter trip (cost $210) (b) the aircraft trip (cost $90) or (c) neither, in which case he would drive out to the power station. One couple had opted for the helicopter trip and we opted for the plane trip. We mulled around for a while whilst the guide approached others on the tour and another couple opted for the helicopter. Eventually he came over to us after being on his mobile and said to us quietly that we could have the helicopter trip for $75 but not to tell the others. No one else wanted to do the plane trip and they didn’t want to send the plane up for just the two of us!

Great!

As we approached the helicopter Alison nudged me towards the empty seat with the pilot so that was me sorted out then! What was odd was that there was no safety briefing at all.

It was only a short trip but well worth the money as you really get some unique views from above and far better than the view from the ground. You could clearly see the ice build up on the falls that made the boat trips impossible to take during our trip.







Everyone back on board the bus and off to Niagara on the lake. It was a cross between Main Street USA in Disney World and Bourton-on- the-Water – all very twee. The place was full of knick-knack shops, tea rooms and the obligatory Starbucks – very welcome to use their free Wi-Fi though. Not my cup of tea exactly but ok if that’s your sort of thing.

Next stop was the non-flower floral clock (they hadn’t yet planted the flowers – hence the non Floral bit!)again, I guess it would nice at another time of year but just too early for us. I must admit to this not exactly being the type of tourist attraction I was looking for.



The next pullover was the cable car over the rapids, again not in service being too early in the season for it to be operating. We didn’t hang around too long before we piled back onto the minibus and finally arrived in Niagara itself - at the Skylon tower. We shimmied past the photo “opportunity” and into the lift to get to the viewing platform. Great views from up here but boy the wind was biting and the wind was blowing a gale so we didn’t hang around too long here.





We arranged a pick up point and time with our driver as we were all let loose at Niagara Falls proper. The view of the main street was certainly a bit of a shock to the system as a comparison to the natural beauty of the falls – more like Seuss Landings at Islands of Adventure – what on earth were the planners thinking? It felt a bit like a British seaside town!






The falls were amazing though – well worth the trip out here.



Feeling peckish and looking for food we headed towards to the high street. Now what to choose? So many fast food joints and the obligatory Tim Hortons. We didn’t want too much and as we passed a Wendy’s we decided to pop in as we hadn’t had a Wendy’s for years! There wasn’t much to really hold our attention so we went to the Fallsview Casino for some slots fun. All in all we ended up about $15 down on the deal so not too bad.




We had a little time to kill so we went to Tim Horton’s for a coffee and a pastry before making our way back to the coach.



Fortunately, everyone was back in time so we left promptly at 4.15pm before spending some chatting to the driver about his background and why he’d settled on Canada as opposed to the UK or USA. Alison and others snoozed their way back to the hotel which appeared to be very busy today. We sat in the room to re-group and watched the end of The Masters (it felt a bit odd watching it live during the day – we’re so used to watching it late in the evening in the UK!).

After showering and getting changed we thought we’d head out to the entertainment area to see what that area was like. We stopped at Union Station on the way:



Alison was flagging quite a bit so we just stopped in Tim Hortons for a light bite before heading back to the hotel room. A couple of chicken paninis and sodas for about $15 later and we were ready to head back to the hotel to crash by 9.15



A really good day today – Niagara Falls was just amazing.

[Melbatb]

Good deal on the helicopter ride! It was a packed day by the sound of it!

[caj]

You seem to have done well for deals! Niagra looked tacky, but the falls are on my bucket list!

[jocat]

Great tip about the app for offline maps - will have to clear my phone though by the sounds of it to make room.

Spectacular photos of Niagara Falls with the ice still there. We're weighing up whether to do a tour there, or hiring a car and driving ourselves. Think I'm leaning towards the car option, just to give us a bit more freedom. I've got no interest in the winery, nor the helicopter (following a helicopter tour whilst in New York - I swore never again due to motion sickness ).

Am hoping a few more things might be open at the Falls at the end of May though.

[BONZO]

We are also not big fans of organised trips and did look into hiring a car for the day.

The hire car did cost in but on a Saturday the hire times was 08:00 - 16:00.

Driving time to and from Niagara is about 90 minutes plus parking fee.

So, for us it was going to be touch and go to drive, see everything and get the car back in time.

Time of year will be key - disappointed that many things were not open - but will include that advice in post report summary.

[rens]

The falls look incredible- especially the photos taken from the helicopter

[jocat]

Originally Posted by BONZO

We are also not big fans of organised trips and did look into hiring a car for the day.

The hire car did cost in but on a Saturday the hire times was 08:00 - 16:00.

Driving time to and from Niagara is about 90 minutes plus parking fee.

So, for us it was going to be touch and go to drive, see everything and get the car back in time.

Time of year will be key - disappointed that many things were not open - but will include that advice in post report summary.

See more...

Yes I can see the problem with the car hire hours being 8:00 - 4:00 pm. We've been dithering with a closing time of 6:00 pm, as that will probably be tight, but I think I've found a location that accept out of hours drop offs, which will obviously help.

[Melbatb]

Jo, we hired a car as I have said before. We picked it up at 8am and dropped off the next day at 8am. This was a Thursday/Friday.

We spent a good 4 hours at the Falls (avoided like the Plague the tacky area) after buying the combo ticket boat/4d experience/behind the falls/boardwalk). We then went to Niagara on the Lakes for an early dinner before driving back! Hope that helps!

[jocat]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Jo, we hired a car as I have said before. We picked it up at 8am and dropped off the next day at 8am. This was a Thursday/Friday.

We spent a good 4 hours at the Falls (avoided like the Plague the tacky area) after buying the combo ticket boat/4d experience/behind the falls/boardwalk). We then went to Niagara on the Lakes for an early dinner before driving back! Hope that helps!

See more...

Think we will definitely do this, but I'm trying to avoid any potential parking difficulties (plus charges) for overnight. If I can do an out of hours drop off, I've got the best of both worlds, plus we can have a lie in the next morning too.

[Melbatb]

Originally Posted by jocat

Think we will definitely do this, but I'm trying to avoid any potential parking difficulties (plus charges) for overnight. If I can do an out of hours drop off, I've got the best of both worlds, plus we can have a lie in the next morning too.

See more...

Never any chance of a lie in with DD! Also as the car hire place was only over the road it wasn't a big deal (though we did get stung $25 for overnight parking!)