Today I’m going to be talking about my visit to Niagara Falls.

At the beginning of 2017 I was inspired by Makelight to choose a word to guide me through the year, instead of or as well as New Year’s Resolutions. At first I was hesitant and it took me a while to come up with something that I felt summed up what I wanted to achieve. However, once I found that word there was no stopping me!

My word is Explore.

To me, Explore means meeting new people, learning new things and visiting new places. I find exploring in this way really opens the mind, allows creativity to blossom and creates a great work life balance.

So I spent five days in Canada in mid May. On the third day I decided to take a coach trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls. It was an exciting day of travelling by coach, boat and helicopter!

It was about a 2 hour coach drive from Central Toronto to the Falls. The tour guide on the Greyhound coach was really good at telling us about the areas we were travelling through. Also, there were stops on the way.

The first stop was at the Trius Vineyard where ice wine is produced. I didn’t even know that ice wine was a thing. The grapes are left on the vine until the frosts set in. The wine produced is very sweet and, of course, had to be tasted.

The next stop was a short drive away at the quaint little town of Niagara on the Lake. It was full of brightly painted wooden buildings, quaint shops and eating places. This is a place I would love to stay if I find myself in the region again.

We spent an hour or so wandering this lovely little town.

The parks were lined with Spring flowers.

After a wander around the pretty town we headed for Niagara Falls. I had a picnic lunch in the park whilst taking in my first view of the Falls. It was impressive but I was eager to take a closer look.

Niagara Falls is actually a collection of waterfalls — Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on the USA side. The Falls straddle the border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York and form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge.

After lunch as we walked closer to this wonder the sheer size and power of the Falls became more obvious.

I decided to take a boat trip to get really close up. You are issued with pink plastic hooded cover ups and there is a reason for this — you get absolutely soaked! If you’re going to do this don’t underestimate just how wet and windy it is as you approach the Falls. I had my camera with me which I needed to keep dry. I wrapped it in a plastic raincoat which I then put inside a thick plastic bag. It was fine.

The sight became more and more wonderous the closer we got.

This is a view of the USA side. You can see everyone trekking along the path in blue plastic coats. Blue on the USA side and Pink on the Canada side.

I thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip. I had to take refuge inside the boat when we were at the closest point as it was so wet and windy I couldn’t actually see anything!

Next up I took the option of a helicopter ride over the Falls. I was about worried about it being choppy but it wasn’t at all. The helicopter took about six people and the ride lasted about 10 minutes … just enough to get a few really good snaps with the camera.

We returned to the coach and were taken to a viewing area. I couldn’t believe how close we were.

We were so lucky that there was a mini heatwave going on. It was 29 degrees with blue skies and there were rainbows. This is the boat we were on earlier.

This was our final view of the Niagara Falls before making the journey back to Toronto. Not a bad way to end the day!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and it’s inspired you to get out and explore! There are so many wonderful places to see — whether it’s something local or far away.

If you would like to see more of my photos I would love to see you on Instagram.

If you would like to know about the One Purl Row products visit the Etsy store.

Stay safe and cosy until next time.

Yvonne x

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Originally published at www.onepurlrow.co.uk.