SUNDAY

Our flight to Buffalo was not until 3.20pm so we didn't have to hurry at all this morning. Went for a drive to find a laundromat to do a pile of washing but found that they were full up with locals doing exactly the same thing! So the dirty clothes went back into the cases and we cleaned up the car and set out for Baltimore Airport (Southwest Airlines, the cheapest flights around do not fly out of Washington - BWI is about 45 miles away) stopping for a coffee and then passing through the centre of Washington DC as we headed northwards.
                                                                              
There was very little traffic about and so we stopped by the Capitol Building and got some closer photos and then took a roundabout route to fill in time. 
                         
One thing with having a GPS in the car is that you can request a route that avoids major freeways and therefore see some more of the local areas. Baltimore is a mid-sized airport and we had to drop the car there so we waited until the last minute to find a gas station to top up and guess what? The rental drop-off was miles from the terminal and there were no gas stations in sight!!! We hurriedly dialled a request into the GPS and found one some miles away (the alternative being to pay nearly $7 per gallon for Hertz to fill it up.) Once we had handed the car back we caught the shuttle to our terminal and were in Buffalo in next to no time despite having to fly a lot further north and east to miss a big thunderstorm.
We had a bit of a blonde moment on leaving Buffalo Airport because we got our previous hotel to book ahead for us and we had no idea what the address of our accommodation was!!! It was apparently in the town of Niagara Falls not in Buffalo as we thought and the taxi driver was seriously pissed when he found we wanted to make the 40 odd mile trip to Niagara Falls - cost us US$60 for the trip and the driver was such a pig we didn't tip him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MONDAY

Caught a bus to the falls this morning and were there in no time - went straight to the American Falls and our first views of this natural wonder. It was just just as impressive as all the pictures suggest, but we were surprised and disappointed by the grotty town of Niagara Falls. It is old and very tatty and needs a complete make over.
We booked a "Maid of the Mist" boat tour and luckily for us there were none of the usual queues and we boarded immediately and were treated to a sensational 20 minute ride to the base of the falls. The power of the water was immense and we got to within 50 or 60 metres of the thundering water - our supplied ponchos kept off the drenching spray - it was a thrilling few minutes. I had wanted to visit Niagara and do that trip all my life and I was stoked to have finally done it!

                              
From there we walked across the bridge and into Canada - duly had our passports stamped - and then walked to the Canadian Falls.
                                           
 The part of Niagara town on the Canadian side was the complete opposite of the American side, with a thriving town full of flash hotels, lovely gardens, hundreds of shops and people everywhere! We had a coffee at Starbucks - paid in US dollars and got Canadian change (think we got ripped off there!!) - and then walked along the viewing areas marvelling at the Canadian Horseshoe Falls which are bigger and so much better than the American ones. 
           

We had been given 2 free tickets to the Skylon Tower which rises 775 feet over the area and so we bought one more (Jasmin didn't want to do it!) and then took the elevator that clings to the OUTSIDE of the tower to the viewing platform where the views of the whole Falls were breathtaking. 
                                                        
Spent quite a while up there taking it all in and then we walked right to the edge of the Canadian Falls for some great photos. So many people about - thousands of tourists - and our Aussie shirts once again attracted lots of attention with many people, including a group of Victorians, coming up to us to say hello.
We crossed back into the USA (they charge a dollar to get back!) and did the usual customs security then took a walk around the American Niagara to find it was more dismal than we saw as we drove in! 50% of the shops were boarded up and there wasn't a soul in the streets - the only busy place was a huge new casino. Such a contrast in places, and you get the feeling that the Americans have accepted that the Canadian Falls are bigger and more impressive and they have spat the dummy! Maybe the opening of the new International Airport in Niagara will boost things along - we haven't seen Buffalo which is a fair way away but we reckon it would be far busier than here.
Tomorrow we fly out for New York - were going to take the train but it takes 9.5 hours which wastes a whole day.