27th June 2010: Niagara plan executed at last on 3rd attempt

After 2 failed attempts in the last couple of weekends we were all set to make it this week no matter what. The mission was to see Niagara from above and to take the Jet boat thrill ride on the Niagara Lake. After two weeks of overcast weekends which failed our plans this weekend too continued with the same weather, but this time we decided to go for it rain or shine, we ignored the forecast and took our chances.

Till the night before no bookings were done in advance as we were not sure if we will make it at right time as we do not have a way of transport to reach Niagara from Brampton. After some search and information from friends we were told about a Casino bus which goes up to Niagara reaching there faster than the other way of transport, at comfortable time of around 9:50 AM compared to 8 AM of the alternate one and a bit cheaper as well, so we decided to go with the Casino bus though we were not members. We know we would be allowed and we can get membership on reaching the Casino. One of us called up the bus and reserved our spots on the bus. The bus is scheduled from the go train station carpool area at 9:50 AM the next day near some intersection.

The next morning after a good sleep till 7:30 it was time to get ready and catch the bus. All 4 of us assumed that the bus departs from the nearest go station to us and none of us paid much attention to the exact location. I cycled from my home to the station as I was a bit late to take the transit bus; it was just around 4 km ride of 20 minutes. At around 9:25 AM all of us met as planned at the Go train station where we were supposed to catch the bus.

The other 3 of my friends were already there waiting for me and they were in a confused state wondering if this is the right station as the taxi driver with whom they reached there informed them that it was not the right station. We still thought this must be the station. I saw a group of people waiting nearby at a parking lot while I was cycling so we went to enquire them to see if they were waiting for the casino bus as well. On reaching them by walk we learnt that they were there for some other reason and we had to head back to the taxi. The time was already 9:35 AM by the time we reached the taxi. After calling up the casino bus again getting the proper intersection we informed the taxi guy to take to that location, he was not sure of the location but we had no other choice to find it on the go as we were running late and we took our chances. We know that if we missed this bus we can take the next one at 10:50 so we were kind of ok with it.

After around 8 minutes of taxi ride we almost reached the place but could not find the carpool location were we had to go. While everyone was wondering still in the car, we spotted the Casino bus on the road waiting for the signal, we just asked our taxi driver to stop the car and wait for the Casino bus to come and to follow the bus to go to the stop. Somehow it was the right bus and we followed it to the stop which was nearby. The bus reached on time there at 9:50 and following it we reached there. By the time we reached there the bus was about to start and we had to run to catch the attention of the bus service people and we finally made in to the bus at the last second. Wow, what a way to start the day. That was a pleasant surprise for all 4 of us to catch the bus after a mishap.

We were on the bus for around 1 hour 15 minutes, our identity proofs were checked to confirm our ages and we paid for the ride. On reaching the casino we enrolled for the Casino membership and we were soon inside the casino. But our plan was not the casino, after having some refreshments we headed out. The Niagara Falls was just a couple of hundred meters walk down from the Casino. The Casino was at a higher elevation to the falls. Our plan was to first take the helicopter ride and then the wet jet boat ride as we know the forecast called for rain during the later half of the day. It does not matter if it rains when we are in the jet boat ride as anyways we are going to get soaked in water taking the thrill ride.

We could see the falls covered with fog and visibility was low. Our hopes went down again as we can not take the helicopter ride with the fog covering the falls as nothing will be visible from top. Well, it seemed to be a bad day for the ride. Though a bit disappointed we decided to go down to the falls and do other things which we can there and spend some time around. We had an option to take the Niagara adventure pass which included few attractions but we decided to take just the people mover day pass which takes us around the Niagara region and went down the slope using the incline railway included in the pass from the Casino to the fall. It was a just about a minute ride down the slope.

On reaching down we headed directly to the falls viewpoint passing through the small business area. One of our friends was seeing Niagara for the first time and he must have been much exited to see the falls, but even after reaching the view point we could not have a clear view of the falls due to fog and mist and for sure it is not the right day to go for the helicopter ride. It was cloudy and seemed its going to be the same all day. The time was around 12 PM. After spending some time at the falls and after knowing helicopter ride is not a good idea we decided to call up and make the reservation for the wet jet boat ride for the 1 PM. I called them up and the conversation was like “I want to reserve the 1 PM ride” She said”Sorry it is full”, me “What about the 3 PM”, She “Sorry it is full too”… oh no not again… me “is any other time left with a spot for us”… She said “we have spots for 5 PM”. I was relieved at last that we can at least make this one. I went ahead with the booking and made the payment with my card on phone. We were happy we can make to one of our two planned activities for the day. We were told to be at the location by 4:15 PM.

What now the time is just around 12:15 PM. We still have around 4 hours left for the ride. Well after some debate all of us agreed to go for the maid of the mist boat ride and we headed there directly using the people mover.

Taking a few pictures on the way and after getting the tickets we were out to the boat. On reaching the boat we could see that sun was coming out and the fog clearing away making a clear view of the falls. That’s a great sight and the first thing which came to our mind was the helicopter ride. Yes with this view the ride is going to be awesome but we were not sure how long the sun is going to be out and if it will be out till we make it. We decided to first complete the maid of the mist ride and then think of the helicopter. It was around an half hour boat ride taking the visitor close to both the American falls and the Canadian Falls with the mist from the falls making us all wet.

Though I have taken this ride already it was a pleasant experience to do it again, witnessing the smooth flow of water down the falls in gigantic amounts, hearing the thundering sound it makes, with the birds flying all around the falls escorting the boat on the way to the falls. Passing the American falls we saw a lot of birds on our way to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. On reaching the Horseshoe Falls we were actually taken to the centre of the curve and we were at the centre of the curve surrounded by the curve of the Niagara Falls on both sides with the mist of the falls falling all over us as rain and drenching us. It was a nice half hour ride we were back. The Sun was still out and we decided to try our luck with the helicopter ride.

We took the people mover again and reached the stop from where we have to make a small walk to the Niagara helicopters location. We were too hungry to walk; we ordered for a pizza at a nearby eat-out and filled our tummies before walking to take the ride. After our pizza lunch we walked a few minutes and reached the Helicopters location at around 3:00 PM. We were so exited about the ride, one of our friends stared deleting old pictures from his memory card to make sure he has enough memory to get pictures of Niagara from above. After paying for the ride we were in and waiting for our helicopter. The helicopter arrived soon, dropped of the passengers, took a few meters flight to the gas station nearby, filled its tank and was back to the passenger pickup area to pick us up for the ride.

We were thrilled to get in to the helicopter. I guess I was the only one of us who had already been in a helicopter once before this one. Other 3 must have been more exited than me. Soon after getting seated, belted, head phoned, we took off. The lift from the ground was slow and steady, the turn was slow and steady and then it was a zoooom, the speed and turn of flight swung our body backwards and side wards. This was thrilling to me even as my previous helicopter ride was slow and steady for the entire period I was in, this seemed more thrilling and I was exited too. We flew over the Niagara whirlpool area were the Niagara river makes a full 90 degree turn, over the hydro power stations, over the American falls and over the Canadian Horse Shoe falls. The view of the falls form above is for sure a different experience compared to the view from the ground, The mightiness of the falls can be easily realized from above and a full clear view of everything.

The sun was still out and the view was crystal clear and we could not ask for more. The ride of 15 minutes though short gave us a glimpse of Niagara with the sights which will remain in our eyes for a long time. With a few pictures to remember the moments we were back to the landing pad. We all were so happy we did it. Our pictures with the helicopter were taken before our flight by the Helicopter Company but were priced so high we did not end up buying any. We were out in minutes and the time was almost 4:15.

Till that time we were so filled with the thrill of the ride and on realizing that we were late for the wet jet boat ride we started to feel the thrill again but in a different way. We headed to the people mover stop to go to the jet boat location which was 3 kms away. We were waiting and waiting but the people mover bus never arrived. We were getting late every minute. We started thinking its our hands now and talking about refund and doing something else as we were asked to be there at 4:15 and it was already around 4:30. At around 4:32 the people mover arrived and our hopes were raised again. We reached the jet boat location soon at around 4:45 running to the kiosk. We were somehow allowed to take the ride and after filling the agreement forms in a hurry we headed to the bus which was waiting to take us to the boat down the river. We were the last ones to make to the bus. Everyone inside the bus was prepared to get wet with proper clothing on for the wet ride. We were the only ones who entered the bus with our regular clothes on as we did not get time to change. We reached the boat location in a few minutes and after getting our life jackets and some advice we were on the jet boat.

The ride was about to start and it would last for 45 minutes. The beginning of the ride was slow and smooth to cross the residential zone and soon it gained speed and it was a zoom again. I had never traveled so fast in water. The jet boat was yet in the calm water of the Niagara River and has not entered the rapids and we were still dry. After a few initial little rapids of class 1 and 2 we could feel the water entering the boat and crawling around our shoes making our feet wet and that’s when we realized the chillness of the water. Oops this is going to be a real bone chilling thrill ride, we were looking at each other and giving that desperate look. Though scared we were all prepared to feel it. Our captain steered the boat in to few more rapids of class 3 and the water started splashing all over the boat with a splash of water over us, but we were still dry. While we were thinking its going to be like this, the instructor came down to inform us that that was just a trial to make us get prepared for the real picture. Now that’s something to worry about. Soon the captain started showing his skills and making u-turns and hitting class 4 rapids which soaked the boat in water and everyone on board were fully wet and we were officially wet every inch. It is always the first step that is difficult and it was the same here as well, once we were fully drenched we were all set now and were looking forward for more thrills. The next 30 minutes were filled with more water splashing and more u turns and a few bumps in to the class 5 rapids. It was a thrilling and chilling experience of a lifetime. Though we were all pumped up to go on a class 6 rapid which was found at the Niagara Whirlpool area where the river takes a full 90 degree turn our instructor told that is it too dangerous and they don’t have permit to do that, even if done the boat will turn upside down downing everyone and the force from the rapid will pull everyone one inside the whirlpool and it does not matter even if u know swimming and wear a lifejacket, you are not coming out of it alive. After hearing that we were good to stay with class 5 and leave alone class 6. After half our of thrill ride our boat came to the starting point and we got off the boat with water dripping from our clothes. Got in to the bus, reached the centre and changed our clothes. At last we have executed our 3 week plan successfully. It was a great feeling to fell success after a couple of failures and that too with such a nice day filled with thrilling experiences we can not ask for more. As no cameras were allowed on the boat because it will get wet we did not get a chance to take any pictures of our thrill ride, but who cares, we had a blast. The picture attached here is the one picked up from their website.

It was around 6:30 we went to a totempole park nearby which was closed, but we got some picturs taken through the gate holes. we left from there to the Niagara Falls when it started raining as forecasted. We spent more than an hour taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of the falls in rain with an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other hand.

We went back to the casino to catch the 8 PM bus but decided to stay there for few more time so reserved the 9:30 bus and went inside the casino. After taking some snacks we headed directly to the slot machines were we ready to try our lucks. The limit which we set was just 5$. So as known 3 of us ended up losing 5$ each, I lost them in just 3 button pushes while the others lasted longer. The fourth guy lost his 5$ too but decided to play with 5$ more. He picked up a game which he knew and he did well to gain 5$ and neutralize his loss. So at the end it was good for him. By the time it was around 9:15, I had to push him for 5 minutes to leave the machine to catch the bus and succeeded. We had 10 minutes to catch the bus but we could not find the other two who were gone by now. We could not track them in the big casino. Even they were not picking up their phone. After searching for 5 minutes we decided to head to the bus as we expected them to reach the bus at 9:30 as they knew the timing. We reached the bus at 9:28 PM with 2 minutes to spare but we did not find our other two friends. We called them again and this time luckily they picked up and they were still inside casino. We asked them to hurry up as the bus was about to leave in 2 minutes. On asking the driver how long he will wait, he turned towards the clock which read 9:29 and answered us “one minute”. Well, now it’s up to our friends to run back on time, and they did arrive there at dot 9:30. Again we were in the bus. 3 of us took one bus and the 4th took another bus as it was going near to his residence. In a hour at around 10:45 we reached the location from where we started in the morning. We found a transit bus there which two of us can take to reach our home and one of the three had to take a taxi to reach his place. As we had only one phone we called up a taxi and left the phone with him and two of us took the bus. The bus dropped us at the city centre where we had to catch another bus to go home. We waited for 15 minutes for the bus and reached home at around 11:15 PM. It was a great feeling to go to bed that day when everything you have planned actually happened and that too happening after some or the other bottlenecks. Well everything went well. It is when I realized that it was not because of luck everything happened, it was because of our willingness to try to the maximum extent possible within our reach even when we had lost hope. “Well done!” said my Conscience!