Niagara Falls and the Welland Canal

Our first full day on the Octantis was a 10-hour trip through the 27-mile Welland Canal, which enabled us to pass from Lake Ontario into Lake Erie. The natural route cuts through the Niagara Escarpment on the Niagara River, but it’s impassable because of the falls. So we enjoyed a leisurely sea day and watched our ship make its way through the 10 locks of the canal.

Our ship was built to fit through the narrow locks of the canal, but with only one foot to spare on each side. It was a tight squeeze! We were so close to land in some places, we could chat with the locals as we waited for our ship to take its turn in the locks. The people below were curious about our itinerary.
Waiting on the bow and looking up at the giant concrete gate protecting us from a mountain of water was an imposing experience. Below the brief video shows the water rush in to allow our boat to rise to the next level.
Our captain demonstrated to us how our ship was built to fit exactly through the locks.

We arrived at Port Colborne, our gateway to Niagara Falls. This pretty, low key little town sits at the tenth and last lock of the Welland Canal.

Niagara Falls is not a classic honeymoon resort any more. The town has more of a mini Vegas vibe rather than a romantic one. But it’s always beautiful to see the falls. We took the boat ride up to the Horseshoe Falls section and were thoroughly splashed on our position at the bow, despite the flimsy plastic panchos we were given.

We stopped to get a view from the top of the falls before going down for our boat ride.
Looking over the bridge to the American side of the falls we saw our country’s newest innovation for viewing–a hot air balloon. It started operating only a few weeks ago.
We’re poncho-ed up and ready to go! We came back from the falls (behind us) considerably soggier.
We rode back up the hill on the funicular and enjoyed this view.

On our ride back to our ship, we saw another natural wonder, the Niagara Whirlpool. This turbulent swirl of water below is in the Niagara Gorge, on the U.S.-Canada border.

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