Not the Falls...

We spent three nights in and around the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), not to visit the falls which we have seen before in both summer and winter, but to have a look at the Welland Canal which is a shipping canal joining Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, dropping 100m and bypassing the rather unnavigable Niagara Falls. We were lucky enough to be able to meet up with an old friend and his wife, and they hosted us handsomely during our visit.

The Whirlpool, downstream of Niagara Falls.

The drive to NOTL in our rented Hyundai Tucson was mostly along the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), and then it's about 15km to the historic town. Along these roads, we observed many, many wineries, often with classy looking tasting centres and restaurants attached. We learned that there are over 50 wineries in the district. One which seemed to be very popular was named after Wayne Gretzky, partly owned by this famous ice hockey star.

NOTL is one of the oldest settlements in (what is now called) Canada. The British settled here in 1781, but Native American tribes had lived here for hundreds of years previously. In 1792, NOTL (under a different name) was capital of Upper Canada, now Ontario. Here was fought the Battle of Fort George in the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.

Niagara-on-the-Lake's cenotaph and floral display.

NOTL is now a delightful village off the side of the QEW freeway to Niagara Falls, but it is not off the tourist trail. We found it to be crowded, but our hosts said "you should see it in summer!" Parking was at a premium, and there was also a steady stream of shuttle buses coming in from nearby hotels and maybe a coach parking lot nearby. We walked around the coast, which is the outlet of the Niagara River (downstream from the falls) into Lake Ontario. Across the river is Fort Niagara in New York state, and (a plaque indicates that) NOTL is a major departure point for long-distance swimmmers to brave the 50km or so across to Toronto.

The Prince of Wales Hotel is the standout building in a town of beautiful homes and shops.

Outside the village central, the town is surrounded by splendid houses on manicured lawns and gardens, or working our way upstream, we climbed onto the Niagara escapement to a wonderful park at Queenston Heights where there is a huge column commemorating British General Isaac Brock who died in the otherwise successful defence of NOTL from the Americans in 1813.

Fort Niagara in NY, USA as viewed across the river from Niagara-on-the-Lake.

For this guided tour, NOTL was enduring record high temperatures for October (about 30C) and the high humidity made it quite oppressive, but by about 4:30pm a torrential rainstorm had us scurrying into an Irish Pub with great Titanic memorabilia. The next day was much cooler, and it rained lightly throughout.

View of the winding Niagara River at it gently approaches Lake Ontario.

Garden, fountain and restaurant at Queenston Heights.

Detail of a huge columnar memorial to General Isaac Brock who died in the 1812 battle fought here, against an American invasion.

The reason we came to this part of Ontario was to have a look at the Welland Canal which enables ocean going merchant ships to navigate up to Lake Erie having come into Lake Ontario from the Atlantic Ocean via the St Lawrence Seaway. The canals joining these lakes and others is called the Great Lakes Seaway, and the whole Great Lakes system is unimaginable to Australians whose fresh water lakes are lucky to have any water at all! Collectively, the Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water.

The Welland Canal dates back to 1824, the present configuration being the fourth and was opened in 1932. It features 8 locks in its 43km length, and a drop of 99.5m between the two lakes. A fifth canal with a single superlock was planned and mapped but never constructed.

Map of Welland Canal. Flow is nothwards. Map credit: By Agyle - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2513802

Ship passes under this 1928 vertical lift bridge on Glendale Ave.

We were lucky to see the Welland Canal and its locks and bridges in action. We had a front row seat to see an upbound (southbound) cargo ship automatically open the vertical lift bridge on Glendale Avenue. There's a big safety margin in this process, and it delayed the road traffic for 15 minutes plus. And we saw a downbound ship pass through the No.3 Lock where there is a major visitors' centre and viewing platform. And another ship open the alligator jaw bridge on Queenston St, so we were pretty happy to have seen so much action on this pretty well unheard of (to Australians, anyway) shipping corridor.

Large ship steams carefully into Lock 3 on its outbound journey from the Great Lakes.

The Welland Canal has a visitors' centre and viewing station at Lock 3.

Upbound vessel causes the bascule bridge on Queenston St to open. The Queen Elizabeth Way avoids the interruption.

All in all, a pretty nice visit to the Niagara-on-the-Lake district, made really enjoyable by the hospitality of our friends. And, we're hoping to have finally fought off our jet lag. Our next stop will be the Canadian Clogging Convention in Waterloo.