Today we had an amazing day, exploring the natural beauty of Niagara Falls, via doing a four attractions, that can allow you to get an in depth knowledge, and closer look of Niagara Falls and it’s surroundings. We woke up at seven am to get dressed, and go downstairs to have a buffet breakfast. After we had done this, we were ready to see Niagara Falls. First, before anything, we went to the building, where you can organise various attractions you want to see. We got an adventure pass, which allows you to go on the Maid of the Mist, the White Water Walk, the 4D short film, ‘Niagara’s Fury’, and the Journey Behind The Falls. First we went to the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat operating since the eighteen hundreds, that allow you to get a close up look at both the American Falls, and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. We were given ponchos, to keep us dry, because of the mist that goes up in the air, because of the falls. While we were on the boat, an electronic voice told us about the creation of the falls, and various interesting facts about it, like how the rocks behind the falls erode three metres each year because of the force of the water. Once we had gone to the falls on the boat, we went to the White Water Walk, which allows you to go on a boardwalk beside the Niagara River Rapids. Once we had got entry, we descended in an elevator to the boardwalk. The signs said that the Niagara River Rapids are one of the strongest in the world, being a class six rapid, which is considered impassable on boat, or on any vehicle. We could see why, because of the mighty roaring force of this amazing natural feature. The signs told us various facts about the rapids, and wildlife surrounding it. Once we had completed the boardwalk, we caught the bus over to Tablerock, where the 4D movie ‘Niagara’s Fury’ was and the Journey Behind the Falls. First we went to the 4D movie, where we were given another poncho! We had to stand up in a small circular room, with small metal bars, that we could hold onto. The short film showed us with pictures the creation of Niagara Falls, with the extra 4D effects of spraying water, and vibrating. It showed us how Niagara Falls was formed because of the melting of ice at the end of the ice age, and how is shaped the land. After we had done this, we went to the entrance of Journey Behind The Falls. We were taken down in an elevator, towards a viewing platform, that was crazily close to the falls. It was amazing seeing it up so close. After we saw this, we entered the tunnels that allow you to see behind Niagara Falls. On the walls of the tunnel it showed who built the tunnel, and various facts about the falls, like how scientists stopped the flow of the American falls for a rock inspection! We went to the small viewing platforms where you could see the full force of Niagara Fall’s power at work. The impounding power of the water was amazing! Once we had this, we went to a small restaurant called ‘Johnny Rockets.’ After this, we went back to our hotel room.
September 7th
Today, we had a reasonably straightforward day, driving to Niagara Falls from Traverse City. We got up bright and early, to get an early start to Niagara Falls. We gathered all our belongings, and had a quick breakfast. And then we packed all of our suitcases, and bags in the car. We said goodbye to the Lees, and said that we’d see them in five years. (They are planning to go to Australia in five years time.) We entered our absolutely, humongous rental car, and got going. We were aiming to cross the U.S.A border, so we could see the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The trip was reasonably straightforward, with us only taking a few rests. The surroundings around the car were quite interesting, and different from Australia’s landscape, with different trees, and landforms. We arrived at Embassy Suites at around seven-thirty pm. Before settling down for the night we went to a very noisy restaurant called the keg. After we had escaped the noise, we went to our hotel room, and went to bed.
September 6th
Today we woke up reasonably early to take on an exciting day of going to the amazing natural feature of the Sleeping Bear Dunes national park. We woke up and had breakfast (with the Lees trying various exclusive foods to Australia.) Then we drove over to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. It was originally called that, because of the original shape of the sand dunes looking like a sleeping bear! First we stopped of at the Dune climb, an insanely steep dune that has an incline of roughly eighty degrees! Michigan has the largest amount of sand, in all the states of America. This sand dune was an amazing geological feature of Michigan, and because of the crazily steep incline, you cannot see the bottom, which leads down to Lake Michigan. This was one of the things we’ve done in America so far, running down an eighty-degree incline. As you ran, you could make mini avalanches of sand. The feeling of running down this sand dune was amazing, and because the sand dune was three to four hundred metres high, you could get an awe-inspiring view of the lake. Once we got down we (obviously) had to get back up, and if not, you have to pay a five hundred dollar rescue fee! In contrast, running down took about five minutes, where as climbing up took nearly an hour. With an effort all the kids managed it, except the smaller kids like, Abbey, and Katrina, which had to piggy backed up by Dad, and Mrs Lee. (Which was even more difficult, because the climb could only be managed by crawling!) To replenish our energy, we went to a nearby picnic area, and had sandwiches and a few snacks. Once we had done this, we drove down to a place where you can hire tubes, where you can flow down a river that leads to a lake. The person said it was the time of year where Salmon, come down the river to breed, and said there would be literally thousands of Salmon in the river! We got this fairly early on, when we first got into the water, there was a giant cloud of Salmon waiting at a Fish Weir! (A gate that stops the fish.) The tubing was far less relaxing then I imagined it would be, (with having to dodge all the rocks and fallen decaying trees) but was still an amazing experience, seeing all the Salmon darting under our tubes, and taking in all the woods that were situated along the banks of the winding river. One of the highlights was at the end of our trip down the river, a Salmon was completely still, and did not dart away when we approached it, and we got to touch it, and even better, Elliott got really good GoPro footage of the fish! Once we had done this, we went back to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon at home.
September 5th
Today we went to attractions exclusive to Traverse City, like the lighthouse, wineries, and the absolutely beautiful, green, leafy, countryside, of this beautiful town/city. We woke up at around eight am to get ready, to see al this great scenic things available in Traverse City, and in general Michigan (the state.) Once we had dragged ourselves out of bed, we packed ourselves into the rented car, and drove to the historic lighthouse. When we arrived we took a look at a preserved cabin, made in the late eighteen eighties. An electronic voice, told us about the heritage of the site, and how their lives would be like with a small cabin made of wood. Next, we ventured over to the lighthouse nearby, and went inside it. We watched a short video about the lighthouse’s founding, and why it was built. After this, we walked along the beautiful coastline that the lighthouse overlooked. Once we had done this, we met up with Mrs Lee, back out the house, ready to go out to have lunch in downtown Traverse City. Traverse city is very small, and its tallest buildings only have six floors or so. For lunch, we had a very nice roasted chicken. After this, we walked around Caroline, and Audrey’s school, and the really nice librarian of the school met us. We looked around at the classrooms and the facilities available at the school, and after we had done this, we could pick up Caroline, and Audrey from school. Also between these car trips, we visited a winery. In the wine tasting room (the kids and I certainly did not taste any!) we had a beautiful all round view of the vines that grow the grapes, to be made into wine. After all this we spent the rest of the day at home, and going to a lakeside beach that we could drive down to in a golf buggy!
September 4th
Today we got up at around seven am, to get ready to drive to Traverse City, in the state of Michigan. Dad went to get the rental car, near Chicago River, while we packed our belongings for the car trip. We went down to the lobby, to have breakfast. After we had eaten, Dad came back with a Dodge, big, black, car. We packed out suitcases in the back of the car, and we set of on a five-hour trip to Traverse City. The surroundings outside the car were quite interesting, with large, leafy, deciduous trees outside the car. We stopped at an outlet store, to look at the stores. We looked at the Nike, Adidas, Famous Shoes, and Polo Ralph Lauren. After we had done this we kept on driving. I mostly read on this car trip. Our next stop was a beach situated on Lake Michigan. We didn’t swim (because Lake Michigan is a glacial lake, and is very cold) but observed our beautiful surroundings of sand, and beautiful green trees unique to the United States of America. After this we travelled the rest of the way to Traverse City. In Traverse City we are going to stay with the Lees, old friends of Dad. As we arrived at their large green house, Mrs Lee, Mr Lee, Caroline, Audrey, and Katrina met us. Once we had met them, we went outside with Caroline, Audrey and Katrina, to play a game with soccer. After this we had hamburgers for dinner. Then we had some fun downstairs, running around, and after that, it was time for bed.
September 3rd
We all woke up at about seven am today, ready to go check out the Shedd Aquarium, the famous Wrigley Stadium, and to go on an architecture boat tour. When we had gotten dressed, we went down to the lobby to have breakfast. We tried waffles for the first time once we had gotten down there for breakfast. They tasted similar to pancakes. Once we had been fed, we went to the subway to travel to uptown Chicago, where the Aquarium was. Shedd Aquarium is one of the only Aquariums in the world to house whales! The whales there are called Beluga Whales. When we entered we saw beautiful arrays of fish, all around the globe. My favourite section was the Caribbean Reef sections, where you could see all types of weird, wonderful and colourful fish, with lots of stingrays, and humongous fish. We got to see the Beluga Whales in action, at the aquatic show, where they showed how and why they trained the Beluga Whales, after this the dolphins came in, doing all these crazy and amazing tricks like, swimming on their tail solely! After this, we caught the train to the other side of Chicago, where we saw Wrigley Stadium, but unfortunately, you could only go in on tours and if you went to see a game. But we still had fun, looking at the statues of famous baseball champions. After this, we caught the train to midtown Chicago, where we could go on the river architecture tour. We were greeted by the people, and were led onto the boat, and told on the tour about facts like why the Great Chicago Fire was a good thing, because of the chance to rebuild new and exciting things in Chicago. She explained the décor and smart design of the structure of buildings like Ceres Tower (the highest tower in North and South America.) After this great experience, we went to a fast food restaurant called Burrito Beach, which is a really nice and fresh Mexican style food store. After this we went back to Residence Inn.
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