Niagara Falls on Foot

Let's face it, nobody visits Niagara for the casino. If the thunderous falls are the only thing you want to see, it's entirely possible to do without a guide - and you only need to allow a few hours.

I was travelling from Toronto to New York and wanted to see the falls on the way. There's a Canadian/US border crossing (called the Rainbow Bridge) right next to the falls, so I decided to brave it on foot despite the fact that my one-way border crossing would require dragging my suitcase with me.

It was raining when I arrived, so I opted to take a cab from the train station to the farther end of the falls (about $11). This meant I started walking from the Canadian "Horseshoe" Falls, with the border crossing at the end.

True to what I'd heard, the Canadian side was more spectacular...

I was surprised I could capture a crisp photo... the speed of the crystal clear water rushing over the side of the Canadian Falls was a staggering 2,271,247 litres per second!

Just a few minutes walk away, the American Falls were equally impressive for a different reason. They pass less than a quarter of the volume of water, so enormous ice floes gave the appearance that the waterfall had frozen. I contemplated ticking 'see a frozen waterfall' off my T-Shirt Bucket List, but decided I should wait until seeing a waterfall that had truly frozen in place.

Normally there are other paid activities at the falls, allowing you to go down on the water - but not in winter. However, I was really happy with what I got to see.

The American Falls on the left, and the Canadian Falls on the right

I crossed the border at the Rainbow bridge without an issue, then caught a bus to Buffalo for my flight to New York.

Overall I found it a very straightforward experience and would highly recommend it even for one-way travellers like myself who need to bring all their luggage with them. Despite the rain and the recent snow, the walk was easy, and well-paved.

My #1 tip is not to miss the Canadian Falls - the border crossing is efficient and it's well worth the effort, even if you're not planning to visit Canada as part of your trip.

Flight Centre Guest Posts

Some of you may have noticed the little Flight Centre Featured Blogger badge that appeared on here about six months ago. In that time I've written a few articles for Flight Centre. I link to them from Twitter (@antipodeanblog), but figured it was about time I posted them on here as well for those of you who are interested to see what else I've been up to:

The Other Side of Bali

Melbourne by Taste

What Not to Do in Vegas

Auckland's 5 Best Kept Local Secrets

Broadway on a Budget

Life Lesson #14 - Presidential Treatment

Today I learned that you should always check the President's schedule before booking a shuttle in New York City. Even if you think you're being clever by making sure that you have door-to-door service (thereby not having to negotiate the subway in peak hour with 8 bags), you're going to have to walk three blocks anyway, because the President will be in town at the precise moment your shuttle is due to arrive, and the shuttle driver will call you in a panic telling you he can't come and you have to walk ten blocks, so by the time you negotiate him down, three blocks sounds like a good deal. And, like a cartoon, when you step outside with your eight bags it will begin to rain. Hard.

We didn't get a photo of it, so I hired an artist  to pictorially represent it.
That's one big backpack, one little frontpack, one big suitcase and one little suitcase.
It was mighty good fun.

My Tony Awards

I love the Tony Awards. At this time of year, all the new shows are starting up, and it's hard not to wonder which one will take the big prize. I couldn't resist choosing my own winners!

This isn't so much a prediction, it's just who I would give the award to. I couldn't see every show, so I've just picked from the eleven I saw (even if they're not from this year).

---click 'read more' to see the nominees and winners (in bold)---

Review: Driving Miss Daisy

One Sentence Summary:   Fantastic one act play about an old Jewish woman and her African American driver set between 1948 - 1972.

Trivia:   Stars the unbeatable Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones. Broadway royalty. Talk about talent! The role of the driver was originated on Broadway by Morgan Freeman, who also starred in the movie version in the 90s.

Best thing about it:   The acting. This is the best acting we saw in New York (which is no surprise considering we mainly saw musicals). Their awkward relationship is beautifully understated, and they play it perfectly.

We left thinking:   "I wish the stupid cow behind us hadn't loudly ruined the ending!"

Rating: 9 / 10

Last Day in New York

We woke up feeling bittersweet this morning. That's a feeling I'm getting used to. I love New York and it feels weird to say that I'm ready to go.

After checking out (and having one last lesson on spotting fakes from Snoring Lamp Man), we tool the subway to the Museum of Natural History.

We hopped on the wrong line, and by the time we got there, we only really had time to do one thing. I wanted to do the dinosaurs. Paul wanted to do the Gift Shop. Go figure.

We went to the dinosaurs.

Then we headed back to the Theater District to enjoy our final (eleventh) broadway show, the fantastic Driving Miss Daisy.

After buying one last enormous Jamba Juice, we dropped by the New York Public Library. It was cavernous and felt very foreboding. You have to go through two metal detectors and up two stone flights of stairs before you see a book. Well, except for the books in the gift shop. Go figure.

Paul in front of the library.

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Review: Sister Act

One Sentence Summary: Whoopi Goldberg has produced a stage version of her iconic 90s movie about a lounge singer who witnesses a murder, is forced to lie low in a convent, and ends up leading a choir of nuns in a series of rehashed Motown hits.

Trivia: All the music is brand new and has been written by Alan Menken, the guy behind Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Enchanted, and a host of others.

Best thing about it: Patina Miller is amazing as Deloris van Cartier. And watching nuns sing is still fun.

What they could change: The nuns learn how to sing too fast, and their sequined habits are a bit over the top before the final number.

We left thinking: "That was exactly what we expected. A very enjoyable night, but not enough to blow anyone away"

Rating: 7.5 / 10

Day Seven in NY: The Circle Line

This morning we did the Circle Line, a 2 hour boat trip around Manhattan that has some great views of Lady Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey.

I've started to get anxious about London and haven't slept very well the past few nights. I've been doing research whenever I get the chance but can't help feeling underprepared.

While Paul visited the Frick Collection (a private art gallery he raved about), I came back to the hostel in an attempt to calm my nerves by solidifying our crucial first days in London.

It took me four hours, but we now have an interview for a flat a few hours after we arrive, and I'm meeting with a recruitment agent an hour later. All the other smaller stuff is under control now too, so hopefully I'll sleep better tonight.


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Review: Wonderland

One Sentence Summary:   Alice is 30 with a daughter now and ends up back in Wonderland for an adventure so bland it makes Disney made-for-TV look like Shakespeare.

Trivia:   Stars Kate Shindle (Vivienne from Legally Blonde) as the Mad Hatter. Also the costumes are by Susan Hilferty who did Wicked. They're great, but you can tell the producers had no vision of their own for how Wonderland should look, so they just stole from Oz.

Kate Shindle as the Mad Hatter.

Best thing about it:   The cast. Only in New York can a show this bad get a cast this good.

What they could work on:   The book is awful. I've seen better scripts written by children's pastors at Auckland Baptist Churches. It states the obvious and does absolutely nothing else. There were audible groans from the audience at least a dozen times.

We left thinking:   "How can a show we hated already at half time have managed to get so much worse by the finale! The opposite of Wicked, this show would be nothing without it's source material. I give it a month. That's if it ever makes it out of previews."

Verdict: Avoid this show. 2.5 / 10

Day Six in NY: Ground Zero & The Empire State Building

Ground Zero affected me more than I thought it would. I came here five years ago, but things have changed a lot, mainly after a little museum opened late last year. We were both quite surprised at how it got under our skin. There was a school choir going through too, and when they finished they sang a beautiful song which was quite moving to be there for. We were also able to see some of the construction work on the memorial park (opening in September on the 10 year anniversary) and the new towers that are going up in the space.

The memorial fountains (with museum in the centre) that will mark where the twin towers used to stand.

The freedom tower, which looks about half complete now.

We needed a breather after leaving, so opted to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge rather than take a subway. Despite the overcast sky, we still found the view from the bridge breathtaking.

After walking over the bridge and back, we hopped on the subway north to the Guggenheim Museum. 

From there, we headed to Columbus Circle to catch up with Matthew Windsor, an old friend I hadn't seen for years who (I was excited to learn) is working for the ACLU in the UN building! (jealous much?)

A few hours later, after seeing a crap show, we met up with Roxie (the kiwi we met at our hostel a few days ago) and went to the Empire State Building together. We'd heard the only way to beat the queues was to go late at night (it closes at 2am), which fitted nicely with our schedule. It was eerily quiet, which we found really cool. I definitely recommend going after midnight.

Chrysler Building on the right.

With Roxie.

Feeling a little windswept as we step out of the lift.

We decided to walk back - it's only about a dozen blocks, and we got to pass through Times Square.

By the time we got home it was about 2am. I didn't get to sleep for at least another hour, which was partly from nerves (London is starting to loom) and partly because Snoring Lamp Man was in particularly good form.

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Life Lesson #13 - Snoring Lamp Man

You know those crazy old guys that stay in youth hostels? Meet Snoring Lamp Man.

Snoring Lamp Man moved into our four bed dorm the same day we did. He's from Birmingham. And he came here for a lamp. This lamp:

You see, it's the original Tiffany & Co lamp, and it's really worth £20,000,000 (Tiffany's made stained glass windows and then lamps before getting into jewelry). Those art historians here are all rubbish because they think it's a fake, but Snoring Lamp Man knows better! He paid £600 for the base, and another £400 for a Tiffany inkwell he thinks was made at a similar time. Just so he could destroy it and take out the glass for comparison.


And now he's in New York, intent on proving it's worth. Apparently he's already been on Antiques Roadshow, but "they don't know jack about American stuff".


Today he went to meet a guy in Flushing who apparently has papers that might prove something, but someone tried to commit suicide on the #7 line, so they shut it down for the first time in 40 years at exactly the same time Snoring Lamp Man needed to use it. So he went to a lamp museum. It was boarded up. So he went to a church that Tiffany had done the windows for. It had been demolished. He calls it his "reverse miracle" and came home to his whisky from a polystyrene cup, like he's done every night.


I secretly hope it does all pay off. I'm not sure if my life lesson is to steer clear of becoming Snoring Lamp Man or to do the opposite. But I'm sure I learned something.

Review: The Book of Mormon

One Sentence Summary:   Musical comedy about two young mormons who are sent on a two year mission to Uganda.

Trivia:   This project was a collaboration between the creator of Avenue Q and the creators of South Park. The star is also the guy who played William Barfee in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Best thing about it:   The music was awesome. I found it really memorable and, much like Avenue Q, laughed out loud at just about every song. I will definitely be buying the album. Favourite moments include the opening song with dozens of wide eyed mormons ringing doorbells, the massive tap dance number about suppressing unwanted feelings, and the Hakuna Matata-esque African chorus number that centres around a comedic way of coping in difficult situations.

What they could work on:   When you know who wrote it, you expect crass. But this pushed a different button because of its setting in Uganda: real world issues. At times I felt the references to AIDS, disease, and famine could almost be educational for the insulated young American audience, and the joke was definitely more on the mormons than the Ugandans. But, there were a few points when it did go too far in making light of real situations that are definitely not funny.

Verdict:  The freshest new show on Broadway. Go out of your way to see this, but not if you're faint of heart. 9.5 / 10

Review: Mary Poppins

One Sentence Summary:   Theatrical version of the Julie Andrews classic you grew up with.

Trivia:   The show's original broadway stars recently reprised their roles, so we were treated to an excellent cast. Also, the extra few songs were written by the original Mary Poppins songwriters.

Best thing about it:   The part where they teach you how to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (see below).

We left thinking:   "This is much more than you expect from a 'kids' musical. The way it remains true to the classic movie without feeling like a carbon copy that exists only to be a Disney money maker is really great to see".

Verdict:  More than just a tribute to the movie. A solid, enjoyable show that doesn't take the easy way out. 8 / 10

Day Five in NY: Greenwich Village & Sardi's

We met up with Dennis again today and he showed us around Chelsea and the Lower West Side, including Greenwich Village. Highlights included seeing the Stonewall Inn, lunch at the famous Joe's Pizza, and sipping a delicious Jamba Juice on the subway uptown to Mary Poppins.

Inbetween shows, we had dinner at Sardi's, a broadway institution that I've always dreamed of visiting. Whenever a rising broadway star reaches a key point in their career, they're awarded with a caricature at Sardi's.

Some of the caricatures.

 We ate an appetiser and dessert because we couldn't afford any more than that. But it was delicious!


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Review: Catch Me if You Can

One sentence summary: Imagine Frank Sinatra crossed with Mad Men.. Aaron Tveit (my fave) plays Frank Abagnale Jr in a new show from the team behind Hairspray.

Trivia: I discovered Aaron Tveit when I saw a clip of Next to Normal. Also stars Norbert Leo Butz, the original Fiyero in Wicked.

Best thing about it: instead of a solely pop score like Hairspray, the writers have taken a risk by using the jazzy style of the times. That's got some reviewers saying the songs aren't memorable, but I think those people aren't looking deep enough.

We left thinking: "That was genius. Aaron Tveit owns the stage, but doesn't have to prop it up because the material is excellent too."

Verdict: Enjoyable for the broad-minded, but it seems likely that the broadway community will reject it. 8 / 10

Review: American Idiot

One sentence summary: High energy rock musical based on the Green Day concept album of the same name.

Trivia: Billie Joe Armstrong (the lead singer of Green Day) does regular performances in the role of St Jimmy. He wrote all the music, and a lot of the script.

Best thing about it: Tom Kitt (of Next to Normal) has done an unreal job of the orchestrations. He took the heart of Green Day's music and managed to capture it in a whole new way that could only be experienced on stage. The sound is incredible. Watch the clip below.

We left thinking: "This show got right what Spiderman got wrong. It's simple, doesn't try too hard, and has turned unlikely source material into an absolute standout performance. It was about a hundred times better than we expected."

Verdict:  Better than the sum of its parts. 8 / 10

Day Four in NY: Behind the Emerald Curtain

When I made a list of all the shows I wanted to see in New York, there were 26. And I already felt like I'd squeezed out some goodies! The first big cut I made was to remove anything we could see in London, so unfortunately Wicked fell by the wayside. That killed me inside a little, because I adore Wicked and was sorry to miss it last time I was here. Luckily, there was a happy compromise in the form of Behind the Emerald Curtain.

We arrived a few minutes late, having ran from Dennis' apartment. It felt really cool to be leaving a New York brick apartment in the morning sunshine. I would love to have that life! Even if we were feeling a little worse for wear after too little sleep, and wearing the clothes from the night before.

But the Emerald Curtain was still cool. Basically, for Wicked geeks like me, they created a tour of the Gershwin Theater that gives you a behind the scenes look at how Wicked (or really any broadway show) is brought to life. It was full of interesting information like the most expensive costume being US$35,000, and the story of the chorus girl who popped her arm out of its socket onstage.

It was a full on broadway day really, because after the tour we bought tickets to American Idiot, and saw it, then had a brief rest before Catch Me if You Can. Another great, exhausting day in Manhattan.


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Review: Anything Goes

Plot in a sentence: Old school Cole Porter musical comedy set on a cruise ship.

Trivia: Stars the amazingly talented Sutton Foster (who I fell in love with when she performed this). It also features Joel Grey, the original MC in Cabaret and Wizard in Wicked. Big talents.

Best thing about it: The big dance numbers were out of this world (see rehearsal video below). It really embraced the cheesy big old school broadway musical style, and we loved it.

We left thinking: "Talent like Sutton Foster's is just unfair! She better win the Tony."

Verdict:  A thoroughly enjoyable night of old-broadway glamour. 9 / 10

NYC Day Three: MoMA and Nightlife

Today we visited the Museum of Modern Art. They have some amazing work there, including Starry Starry Night by Van Gogh which I've always adored.

They also have the original concept boards for I Heart NY.

After MoMA we popped past the International Center for Photography, then headed to our evening show; Anything Goes (it was fantastic!). Afterwards, we headed a few blocks away to meet our friend Dennis who came home to New York about 18 months ago after several years in Auckland. He's a fantastic host, and we had a great night seeing some of his favourite Manhattan bars.

We started the night with an incredible lime based cocktail at Aureole.

Enjoying the Manhattan nightlife with Dennis.

We got to bed at about 3:00am (I think?). We ended up crashing on his couch so we wouldn't have to walk back to the hostel. We slept well.


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Review: Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark

Plot in a sentence:   The Peter Parker story we all know so well, brought to life with a $65m budget, dazzling special effects, music by Bono, and a new villain (Arachne).

Trivia:   Spiderman is the most expensive broadway musical ever, and it's aerial stunts make it possibly the most ambitious too. It's becoming renowned for mishaps and injuries. When we saw it, they had to stop part way through a scene because a lift wasn't working. Apparently this happens quite often.

Best thing about it:   Julie Taymor (of The Lion King and Across the Universe) is the most visionary director I can name. Her stage mechanics in Spiderman are genius. They completely immerse you in the show, without handing it to you on a platter. Also the singers were great (Jennifer Damiano as MJ particularly).

What they could change:   This is the longest previewing show in broadway history, which means they're still making edits... and they still need some big ones. The narrating foursome are unneeded, most of the script is overstated, and Bono's music is, well, crap.

We left thinking:     "Any play from a comic that's already been made into a movie needs to bring out something new, and Julie Taymor does that magnificently with the staging, but fails to say anything special about the characters."

Verdict:  Not as much of a train wreck as the tabloids will make you think... but pretty close. Points for taking risks though. That doesn't happen often in the age of Mamma Mia. 6.5 / 10