The Manapouri Power Station

Part of our excursion to Doubtful Sound was an unexpected side trip to the Manapouri Power Station, one of New Zealand's most impressive engineering accomplishments.

Built to take advantage of the height differential between Lake Manapouri and sea level, the plant sends water through vertical pipes to spin hydroelectric turbines put deep underground.

This is all you can see of the power plant above ground. The rest is buried under the mountain.


We were driven by bus to the underground facility through a curving 2km tunnel, also bored through solid rock. These are the turbines, deep under ground:


Here's a diagram of the entire plant, for all the engineers out there:


Laura, the good student, read all of the diagrams and displays:

Our bus driver executed a very graceful three point turn at the end of the tunnel. It reminded me of the scene in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where Austin makes a 32 point turn in a hallway with a golf cart.