17.11.22 WAITAKI DAM GUIDED TOUR [fully booked]

Update 5 Nov: This is now fully booked!

We are finishing off our public talk series with a bang! Join us for a guided tour of the Waitaki Dam led by Meridian Energy. This guided tour is available to a limited number of people for health and safety reasons. Register your place on this tour at info@whitestonegeopark.nz.

Please include your name, number of people in your group and contact details (including your mobile phone number). Wheelchair accessible, suitable for 14+ years where accompanied by an adult.

We are very fortunate that Meridian Energy has offered to open up the Waitaki Dam and guide a group through the historic area of the dam.

The Waitaki power station was the last to be constructed in New Zealand without modern mechanical equipment. Over half a million cubic metres of material was excavated, almost entirely by pick and shovel. The hydro station started generating electricity in 1935, with two 15 megawatt generators operating – enough to meet almost half of the South Island’s electricity needs at that time. Today, it has seven 15 megawatt generating units, totalling a generation output of up to 105 megawatts. Waitaki generates enough electricity each year for about 51,000 average New Zealand homes.

6 - 7pm Thursday 17 November, meet at Waitaki Dam Lookout (there are additional parking spots across the road by the Waitaki village)