Bullendale & Dynamo Hut tracks, Skippers, Queenstown-Lakes

Dynamo Hut - Bullendale - Phoenix Gold

Queenstown-Lakes Walks

SKIPPERS EXPRESS GOLD HELICOPTER TOUR FROM QUEENSTOWN

The old Phoenix Gold Mine was home to New Zealand's first Hydro Electric Power Plant, built in this valley in 1886, to power the stamping battery in the next valley over. This took place only four years after the earliest installations of reticulated electricity in Europe, and in entirely different conditions.

Why the installation of such an auspicious catalyst for New Zealand took place in such a remote corner was probably simply because these were gold rush years, and these were gold rush valleys. Necessity and gold fever were the parents of innovation here, though the technological knowledge was brought from far away by an entrepreneur who was marketing himself as an electrician.

Walter Prince had been brought from Britain in 1883, for the sensible purpose of installing electric lights at the Lyttelton wharf. But Prince didn't achieve that goal, instead making a run for the goldfields where he promised to create hydroelectric power for the the Phoenix mine. At that he succeeded.

Department of Conservation explains: "In 1886 a hydro plant was built at Bullendale to power the gold stamper battery at one of the most inaccessible goldfields in the country. This industrial use of electricity was close to a world first. It is hard to imagine the tons of hydro equipment being dragged up the treacherous Skippers ravine on narrow pack tracks. Water flowed down pipes fixed to the 60m cliff face to drive the Pelton wheels and dynamos placed at the cliff base. Electricity was then transmitted by number 8 copper wire over a high ridge to the battery 3 km away in Bullendale. This was the first transmission of electricity over a distance in New Zealand. Bullendale is a site of international importance as it is among the oldest surviving hydroelectric sites in the world."

This locale is far from anywhere but in the 1880s it was a hub of mining, within Skippers Canyon itself, and at Macetown, over the other side of the Harris Mountains. Most of the tracks are still in place as are some utterly original huts, like Dynamo Hut, which was built from the Power House remnants when it was dismantled in 1901. Other remnants of the power house and the mine are gradually deteriorating in the harsh conditions. It is possible for strong trampers to make a daytrip from Skippers to visit Dynamo and Bullendale, if the weather conditions are suitable.

Many tourists only go as far as Skippers, where there is a bungy jump attraction and some Lord of the Rings scenery. The Department of Conservation takes the area much more seriously, and has completed full archaeological surveys of the area, defining the many vital parts of what was New Zealand's first ever working hydro power plant. The Wakatipu Heritage Trust has long term plans to recreate the entire hydroelectric setup, and rebuild the lost buildings, meantime there is a display in the Museum at Arrowtown.

The ambitious electrician, Prince, didn't stop here, his next demonstration of electric power was more urban, in the mining town of Reefton, on the West Coast. The hydroelectric plant he built there was demonstrated by 'lighting up' all four hotels in the misty main street at once, and Prince gained himself a contract which saw Reefton become the first town in the entire southern hemisphere to have reticulated electricity. Wellington City was next.

SKIPPERS EXPRESS GOLD HELICOPTER TOUR FROM QUEENSTOWN

Image Credit: Bernard Spragg and topomap

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