Hydro-Power & Salmon Farming

Am kicking around the town of Twizel still. There is a lot to see around here. Thought I would share a bit about the town. It was founded in the 1960's as a base for the workers of the large hydroelectric operations being installed. There are 5 big lakes within a 30 mile radius of here. And by big probably average about 50,000 acres each. All natural lakes. Basically they raised them a little by building dams at each end and connected them all with a canal system. At the outlet of each lake is the hydro power generating station. All told the system is probably 100 miles long. The town was meant to be torn down after the project was complete but the locals decided it was a great place to live. None the less it has prospered. Now it is a holiday destination for New Zealanders. Lots of people have second homes here. I'm staying in my friends at moment. Interesting enough New Zealand produces about 60% of all its electricity by hydro power. This is probably the largest scheme in New Zealand but there are numerous other areas. Another plus is that the canals are excellent fishing. They harbor big trout, (10-20lbs) and salmon up to 20+ lbs as well. Also there are a lot of salmon farms in the canals where they raise them. In the top photo you see all the walkways with floating cages. Here they grow them to eating size and then suck them out with a very large pump. Pretty neat setup. The next two photos are where one canals ends and the subsequent power plant. Some old machinery they left parked in center of town. You get idea of how big pipes are by truck parked inside. Did a little fishing yesterday for first time. No luck yet but saw few people who caught nice 3-8 lb salmon. Picked their brain on what they were using-doing so am going to try again today. It's beautiful full sun today. We had first real frost last night since I've been here. Autumn is on way I guess!