Power Station – MikeHawkey.com

One of my favorite shots from last weeks holiday in New Plymouth is from Paritutu – a tall headland point to one side of the main township. Looking down, under a falling sun I captured this image of the old power station, and offshore island.

The power station, a natural gas/fuel oil station was opened in 1974, and decommissioned in 2008. Asbestos discovery was noted as one of the reasons for the closure (NZ has widely banned any new use of asbestos for several years now, and its often very costly to deal with in old homes etc).

Off shore was see Sugarloaf island. The remainder volcanic vent piece from an estimated 1.7 Million years ago. Now part of a protected Marine area.

Shot on the GRD, resized in Gimp.

On a trip to sell my car and visit some non-Auckland second hand shops, we passed through Huntly today. One of those ‘in between’ places, I have fond memories of Huntly from childhood as it was a common morning tea stop when we went away on family holidays.

Huntly is also home of the Huntly Power Station – a gas/coal station. Commissioned in 1983, from what I understand, the power station is in its later phase of life with coal produced electricity not being the top choice for NZ. However, its likely we will still see it running for some time yet.

In the forefront of the photo is the Waikato river – New Zealand’s longest river at 425km in length – running down a good length of the North Island. The Waikato (a loose Maori translation Flowing Water) is also a supplier of about 8% of Auckland’s daily water needs.

Shot on my Ricoh GRD IV in bleach bi-pass mode, I only resized for the net.

Tag: Power Station

Port Taranaki Power Station and Sugar Loaf Island

Huntly, the River and the Power Station