Day 34 – Lake Pukaki to Hydro canals, and Lake Ohau

Today I set out along the canal that feeds those giant pipes leading into the power station. This region has a number of lakes dammed for hydro power, and they’re chained – each drains into another, allowing energy to be extracted from the water several times before it reaches the sea. This is rather common in hydropower systems, but what’s interesting about the system here is that it’s “sideways.”  Rather than building a series of dams descending a single catchment, Meridian Power built canals carrying the water south from one catchment to the next. As a result, rivers Pukaki and Tekapo now sit dry, their output channeled into Lake Ohau, and from there the Waitaki River.

This particular canal is especially unique because it is home to a salmon farm. A series of rafts supports a series of salmon pens, and visitors can walk around and throw fish food in the water to watch the salmon leap for it, then return to the visitor center for a sashimi tasting.

The canal also hosts a number of fishermen along its banks, primarily south of the salmon farm. They are after brown trout, which grow fat off the scraps of food that escape the salmon.  The largest recorded catch here was 35 pounds, which I have gathered is quite big for a trout.

At lunchtime, a pair of cyclists on a tandem pulled up for a break opposite me. I waved hello and turned back to my peanut butter and jelly tortilla. It was only when two men on pennyfarthings rode up that I started paying attention. Right on their heels were three more, then a “normal” bike, then two more pennyfarthings. I started talking to the first couple and found out their bike was no ordinary tandem, but a very early Victoria, lovingly restored by a Christchurch expert until it looked new. They, along with the highwheelers, were on a cross-country tour from Mt Cook to Christchurch, organized by a classic cycling club in Christchurch.

While I was quizzing the tandem riders on their bike and their tour, a series of shiny classic cars started whizzing round the corner, mostly sporty little open-top two-seaters. Good weather and a nice weekend seems to bring out all the lovers of vintage transport.

I finished eating, and it was time to start hitching back to Lake Ohau. I hadn’t gotten all the way to Tekapo yet, but I was ready to declare this section done on account of it being a roadwalk. The presence of the canal added sufficient interest to walk the first 20km, but not enough for the remainder.

I got a ride to Twizel with a local on his way home. He was a fly fishing guide, and we had a fascinating conversation about the nature of fly fishing that, again, almost made me want to try it. We also had discussed the brain-body connection, green energy, and the viability of the tokamak as a vessel for fusion power generation. Even if I don’t go buy a pair of waders and a rod, I think I need to start hanging out with more fly fishermen.

From Twizel I thumbed easily to Lake Ohau, and started walking up the gravel road as a light drizzle started to fall. I sheltered under a willow tree by the banks and watched the lake generate interlocking rings from the raindrops.