Holiday Into History

Yes, the colorful past of Tasmania is still very much evident and a must for travelers who like to see a bit of history. Not like the history of Europe of course with centuries of grand buildings and structures but an interesting link to our past nether the lest. I want to go beyond the convict settlement and look at an other aspect of the heritage of Tasmania.

When I was only one year old, my Dad took a job as an engineers' clerk at the building of the first hydro electric dam in Tasmania. That place was at Wadamana which is practically the dead center of the island and still miles from anywhere. To get there now you still have to turn off the main road and continue on an unsealed road for quite a while. But it is worth the travel time especially for me reliving a small part of my past.

When we lived there it was a thriving little community just for the workers on the dam site but all the houses are gone now. The hydro electric commission would move them off to the next dam site and ready for the next batch of workers. However, the original hydro generation building is still there and has been preserved as a electrical museum and is really interesting.

If you look to the hills you can see the massive pipes coming down from the water in the lake above. There are several of these huge pipes which seem to drop straight down for many meters and must have created a lot of pressure at the bottom. That is what turned the electric generating turbine I suppose and the whole thing looks like a real engineering masterpiece. If you go inside the Station they have retained all the original turbines and have cut them away so you can see the workings inside. Quite remarkable really and very interesting.

Around all the walls they have posted the photo's of the building operation. And you know what. There is not a machine in sight. Those days everything was done by pick and shovel and wheelbarrow. Extraordinary. There is a copy of the advert from the nearest city when they needed workers. It simply said, 'Work available at Wadamana. Straw mattress provided., Apply on site, 3 days walk from Launceston'. How many applications do you think you would get today with an ad like that? In the back there is still the offices set up for the engineer etc, and preserved with a wax model to show you how it looked. That is where my Dad would have been.

The Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commission was recognized as a world leader in the design and construction of hydro electric dams and systems. So much so that their engineers where exported all over the world to assist other countries to set up this energy saving power system. Unfortunately, building dams became unpopular in Tasmania and so the commission was disbanded. Many see that as a real shame. Although there are negatives to damming water systems there are also pluses. Tasmania is recognized as having some of the best trout fishing in the world in some of the lake systems created. So if you are in Tasmania on holiday it is worth a look at this little known treasure of our past.

Hi Guys,

It was really exciting to see where I lived as a baby and even more so to see where my Dad lived and worked in this revolutionary industry.

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