Thanks to Steve from Hydro Tasmania, I was loaned a safety hat and then, as a visitor, given a guided tour over the Catagunya Power Station. We walked down three levels of the building and by the end of the tour, because Steve used the analogy of a car engine, I understood how electricity was generated.

Deep down below in the building, I was impressed by the massive scale of the spiralling pipes through which the Derwent River poured.

The explanations plus what I saw were enthralling.  I am lucky to have been offered this tour and most grateful for the experience.

Later we went out into the Switchyard which amounts to an electrical substation where voltages are transformed (switched) to meet various needs.

Steve and I talked about the likelihood of being too close to the transmission lines and getting zapped by arcing electricity. He explained it was most dangerous when the air was laden with moisture. Water acts as an excellent conductor of electricity and therefore it is unwise to stray near power lines when it drizzles or rains.

Many posts ago I wrote about walking the Switchyard Track and at the time I wondered what ‘switchyard’ meant.  That track around Lake King William, which starts in the vicinity of the switchyard of the Butlers Gorge Power Station is, quite simply, the track leading off ‘from’ the switchyard and follows those transmission lines which started at the Power Station.