I was the initial Erection Supervisor for the English Electric Co of Australia at Guthega Power Station in 1953, responsible for the installation of the parts of the turbines, which were to be buried in concrete. It was great to revisit the station and see the two turbines utilising the snow melt to produce 28 megawatts each.(93 % capacity) After more than 40 years they are still said to be among the most efficient machines in the Snowy Scheme.
Prudence’ involvement was less direct. Her father had been the Industrial Advocate
for the newly formed Association of Professional Engineers Australia (APEA) (commonly
known to members as the " Apes") and negotiated what would now be known as a
workplace agreement with the SMHEA. Prudence and I met some years later when I was
supervising the installation of turbines at Trevallyn Power Station, which takes water
from the South Esk River near Launceston. We had separately joined the Launceston Walking
Club.(LWC)
I don’t think that there are any other hydro stations in Australasia located in the suburbs of a major city!
Thredbo YHA is an "old fashioned " hostel in that it is small, has a great warm, conversation lounge, very soft piped radio, and a well hidden TV Room. They still ask guests to do some of the traditional housekeeping tasks! Some nights you may find a wombat grazing on the dandelions along the Jack Adams Path which leads to the Hostel. He/she seems to prefer them to the daffodils
One of our fellow guests had been a member of LWC some years after we had moved to Sydney, but after some mental effort we managed to remember one or two mutual friends. The Club still runs its own bus which is financed by annual "Getting to Know Tasmania" slide shows in Sydney and Melbourne. (Unsolicited Commercial)
Dead Horse Track