Kōrero: Energy supply and use

The original Cook Strait cable is hauled ashore at Ōteranga Bay on Wellington’s south-west coast in 1964. Each metre weighed around 45 kilograms (about the same as a metre of railway line). In the background is the cable-laying ship Photinia. The cable took two hours to travel 800 metres from the ship, floating ashore on plastic inflated pillows, and then running across rollers over the stony beach. Avoiding damage to the cable’s coating – and kinks in the line – were primary concerns.