Carved deep into the cliffs of some the most rugged country in Australia, access to this abandoned hydro power station is not a trivial exercise. Following in the footsteps of well known explorers such as Diode, Predator and dsankt, the following is a record of my exploration of 'THE BARRON'.

Background: Paraphrasing from Australian Parks and Wildlife Services information.

The idea to build a hydroelectric power station on the river was first suggested in 1906. It was nearly 30 years before the dream was realised. The site presented many challenges: precipitous cliffs, torrential rain, and raging floods were foremost. Original plans to build an outdoor station were abandoned as earthworks proved too unstable. Going underground was the only solution. Work crews blasted and jackhammered their way into the cliff face to create the turbine hall and Australia's first underground powerstation. In November 1935 the Governor of Queensland offically opened Queensland's first hydroelectric power station. Demand soon exceeded supply and in 1940 the two original 1200kW turbo alternators were supplemented with a 1400kW unit.

After almost 40 years of providing power for local communities the power station was decommissioned and replaced by a modern plant further downstream.

Today: Access to the power station requires the location of a deliberately well hidden pathway down the gorge, navigation of the riverbed, descent of two cliff sections, ascent of the opposite gorge wall and finally a rappel into the turbine hall. It was a long, difficult and sometimes dangerous trek. Big thanks to those who provided me with the information that made this trip possible.

The final hurdle after a three hour treck is actually getting in. With the entrance being 20m high on a vertical cliff face and almost completly obscured by dense tropical rainforest access is a little tricky. When I finally made it to the entrance of the power station I involuntary swore out loud, I could hardly believe I was really there.

The photo above is a self portrait at the power station entrance; all geared up and ready to enter the turbine hall. I'm a little over-dressed but being alone, it was better to be safe than sorry.

I was so excited I had to force myself to calm down as I pitched the rope for the descent into the turbine hall, no point fucking it up now. If you look closly at the photo above you can just see my rope at the entrance. As I descended to the turbine floor, the roar of the water falls faded away and was replaced by the sound of dripping water and the soft screech of the bats.

Upon the stations closure salvage teams moved in and cleared out every scrap of copper. The generator armatures were sadly lying haphazardly over the turbine floor, stripped naked. There is still a lot of gear in the station, all of it is in an advanced state of corrosion or decay, over 45 years in a constantly wet environment have not been kind.

The writing on the gantry crane reads “MANUFACTURED BY BABCOCK AND WILCOX Ltd. AUSTRALIAN WORKS SYDNEY NSW. LOAD NOT TO EXCEED 8 ¼ TONS.”

For the above shot I pretty much just opened the shutter as I explored the turbine hall.

There is still so much to explore in this abandoned hydro power station… but I set rules to keep me alive and I stuck to them. So one day maybe I’ll go back with others and explore the tailrace, headrace, control room…

The photo above is taken in a shaft behind the turbine hall, which housed the huge water supply piping for the turbines. These pipes originate almost half a kilometre away at the top of the falls. Mix of filament and LED torch painting.

I probably should have put something in the photo to give it some scale, the pipes are around 1000mm in diameter.

A group protesting the construction of a skyrail through the pristine tropical rainforests which surrounds the power station used the turbine hall as a base for their activities. Pretty ironic in some ways.

I don't know how they lived here, out of all the places I have explored, this is one of the least inhabitable locations I have seen. There is 200mm of bat guano on the floor, it is constantly wet, there are gaping holes everywhere inviting you to take a wrong step, it smells terrible and it is a dangerous three hours hike from the nearest road.

During their stay they left a significant amount of Alex Grey (acid?) inspired artwork on the walls. Exibit A above.

So there it is, a tick next to this entry in my list of great places to see.

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