The first stage of New Zealand's largest wind farm is set to be switched on in October, a year later than planned.
Construction of Mercury's Turitea Wind Farm started 18 months ago, and it's not been without its challenges.
Looking more like a UFO than a wind turbine - the giant 55-metre blades are carried one-by-one up the Tararua Ranges.
Towering over buildings and trees, it's a sight worth staying up late for.
"I still can't believe how much of an angle they can get it up on around that bend without tipping the truck over," says truck enthusiast Hamish Price.
It's no easy feat moving the blades up such a tricky road, needing a high-tech blade manipulator from Korea for the job.
"It can tilt up to 60 degrees and we can yaw it out the side of the trailer 15 degrees," says Smith Cranes transport manager Mark Thomson.
All so the blades can get around the tight turns of the Pahiatua Track.
"It's a game-changer within the wind industry in New Zealand and possibly Australia as well," says Thomson.
The blade manipulator is coming to the rescue after the key access track failed in September.
"There was a geotechnical issue. When they started excavating it there was a slip that filled itself back in again and the conditions certainly weren't as conducive as hoped for building that track. Blade access is a big concern," says Mercury generation development manager Dennis Radich.
That slip is causing big delays for the half-a-billion dollar project with only 15 of the 180 blades on-site to date.
The finished turbines will be 125m high from the ground to very top. The wind farm will generate enough energy to power 120,000 households a year.
With the first turbine completed, and another being put together this week, there's a sense of relief.
"It's a huge psychological lift when you go from a turbine with no blades, to these going up on a schedule," Radich says.
Putting these blades to work by the end of the year.
