The West and East Manuherikia tracks are within Oteake Conservation Area, both can be done as a loop track from either St Bathans or Omarama. We were traveling in one direction from St Bathans to Omarama so we only drove the West track.
St Bathans is well worth the stop the town has very nice charm and character, in its heyday it was a bustling community built upon the gold rush, the main attraction of the town is the Blue Lake, the 68m deep man made lake was formed from old sluicing works. Its now a wonderful swimming spot, one we couldn't resist.
After our swim we headed along the Hawkdun Runs Road to the start of our track. The West Manuherikia is a little bit more serious than the East as it has more river crossing and the roads up and down the saddle are narrow and exposed, but we still found the drive a breeze, albeit bumpy! The river crossing where simple but we can imagine they become alot more serious in high water. Along the way we stopped off at the two huts Boundary Creek Hut and Top Hut, both very nice huts but we favored the Top Hut that little bit more.
From the Top Hut we headed up the saddle to be confronted with spectacular views out towards Lake Ohau, Ahuriri River and Southern Alps from here the exposed track lead us down onto Broken Hut road for our return trip back to Wanaka over Lindis Pass. West Manuherikia Track 28km. 2 hours. Crew: Lee & Sam. 2/3/13
