Ben Ohau, Canterbury, New Zealand

BEN OHAU

WAITAKI DISTRICT

Location:
Lake Ohau, Waitaki District 
Throw “Greta Track Trailhead And Car Park” - take Glen Lyon Road from Twizel.

Time:
6 hours return.
2 hours up, 4 hours down. With dog, wife and photos. It’s a long windy loop out.

Difficulty.
Easy.

Dogs:
Under effective control

This one I wanted to be easy, as my wife was joining Charlie and I and she doesn't’t love big uphills. This walk starts with an uphill which isn’t technically challenging it’s just a farm track really, but it is a bit of grunt.

The track itself doesn’t go all the way to the summit, so you need to make a detour. Which I did.
Fun story: When I got to the top there were two other people there, having a glass of champagne, which I thought was kind of strange. I gave the old second look and realised I knew one of them, and then found out the exciting news that he’d proposed to her, on the summit, mere minutes before I sauntered up. Congrats.

Anyway, the rest of the track is chill, there are definitely river crossings that will get deeper when it’s wet. You can rock hop across when we were there, otherwise you’re getting wet feet. There’s only one spot where you might get lost, we went straight on when we were meant to take a hard right, but quickly realised.

You see the lake a lot sooner than you get to it, it seems like it’s around every bend on the descent, however, it is not.

Check out the huts too, the one at the start and the one at the finish.
Would also suggest grabbing a burger from Ministry of Works in Twizel on your way out as well.

Enjoy this one.

That’s one excited doggie.

My wife Nicola also joined for this one.

We saw some horses, which is a bit different.

There was definitely some weather coming in as well, we managed to make it out without any rain.

Plenty of greenery in the valley, which is surprising as you can’t see any of it from the ascent.

Nicola and Charlie walking off into a moody sunset.

Charlie was in his element.

The little road stretch from the end carpark to the start carpark is only a couple of hundred metres.

The site of the old hut was super photogenic, as Charlie just watches the sunset out the doorway.