Manapouri is a small town and lake on the edge of Fiordland National Park as you travel north on the Southern Scenic Route from Monowai. The name means "lake of the sorrowing heart" and is based on a myth of two sisters whose tears formed the lake. Although Māori, it arose when an early European surveyor confused the lake with another named Manapouri. Local Māori called the lake Roto Ua (the rainy lake) and "Moturau" (many islands). In our experience, the former is most apt!
The small town has several accommodation options, a gas station, and a store, while a pretty street-front church has long been a restaurant and bar. The unique Two Wee Bookshops is near the corner of Home Street and Hillside-Manapouri Road, a one-minute walk from the Church.
Across the road from the Church is a large grassed sloping reserve down to the lake. Towards the northeast end of the reserve is the Save Manapouri Memorial. From 1959 to 1972, environmental campaigners fought to prevent raising the lake to increase the efficiency of the underground hydropower station at West Arm. The large rock with the memorial is at the intended height, about 25 metres higher than today.
Despite its small size, Manapouri is a hub of adventure and exploration. Starting from the nearby Pearl Harbour, you can hop on a water taxi to access several walking tracks around the lake, including the nearby Circle Track, a 6.9 km tramping loop on the south side of Pearl Harbour.
For a more remote experience, take a commercial boat trip to West Arm, the gateway to Doubtful Sound / Patea. From there, a bus ride over Wilmot Pass will take you on a boat trip on Doubtful Sound, the only realistic way to see this remote area of Fiordland.
For an easy option, take the short but very pretty Frasers Beach Walk from Pearl Harbour to Frasers Beach on the lakefront and back to the small town centre. Another alternative is the Lake2Lake Trail. This shared cycle track between Te Anau and Manapouri mainly follows the Waiau River.
