"Trillian, are you seriously telling us you've been talking to a box of shoes?" Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

Kiwi outdoor terms explained...

A
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Annual Hut Pass - A one year pass ($90NZ) that allows you to stay at many backcountry huts

B
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Billy - A wire handled hanging pot for cooking in

Bivvie - Bivouac, to spend a night without shelter (verb) or a very small hut (noun)

Bush - Native forest of any description

Bush Bash - Not as barbaric as it sounds, to travel through forest without a track

Bush Shirt - A heavy woollen shirt typical of New Zealand hunting attire

C
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Cableway - A cage suspended below a steel cable, used to cross rivers

Cage - See Cableway

Cairn - A pile of stones used as a route marker

Camp oven - A heavy cast iron or alloy cooking vessel (also known as a dutch oven)

Carpet Grass - A short, slippery alpine grass

D
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Dehi - Dehydrated food

DOC - Department of Conservation, government manager of National Parks

Dunny - See Longdrop

E
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F
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Flying fox - See Cableway

G
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Gaiters - Canvas sleeves that fit over your boots

Giardia - A parasite present in some waterways that can give you nasty diarrhoea

Great Walks - A group of popular flagship walking tracks

Greywacke - A common type of hard but brittle sandstone

H
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High Country Station - A large farm or ranch in an alpine environment

Hut - A cabin, lodge or shelter

Hut book - A book kept in almost all huts for recording your passage

Hut ticket - A NZ $5 ticket used singularly or in multiples to pay hut fees

Hut Warden - Wardens care for huts, carry out trail maintenance and collect fees

I
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J
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K
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Kea - Native alpine parrot, don't feed them!

L
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Longdrop - A small hut built over a pit toilet, the standard backcountry facility

M
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Mountain Radio - A High Frequency radio that can be hired for hiking

N
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Nor wester - A wind that often brings rain to the West and dry winds to the East

O
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P
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Polypro - Polypropylene, often referring to any synthetic thermal undergarments
Puttees - A short form of gaiter (see Gaiter)

Q
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R
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Route - An unmarked hiking trail

S
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Schist - A shale like rock found in the West and Southeast of the South Island

Scoria - A rough porous volcanic rock found in the central North Island

Scree - Talus, sharp stony debris found on mountain sides

Scree running - The enormously entertaining art of running down scree slopes

Scrub - Low shrubs and bushes, often difficult to travel through

Sinkhole - A water worn hole found in areas where there are caves. Also known as a Tomo. A hazard

Sked - Schedule, a pre arranged radio call, see Mountain Radio

Snowgrass - See tussock

Snow pole - A wooden, steel or fibreglass pole used to mark some alpine routes

Spaniard - A spiny leaved plant found in alpine areas

Speargrass - See Spaniard

Southerly - Wind blowing from the south, usually cold

Swannie - A type of Bushshirt, very heavy but warm

Swing bridge - A cable suspension bridge

T
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Tarn - A small lake, usually in an alpine area

Three Wire - Three cables slung over a river, walk on one and hold the other two!

Track - A hiking trail, usually marked

Tramping - Hiking

Tussock - A native grass that grows in tufts

U
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V
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Verglass - Thin, clear (often invisible) layer of ice coating rocks, a hazard in winter

W
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Weet-bix - A wheat biscuit breakfast cereal. A term for loose rock, see Schist and Greywacke

Wire - See Three Wire

X
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Y
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Z
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