Jargon
Bush-Bashing
This term speaks for itself, describing travel through untracked forest.
To experience this one needs simply to step a few metres off any cut track
in the high country and
continue parallel to it for a while.
Some knowledge and experience of bush-bashing is prerequisite to visiting some of the
huts on this site. Bush-bashing varies in difficulty depending on the forest type and terrain.
It ranges from relatively easy travel under an open canopy to a slow exhausting struggle through
a dense foliage. Usually it is something in between the two.
Scrub-Bashing
Similar to bush-bashing,
but generally more difficult. It relates mostly to travel through
the alpine or sub-alpine forest and usually requires a fair amount of
crawling, climbing, and sometimes pushing or dragging of packs through
dense walls
of gnarly, close knit vegetation. This is often on steep and bluffy
country to boot. I remember it once taking us
an hour to cover a distance of 200m on the top of Ajax Hill in the Catlins Forest Park.
Cruise Tape
This is thin, stretchy plastic ribbon, usually a fluorescent
orange or red colour, that is tied to branches in order to mark
overgrown or overgrowing routes. The tape is durable and usually lasts several years before
breaking down. It is normally used by surveyors.
Cairn
A pile of rocks at regular intervals used to mark a route, usually
in open areas, such as riverbeds, or above the bushline. They are also commonly used
to mark the beginning of a route or track,
or a transition from open or river travel to a cut track.
Grid and GPS References
These are sets of coordinates that locate an object (hut) or feature (top of a mountain)
in geographical space. They are derived from lines of
to latitude and longitude that the planet has been divided into for the
purpose of mapping and navigation.
E1459130/ N5248163 is Browning Biv's grid reference
taken from the 1:50,000
series topographic map BV19. The first set of numbers followed
by the "E" relate to the vertical grid lines or "eastings."
The second followed by the "N" are from the horizontal delineations
or "northings." Topographic maps were initially drawn by hand, then later using aerial photographs
and survey data. Sometimes the
huts and tracks in remote areas are not accurately marked, although this is becoming much
less frequent. Satellite Global Positioning technology (GPS) has given us
the ability to locate things with extreme accuracy.
The data on this site is mostly Grid References taken from the latest LINZ 1:50,000 map
series. As time goes on we'll update these with GPS coordinates.
You can help us out by providing these when visiting a particular area.
Permolat
Permolat is the name (an old brand name originally)
given to the small strips of venetian blind material that the Forest Service used
to mark its high-country tracks with. They are
usually white in this area, occasionally red,
or a mix of the two colours. Many of the tracks
and routes on this site are still marked in this way.
White markers generally signify a track. Red permolat going in
a line uphill perpendicular to the valley floor may be marking an old NZFS
vegetation survey
line. These usually follow compass bearings up to
around the bush or scrubline and following one does not guarantee a safe or
easy passage to anywhere useful.
There may be plots on these at regular intervals consisting of aluminium pegs with
red or yellow permolat sails, and tagged
trees. Please don't disturb or pull any of these markers out
as they are a valuable source of data on forest health over time in
relation to introduced animal numbers.
Route
Usually untracked and unmarked except
possibly in a rudimentary way with the odd cairn or blaze.
Routes often follow natural features such
as rivers, creeks or ridges, providind the easiest line
of travel through a particular area. They can
be poled in open tussock areas. Routes vary considerably in difficulty
depending on the terrain, altitude, seasonal factors, and vegetation
types.
Snow Pole
These are commonly used to mark routes
above the bushline. Pole materials
vary considerably, from unadorned wooden or metal stakes, to treated timber posts and
plastic stakes with or without markers (permolat or plastic triangles).
Most of the tops routes on this site are un-poled.
Track
The word "track" on this website has diverse
meanings, which we'll attempt to specify on the relevant hut page.
It may be a well maintained, marked, benched track on a main valley route
with sidestream and river crossings bridged. It will more likely be
something far rougher,
less well maintained, or unmaintained.
Tracks in this area are generally unbenched. This means they follow the lie of the land
with lots of ups and downs in places.
They are in various states of repair ranging from easy to follow to nigh unrecognisable.
The main type of marker tends to be permolat, occasionally augmented
by old blazes on trees. Some of the tracks in poorer condition have been
cruise-taped in places where the permolat has fallen off, where it is particularly overgrown,
or where the track has been washed out or fallen away. Thus, the quality of the tracks and
followability vary hugely. The orange plastic triangles found on DOC's fully maintain tracks
are uncommon outside of the main valley tracks and circuits. The art of following
remote tracks is a learned skill and folk who
have only done tourist-standard tracks stand a good cahnce of getting into trouble
on a lot of the tracks and routes on this site.
True Left (TL) and True Right (TR)
These are very important terms
and describe the left and right
side of a valley or catchment when looking downstream.
Tops
This is a small word
used to describe big spaces; the open, majestic expanses of
high-country that lie above the bush and scrub lines.
At lower levels the tops are vegetated, usually native snow tussock, alpine herbs and mat
plants. These give way gradually with increased altitude to scree, rock,
permanent snow and ice. On the Coast the tussock line is generally around 1100m-1200m, and
varys depending on aspect, soil type
and other parameters.