Jargon

Bush-Bashing

This is an accurate description of travel through the untracked New Zealand forest. To get a taste of this simply to step a few metres off any bush track in New Zealand and continue parallel to it for a while. Prior experience of bush-bashing is helpful and in some instances essential when visiting some of the huts on this site. The quality and difficulty of bush-bashing varies according to the forest type, aspect, altitude and terrain, ranging from easy travel under an open canopy to a slow exhausting struggle through a dense foliage.

Scrub-Bashing

This is a sub category of bush-bashing, that is generally of a more difficult order. It pertains to travel through the alpine, sub-alpine forest, or regenerating forest. Alpine scrub is generally low, dense and tough and getting through it may involve crawling, climbing, struggling, and the pushing or dragging of packs through dense walls of foliage, often on steep and bluffy, or even vertical terrain. In truely dense alpine scrub progress can be measured in 100's of meters per hour and this can become very demoralising as reserves of energy and time trickle away.

Cruise Tape

This is thin, stretchy plastic tape, usually a fluorescent colour, mostly orange or red colour, that is attached to branches to mark tracks or routes. It is quite durable, lasting several years before breaking down and is normally used by surveyors.

Cairn

Piles of rocks at regular intervals used to mark a route, usually in open areas, such as riverbeds, or above the bushline where the blazing or marking of trees is not possible. Cairns are often used to mark track entrances or key entry or exit points where routes or tracks transition from one type of terrain to another (eg. riverbed to bush).

Grid and GPS References

These are sets of coordinates that locate an object or feature in geographical space. They are derived from lines of to latitude and longitude that we've divided the planet 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 lines 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.

GPS or Satellite Global Positioning technology has given us the ability to locate things with extreme accuracy. The cooordinates on this site are still mostly Grid References 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.