Nuventure Travels

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Learn New Zealand Vocabulary

Heading to New Zealand, hey? Good on ya! You speak English, hey? Sweet as! Just to be sure you and your mates will have heaps of fun and your mum won’t be worried, rattle your dags and get keen on learning your Kiwi English! When you do, you’ll be good as gold! If not, don’t get your knickers in a wad, she’ll be right.

We have a brand spankin’ new English vocabulary after five months of road tripping New Zealand in our not-so-flash campervan, Bernie, and tramping through the fern filled bush. The drives around the country were filled with hours of admiring thousands of shorn ewes in green paddocks, being spontaneously welcomed into generous Kiwi homes and served heaps of tea, biscuits and mince pies. It's been a corker!

We hope our stories and pictures have inspired you to explore New Zealand for yourself or return to the inspiring views! We have loved it here in this magical country known as Middle Earth. Make sure to use the US vs New Zealand English dictionary below to prepare for your trip. Don’t forget your sunnies, jandals and togs for the beach and your jersey for the cool nights, hey!

Tongariro Crossing, North Island

American mustard: mustard

bach: vacation home

biscuit: cookie

bogan: redneck

bonnet: hood of a car

boot: trunk of a car

Mount Cook, South Island

brekkie: breakfast

bush: forest

capsicum: bell pepper

car park: parking lot

cheeky: sassy

cheers: thank you

Moeraki Boulders, South Island

chemist: pharmacy

chilly bin: cooler

chippies/crisps: potato chips

chips: French fries

college: private high school

chook: chicken

Nugget Point

corker: very good

corgets: zucchini

coriander: cilantro

cotton buds: Q-tips

dags: dingleberry

dear: expensive

Hokitika, South Island

entrée: appetizer

ewes: female sheep

fizzy: carbonated soda

flash: fancy/ high class

flat: apartment

fortnight: two weeks

Route burn Great Walk

“Gold as!”: “Awesome!”

“Good on ya!”: "Congratulations"

gutted: bad luck

heaps: a lot

hens: chicken

hey: used similar to the Canadian “eh”

Queenstown

holiday: vacation

jandals: flip flops

jersey: sweat shirt

keen: excited

knackered: exhausted

knickers: underwear

Manuka Mire, Invercargill, South Island

kumara: sweet potato

lolly: hard candy

loo/toilet: bathroom

mate: friend

maths: math/mathematics

mince: ground beef

Roy's Peak, South Island

mufti: when students don’t have to wear school uniforms

mum: mom

munted: broken beyond repair

nappies: diapers

naughty: mischievous

paddock: field

Cave Stream, South Island 

partner: girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse

petrol: gas

pie: meat filled pastry

plaster: band aid

pram: baby stroller

push bike: bicycle

Arthur's Pass, South Island

“Rattle your dags!”: “Hurry up!”

rubbish: trash

“She’ll be right”: all will be okay

shout: pay for something for you

slip: rock slide

sunnies: sunglasses

Pancake Rocks, South Island

“Sweet as!”: “Awesome!”

tea: dinner

tea towel: dish towel

togs: bathing suit

tomato sauce: ketchup

torch: flashlight

Sunset at Pancake Rocks, South Island 

tramping: hiking over several days

tyre: tire

university: college

walking: hiking

wapiti: elk

wee: little bit

Fiordland National Park, South Island 

windscreen: windshield

yarn: chat and jokes with mates

zed: “z”

A huge shout out and thanks to the Foresters for sharing NZ with us and teaching us our Kiwi-isms!