Te Araroa terminology

Did you know thru hiking has a bit of a language of its own? Lingo like, SOBO, FKT, nero and flip-flop are pretty common on trail.

Te Araroa is also located in New Zealand meaning on trail you will often encounter beautiful Maori words like, Kia ora and Here mai. They can be a bit tricky to pronounce (it's definitely something I'm still working on) but thankfully Kiwi's are very friendly people and more than happy to help along the way.

Here's a quick guide to get you started:

Maori:

• Maori - The indigenous people of New Zealand and their language.

• Aotearoa - New Zealand (land of the long white cloud)

• Te Araroa - The long pathway

• Kia ora - hello

• Here mai - welcome

• Koha - a gift or donation

• Mana wave - a friendly, enthusiastic hand gesture (a type of wave) used to greet and spread good vibes. I learnt this one from a kiwi mate and road workers on many a long road walk across NZ.

Thru hiker lingo:

• TA - Te Araroa trail

• Thru hiker - someone hiking an entire long trail in one season

• Section hiker - someone only hiking a section or sections of the whole trail

• SOBO - southbound (eg. "I walked the TA SOBO")

• NOBO - northbound

• Flip-flop - walking the trail in a non continuous line with the intention of still completing the whole trail (eg. skipping past a section to avoid a closure or bad weather then returning to complete it)

• Zero - a rest day where zero kilometers are walked (eg. I'm taking a zero in town)

• Nero - a day with only a small amount of kilometers are covered (near zero)

• Resupply - refilling your food supply either from shops or a bounce box

• Bounce box - a resupply box that is placed before a trail or mailed ahead

• Purist - a hiker who wants to walk the official route of the trail at all times (as you will see by my 'things to do list of this guide' I am no purist and loveee a good side trip along the way!)

• EFI - someone set on walking 'Every F***ing Inch' of a trail

• FKT - the 'fastest know time' to complete a trail

• LNT - Leave no trace

• Base weight - the total weight of the gear a hiker is carrying not including food or water

• Hiker hunger - a hunger hikers experience (usually after the first few weeks) that comes from walking big km's every day and allows you to eat crazy amounts of food when you get to town

• Trail magic - unexpected treats left specifically for hikers eg. chocolates

• Trail family - the people you meet on trail and choose to hike with

• Hiker trash - you'll understand (and appreciate) this term once you've been out there long enough!

There are soooo many more that I could list here but I think this is a pretty good overview and should definitely put you on the right path to get out on trail (: