A bach, also often referred to as crib, is a small, often very modest holiday home or beach house. Baches and cribs are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the middle class.
A brief history of the bach
The word bach is deeply embedded in the Kiwi psyche .
After World War II, as better roads made remote places more accessible, New Zealanders began building haphazard holiday houses in gorgeous places up and down the country. In those days, a bach was "something you built yourself, on land you don't own, out of materials you borrowed or stole." You’ll still see some of these original baches, steadfastly refusing to fall down, in New Zealand beach towns. Made of corrugated iron, fibrolite and used timber, they’re often painted crazy colours. The most authentic will still have a ‘long drop’ toilet out the back.
Even if your own family didn't have a crib, everyone knew someone who did and was more than happy to share it.
Thank goodness for evolution
Over the years, the majority of New Zealand’s baches have evolved into comfortable holiday houses on legitimately-acquired land. Some have even gone on to become mansions with four-car garages, a private beach and a mooring for the superyacht.
At the basic end of the scale, baches are furnished with hand-me-downs from the ‘real house’. They’re like family museums - full of odd furniture, kitsch art works and hilarious knick-knacks from previous decades.
Others have become interior decorating projects, complete with top-to-toe colour coordination and designer accessories. If you browse around any of New Zealand’s ‘book a bach’ websites, you’ll see the full spectrum of bachology - from livid 70s orange and brown to super-stylish minimalism.
Sometimes baches acquire nicknames, which get hung on a plaque by the front door. Classic names include Duck-Away Cottage, Works End, Lazy Dayz and Thiseldome (this will do me).
Life’s a bach
What you do on a bach holiday depends on where the bach is. If it’s on the shores of an alpine lake in the Southern Alps, winter is all about skiing and snowboarding, while summer presents a menu of hiking, biking, fishing and sailing. If the bach is at a beach, nine months of the year (spring, summer and autumn) will have you in or on the ocean. Certain elements of bach life are common to all - barbecuing, sleeping at any time of the day, not getting dressed up (jandals and shorts are standard bach wear) and embracing the great outdoors at every opportunity
Is it a crib or a bach?
Some New Zealanders go to their bach during the holidays, others to their crib. It all depends on your age and where you're from, according to a researcher who looked at which words New Zealanders preferred.
A research team of linguists found most people referred to holiday homes as baches. However, opinions vary on the word's spelling - "bach" is the most common, but some prefer "batch".
"Crib" is another holiday home contender, but this was much more common if you were from Invercargill or Dunedin.
Some say the word "bach" comes from bachelor pad, while a "crib" is what those of us of Scottish descent from south of the Waitaiki River call a small, did-it-yourself holiday "hoose" - "ma cozy wee crib", as the Scots would say.
Department of Conservation figures estimate that more than 50,000 baches exist around New Zealand (population 4.6 million people).
Warrington has had a lot of cribs in the past, nowadays some have been upgraded into permanent living houses and many permanent resident live in this little town by the beach. Especially during the holiday season, the population of this small beach community increases with crib-stayers.
The cache is a small screw-top container with red lid.
Easy park and grab.
Cache location can be quite busy with muggles, so stealth is required.