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Punga-bungy (ferns)
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DescriptionThe origin of the word bungy-bungie
Note also ponga
Note also ponga
From Facebook
CommentsLaura Mills Detlaff I've been told on good authority that it's a version of punga which is the Maori word. As there was no firm 'b' in the Maori language, punga became bunga became bungy.
Debz Turner I lived on the coast all my life and have always called them bungies.
Ritchie Mathieson i've always called them bungies
Ross Wylde Defiantly a WC saying. I was brought up using bungies.
Brenda Crooks Yeah we called them bungies, didn't hear punga until I moved to the North Island
Brent Campbell Deff a west coast saying I've always know them as bungies
Dave Kelly Thanks for that folk, something I had wondered about for years.
Ritchie Mathieson just like wekas are called maori hens
Ema Harnett-Moore Ritchie Mathieson or Bush chickens
Cheryl Pinn And weta are called taipo
Christopher Morresey And Taipo is Weta
Deborah Hoy I've always called them bungies too.
Pam Englefield-Absolum Yes, the ruts in the roads were filled with Pungas, bunged in.
Anna Hynes Pam Englefield-Absolum that's interesting, so that's where it comes from.
Joe Abbott Definitely bunnies , punga must be the LGBTQI term
John Buchanan Yes always bungies in our home.
M
Graham Porter Women wear bungies also
Faye York Yes and still call them bungies.
Karen Peters Always called thwm bungies!
Lance Corcoran They were always referred to as bungies in Southland, at least when I was young. It wasn't until my adult years that I realised they were actually pungas.
Danika Thom Ive never heard them called anything but punga so it must be a wc thing
Sharyn Lodge Yes, we all did. It occasionally still slips out of my mouth :) and all I get is puzzled looks from my non-Coaster friends. Years ago, when I was still new to my job, I mentioned something about bungies, and one of the other women (who I didn't know very well at the time) pricked her ears up and said "oh, are you from the West Coast? Me too"
Pauline Mountford Peter Mountford always calls them bungies! : We Cantabrians call them Punga
Stace Maree Kemp I grew up on the coast, my whole family are still there, and I only ever knew them as Pungas, I've never heard the word bungies before now.
Sharyn Lodge Depends on how long your family have been on the Coast :) If they were there way back in the 50s and 60s, they would at least have known about bungys.
Sharyn Lodge Punga = bungy. Weka = maori hen. Weta = taipo. Pukeko = bokaka or bowie. :) Weird lot, us Coasters.
Bronwyn Pardo
Bronwyn Pardo It's a Coast thing - another one that I heard a lot was Lambie
Cambul Russell Bronwyn Pardo on the east coast they called swandry I still refer to them as lambie
Dianne Blythe Bronwyn Pardo yep me as well it was bungy and lammie not sure how you spell it
M
Rosemary Neame We also say "A girl of Lodge" when talking about someone. I thought everyone did that until we moved to Dunedin. I was surprised Mum let us say that & when I questioned her she said that she picked her battles. Anyone that knew Mum, Enid Ray, knew that she was a stickler for proper grammar.
Joy Drake Yes that was the name for them that we knew.
Aileen Hore Yes I grew up calling them bungy, I have not heard anyone call them that away from the coast.
Claudio Soster Only ever knew them as bungies and I was a born and bred Coaster.
Wendy Dense Grew up in Karoro....many hours playing in native bush, definitely bunnies.
Annitta Hodgkinson It's changed to Bundies up here in Nelson, if you were raised in the country.
I only ever heard us being referred to as Coasters when growing up on the Westcoast.
If you say to people in the Nelson area that you are originally a Coaster they all seem to understand the reference.
Lois Arnold Coasters always called them bungies
Dianne Blythe I only ever knew them as bungies and have spent most of my life on the coast
Louise Langdon possums were coons lol
Ritchie Mathieson or Jacko's
Jan Gerritsen-Molloy We only ever called them bungies i still do... people laugh at it in the Bay Of Islands where i now live
Marion Marshall We always called them bungie's
Pam Englefield-Absolum Yes, the ruts in the roads were filled with Pungas, bunged in.
Anna Hynes Pam Englefield-Absolum that's interesting, so that's where it comes from.
Joe Abbott Definitely bungies , punga must be the LGBTQI term
Graham Porter Women wear bungies also
Karen Peters Always called thwm bungies!
Lance Corcoran They were always referred to as bungies in Southland, at least when I was young. It wasn't until my adult years that I realised they were actually pungas.
Danika Thom Ive never heard them called anything but punga so it must be a wc thing
Sharyn Lodge Yes, we all did. It occasionally still slips out of my mouth :) and all I get is puzzled looks from my non-Coaster friends. Years ago, when I was still new to my job, I mentioned something about bungies, and one of the other women (who I didn't know very well at the time) pricked her ears up and said "oh, are you from the West Coast? Me too" :) :)
Pauline Mountford Peter Mountford always calls them bungies! :) We Cantabrians call them Punga :)
Stace Maree Kemp I grew up on the coast, my whole family are still there, and I only ever knew them as Pungas, I've never heard the word bungies before now.
Sharyn Lodge Depends on how long your family have been on the Coast :) If they were there way back in the 50s and 60s, they would at least have known about bungys.
Dianne Blythe Stace Maree Kemp I always called them bungies swandri a lammie and a weta a taipo
Cambul Russell Bronwyn Pardo on the east coast they called swandry I still refer to them as lambie
Dianne Blythe Bronwyn Pardo yep me as well it was bungy and lammie not sure how you spell it
Rosemary Neame We also say "A girl of Lodge" when talking about someone. I thought everyone did that until we moved to Dunedin. I was surprised Mum let us say that & when I questioned her she said that she picked her battles. Anyone that knew Mum, Enid Ray, knew that she was a stickler for proper grammar.
Aileen Hore Yes I grew up calling them bungy, I have not heard anyone call them that away from the coast.
Wendy Dense Grew up in Karoro....many hours playing in native bush, definitely bunnies.
Manage
Annitta Hodgkinson It's changed to Bundies up here in Nelson, if you were raised in the country.
I only ever heard us being referred to as Coasters when growing up on the Westcoast.
If you say to people in the Nelson area that you are originally a Coaster they all seem to understand the reference.
Dianne Blythe I only ever knew them as bungies and have spent most of my life on the coast
Louise Langdon possums were coons lol
Jan Gerritsen-Molloy We only ever called them bungies i still do... people laugh at it in the Bay Of Islands where i now live
Marion Marshall We always called them bungie's
Jill Smith Definitely called them bungys (pronounced bung-ies) all my life as a coaster. Also only ever talked of beachwood not driftwood.
Chevy Hayley Aitken Sue Maree Aitken our family has been on the coast from the beginning weve never called them Bungie's have we?
Sue Maree Aitken Chevy Hayley Aitken not to my knowledge and Pa was a bushman so,
Tamai Sinclair
Bungees, Gigi, kladdie (not Korari), followed by Mawera (not Mawhera), Marawiti (not Mawhera-iti), Koiterangi (not Ko-whiti -rangi), Mokinui, (not Moki-hi-nui) even Wataroa (not Whataroa), IMHO is how the first West Coast settlers heard the whanau living along the coast pronounce those words and place names. The whanau then were probably heavily influenced by the tribes that dropped the H. Even the first European to be guided to the West Coast, Heaphy notes that Aoraki was called Hauraki: Heaphy, Charles, 1820-1881 :The Ara Hura coast and Hauraki Mountain. [1846] https://natlib.govt.nz/records/33820613...
Debz Turner I lived on the coast all my life and have always called them bungies.
Ritchie Mathieson i've always called them bungies
Ross Wylde Defiantly a WC saying. I was brought up using bungies.
Brenda Crooks Yeah we called them bungies, didn't hear punga until I moved to the North Island
Brent Campbell Deff a west coast saying I've always know them as bungies
Dave Kelly Thanks for that folk, something I had wondered about for years.
Ritchie Mathieson just like wekas are called maori hens
Ema Harnett-Moore Ritchie Mathieson or Bush chickens
Cheryl Pinn And weta are called taipo
Christopher Morresey And Taipo is Weta
Deborah Hoy I've always called them bungies too.
Pam Englefield-Absolum Yes, the ruts in the roads were filled with Pungas, bunged in.
Anna Hynes Pam Englefield-Absolum that's interesting, so that's where it comes from.
Joe Abbott Definitely bunnies , punga must be the LGBTQI term
John Buchanan Yes always bungies in our home.
M
Graham Porter Women wear bungies also
Faye York Yes and still call them bungies.
Karen Peters Always called thwm bungies!
Lance Corcoran They were always referred to as bungies in Southland, at least when I was young. It wasn't until my adult years that I realised they were actually pungas.
Danika Thom Ive never heard them called anything but punga so it must be a wc thing
Sharyn Lodge Yes, we all did. It occasionally still slips out of my mouth :) and all I get is puzzled looks from my non-Coaster friends. Years ago, when I was still new to my job, I mentioned something about bungies, and one of the other women (who I didn't know very well at the time) pricked her ears up and said "oh, are you from the West Coast? Me too"
Pauline Mountford Peter Mountford always calls them bungies! : We Cantabrians call them Punga
Stace Maree Kemp I grew up on the coast, my whole family are still there, and I only ever knew them as Pungas, I've never heard the word bungies before now.
Sharyn Lodge Depends on how long your family have been on the Coast :) If they were there way back in the 50s and 60s, they would at least have known about bungys.
Sharyn Lodge Punga = bungy. Weka = maori hen. Weta = taipo. Pukeko = bokaka or bowie. :) Weird lot, us Coasters.
Bronwyn Pardo
Bronwyn Pardo It's a Coast thing - another one that I heard a lot was Lambie
Cambul Russell Bronwyn Pardo on the east coast they called swandry I still refer to them as lambie
Dianne Blythe Bronwyn Pardo yep me as well it was bungy and lammie not sure how you spell it
M
Rosemary Neame We also say "A girl of Lodge" when talking about someone. I thought everyone did that until we moved to Dunedin. I was surprised Mum let us say that & when I questioned her she said that she picked her battles. Anyone that knew Mum, Enid Ray, knew that she was a stickler for proper grammar.
Joy Drake Yes that was the name for them that we knew.
Aileen Hore Yes I grew up calling them bungy, I have not heard anyone call them that away from the coast.
Claudio Soster Only ever knew them as bungies and I was a born and bred Coaster.
Wendy Dense Grew up in Karoro....many hours playing in native bush, definitely bunnies.
Annitta Hodgkinson It's changed to Bundies up here in Nelson, if you were raised in the country.
I only ever heard us being referred to as Coasters when growing up on the Westcoast.
If you say to people in the Nelson area that you are originally a Coaster they all seem to understand the reference.
Lois Arnold Coasters always called them bungies
Dianne Blythe I only ever knew them as bungies and have spent most of my life on the coast
Louise Langdon possums were coons lol
Ritchie Mathieson or Jacko's
Jan Gerritsen-Molloy We only ever called them bungies i still do... people laugh at it in the Bay Of Islands where i now live
Marion Marshall We always called them bungie's
Pam Englefield-Absolum Yes, the ruts in the roads were filled with Pungas, bunged in.
Anna Hynes Pam Englefield-Absolum that's interesting, so that's where it comes from.
Joe Abbott Definitely bungies , punga must be the LGBTQI term
Graham Porter Women wear bungies also
Karen Peters Always called thwm bungies!
Lance Corcoran They were always referred to as bungies in Southland, at least when I was young. It wasn't until my adult years that I realised they were actually pungas.
Danika Thom Ive never heard them called anything but punga so it must be a wc thing
Sharyn Lodge Yes, we all did. It occasionally still slips out of my mouth :) and all I get is puzzled looks from my non-Coaster friends. Years ago, when I was still new to my job, I mentioned something about bungies, and one of the other women (who I didn't know very well at the time) pricked her ears up and said "oh, are you from the West Coast? Me too" :) :)
Pauline Mountford Peter Mountford always calls them bungies! :) We Cantabrians call them Punga :)
Stace Maree Kemp I grew up on the coast, my whole family are still there, and I only ever knew them as Pungas, I've never heard the word bungies before now.
Sharyn Lodge Depends on how long your family have been on the Coast :) If they were there way back in the 50s and 60s, they would at least have known about bungys.
Dianne Blythe Stace Maree Kemp I always called them bungies swandri a lammie and a weta a taipo
Cambul Russell Bronwyn Pardo on the east coast they called swandry I still refer to them as lambie
Dianne Blythe Bronwyn Pardo yep me as well it was bungy and lammie not sure how you spell it
Rosemary Neame We also say "A girl of Lodge" when talking about someone. I thought everyone did that until we moved to Dunedin. I was surprised Mum let us say that & when I questioned her she said that she picked her battles. Anyone that knew Mum, Enid Ray, knew that she was a stickler for proper grammar.
Aileen Hore Yes I grew up calling them bungy, I have not heard anyone call them that away from the coast.
Wendy Dense Grew up in Karoro....many hours playing in native bush, definitely bunnies.
Manage
Annitta Hodgkinson It's changed to Bundies up here in Nelson, if you were raised in the country.
I only ever heard us being referred to as Coasters when growing up on the Westcoast.
If you say to people in the Nelson area that you are originally a Coaster they all seem to understand the reference.
Dianne Blythe I only ever knew them as bungies and have spent most of my life on the coast
Louise Langdon possums were coons lol
Jan Gerritsen-Molloy We only ever called them bungies i still do... people laugh at it in the Bay Of Islands where i now live
Marion Marshall We always called them bungie's
Jill Smith Definitely called them bungys (pronounced bung-ies) all my life as a coaster. Also only ever talked of beachwood not driftwood.
Chevy Hayley Aitken Sue Maree Aitken our family has been on the coast from the beginning weve never called them Bungie's have we?
Sue Maree Aitken Chevy Hayley Aitken not to my knowledge and Pa was a bushman so,
Tamai Sinclair
Bungees, Gigi, kladdie (not Korari), followed by Mawera (not Mawhera), Marawiti (not Mawhera-iti), Koiterangi (not Ko-whiti -rangi), Mokinui, (not Moki-hi-nui) even Wataroa (not Whataroa), IMHO is how the first West Coast settlers heard the whanau living along the coast pronounce those words and place names. The whanau then were probably heavily influenced by the tribes that dropped the H. Even the first European to be guided to the West Coast, Heaphy notes that Aoraki was called Hauraki: Heaphy, Charles, 1820-1881 :The Ara Hura coast and Hauraki Mountain. [1846] https://natlib.govt.nz/records/33820613...
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West Coast New Zealand History (3rd Oct 2020). Punga-bungy (ferns). In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 2nd Apr 2026 18:12, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/27072