tiki tour

A tiki tour is New Zealand slang for a scenic or roundabout trip, the long way around. “We took a tiki tour through town” means you didn’t go straight there.

What tiki tour means

Wiktionary and Collins both define it as a scenic tour of an area’s sights. In everyday use it’s often a gentle joke about taking the long route, on purpose or not: a wrong turn becomes “a bit of a tiki tour,” and showing a visitor around becomes “giving them the tiki tour.”

Examples

• “The GPS sent us on a tiki tour through every back road in Waikato.”
• “Let’s do a tiki tour of the coast on the way home.”
• “Sorry we’re late, someone took us on a tiki tour.”

Where it came from

It’s a distinctly New Zealand phrase, and its exact origin is unclear. Today it’s simply Kiwi shorthand for meandering around, whether you meant to or not.

Related terms

• Wop-wops: the middle of nowhere.
• Bach: a holiday home.
• Side quest: a detour from the main plan.
• Sweet as: great, no problem.

More Kiwi words are in our New Zealand slang guide.