Bach (New Zealand)

A bach (sometimes spelled "batch" pronounced /ˈbætʃ/), also called a crib in the southern half of the South Island, is a small, often modest holiday home or beach house in New Zealand.

[5] They are almost always small structures, usually made of cheap or recycled material like fibrolite (asbestos cement sheet), corrugated iron, or used timber.

A reconstructed example of a typical bach from the 1950s can be found in the New Zealand Maritime Museum on Princes Wharf in central Auckland.

Early baches rarely enjoyed amenities like connections to the water and electricity grid or indoor toilets.

Another important change has been the subdivision of coastal land, bringing increasing numbers of residents and visitors, along with traffic, cafes, mobile phone coverage, craft shops, and other conveniences, to what were originally empty beaches and bush-filled gullies.