WELCOME TO
Historic Ethnic Bohemian Village
just 30 minutes north of Auckland city centre, New Zealand
Neighbouring village to Waiwera

"UP THE BOOHAI"

This NZ colloquial slang term is said to have it’s origins in NZ Bohemian settlement history.

A fictitious place - when asking someone where they're going, if they respond with "going up the boohai, shooting pukeko's with a long handled shovel", you're being told gently that it's none of your business. If you are “up the boohai” you are lost somewhere or off the beaten track.

The first Bohemian settlers arrived in Auckland in 1863 from the old kingdom of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. They settled at Puhoi, over the hill north of Waiwera, and spoke a dialect of German language.

The village of Puhoi was established out of primeval bush-clad land by the early settlers. Some villagers would make the trip to Auckland by steamer ship, horseback, or on foot. When in town, their lack of English made understanding of their speech confusing to English folk. Another instance is when a visiting Englishman asked a Puhoi meeting “Who is the Chairman?”, to which a Bohemian answered “We’re all Germans here!”.

The German translation and pronunciation of Puhoi was “Booei”. When settlers were asked where they were from they would probably have answered “from Die Booei”. And as Puhoi was considered to be remote and isolated at that time, then the saying was probably adopted into NZ slang terminology.

It is from this misunderstanding that the term “boohai” may have had it’s roots in NZ slang.