The public has an opportunity to make submissions on proposals to assign new or change nine geographic names in the South.
The majority of the features are in the Remarkables, Lake Wakatipu or Fiordland.
The proposals were accepted at the New Zealand Geographic Board's meeting on March 28 and the board will consider all submissions received before the end of each consultation period at its October 18 meeting.
The proposals include adding the original Maori name Pariroa to Castle Mount in Fiordland National Park, moving the name Headlong Peak ''to its correct position 450m west at peak 2457m'' at the head of Lake Wakatipu, and changing the name Headlong Peak to Mt Tewha for a 2510m peak.
Proposals for the Remarkables include naming an unnamed alpine lake shaped like a bowl Te Kohua, which is Maori for an iron cooking pot, naming an unnamed feature at the southern end of the Remarkables Mt Tuwhakaroria and assigning Te Karearea Peak for an unnamed feature also at the southern end.
Karearea is a native falcon and the peak proposed to have its name is described by the geographic board as a visible and recognisable alpine feature. Other proposals are for Marsack Stream, in Canterbury; Tatchell Creek, near Ward, in Marlborough; and the Hector Mountains.
The consultation period deadline for all but Tatchell Creek and Marsack stream is July 26. The geographic board is also consulting about the names of New Zealand's two main islands.
It was discovered the names North Island and South Island were recorded names but not official, and the board agreed in principle the English names should be formalised and the islands also given official Maori names.
The proposed name for the South Island is Te Waipounamu, with Te Ika-a-Maui for the North Island.
Submissions for these four names close on July 5.
