A cane toad hiding in a pair of hiking boots made its way from Queensland and past quarantine inspectors into New Zealand.

The cane toad hitched a ride across the Tasman with a woman from Cairns, who flew to Queenstown last week to walk the picturesque Milford Track.

While she was getting a briefing inside a hiking shop, the creature jumped out of her bag.

"It wasn't doing much moving," shop owner Noel Saxon said.

"I think it was probably in a bit of shock. Flying from Australia to New Zealand in a cargo hold isn't probably that good for you."

Staff caught the toad and phoned New Zealand's Ministry of Agriculture and were told to put the toad in a plastic bag and throw it in the freezer.

The cane toad had been inside the woman's hiking boots.

She had declared the boots at Queenstown Airport and they were checked over and scrubbed with detergent.

But the woman had stuffed socks inside the boots, giving the toad a comfortable hiding place.

New Zealand authorities say cane toads could not cope with the south island's cold climate and even if it had escaped, it would not have survived in the wild.