The Mangatainoko River, Seventy Mile Bush, N

Five Mile Avenue, Forty Mile Bush, New Zealand circa 1875

The Seventy Mile Bush was a heavily forested area of New Zealand extending from

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

Central Hawkes Bay Central Hawke's Bay District is part of the Hawke's Bay Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Formed in 1989, it has an area of 3,333 square kilometres with a population of It had a population of 12,717 people as of the 2013 census. This i ...

and out to that coast. It was cleared and settled by

Scandinavians Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, assisted immigrants in the 1870s. On arrival they walked from the surrounding coastal settlements (

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, Foxton and Napier) to cut down the forest and clear the land for farming. The land was not as described to them. Without funds for a return passage they were obliged to remain. The area encompasses what are now the towns of

Norsewood Norsewood is a small rural settlement in the Tararua District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is situated east of the Ruahine Mountain range and is located 20 kilometres northeast of Dannevirke. Geography T ...

, Dannevirke,

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

and Eketahuna in the

Tararua District The Tararua District is a district near the south-east corner of New Zealand's North Island that is administered by the Tararua District Council. It has a population of and an area of 4,364.65 km². The Tararua District Council was created ...

and reached right into Hawkes Bay to the outskirts of Takapau and

Maraekakaho Maraekakaho is a rural settlement in the Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. The main village was developed by Sir Douglas Maclean in the early 20th century, on a pastoral station established by his father, ...

. Its eastern boundary stretched almost due north–south from just south of Cape Turnagain on the coast to about 40 kilometres due west of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

.Southern Hawke's Bay, summer 1885–86
Rollo Arnold, ''New Zealand’s Burning — The Settlers’ World in the Mid 1880s'' Victoria University Press, 1994, Wellington ;Forty Mile Bush The Forty Mile Bush was the southern part of the Seventy Mile Bush. It extended from Kopuaranga near Masterton to Woodville ;Remnant A remnant was saved in 1888, the Mount Bruce Forest Reserve, now the site of the

Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre Pūkaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre is a captive breeding facility and visitor centre located in a protected forest area on State Highway 2 in New Zealand's Tararua district. Location Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre is ...

References

Forests of New Zealand Geography of the Wellington Region Wairarapa {{Wellington-geo-stub