"Norsewood" a New Zealand Travel Page by floss1

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Norsewood is a very interesting small town in New Zealand. It is located in the North Island in an area called Hawkes Bay on the east coast. It is about an hours drive from Napier and Hastings, and an hour north of Palmerston North. It was settled by the Scandinavians, but mostly by the Norwegians. They came in two boats called <i>Hovding</i> and <i>Ballarat</i>, both arriving in Napier on 15th September 1872. The boat fare was expensive and many spent the rest of their lives paying it back to the New Zealand government. It was £7 per adult, £5 per child, and £1 per acre of land. The area they settled was all bush and took a lot of work to clear and farm. When you now go to Norsewood, you can still see the Norwegian influence. I hope this page will give you some idea of how wonderful this area is.