Based on a true story...the year is 1873 and Johanna is about to leave her home country Norway with her family for far-off New Zealand. They join a group of assisted immigrants who dream of escaping the poverty and hardships of their home country. Their hopes are high, but they soon find themselves in a similar poverty trap. The land tracts granted them by the government are in rough country, in dense bush. This is the settlement that in the fullness of time become known as Norsewood.