Story: The New Zealand bush
Walter Lawry was a Methodist missionary who came from Tonga to New Zealand in 1843 to become the superintendent of the Wesleyan mission. He soon set off to carry the gospel around the colony.
Download the PDF document to read an extract from Lawry’s journal describing the challenges of struggling through the New Zealand bush. Such experiences led Europeans to think of ‘the bush’ in New Zealand as dense jungle.
Using this item
Reference: A-098-021-a
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
How to cite this page
Jock Phillips, The New Zealand bush – What is the bush?, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/14496/walter-lawry (accessed 17 February 2026).
Story by Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.