Hi Paulina

You are certainly right about the Forest being compact. For a fellow Kiwi, this may give some sense of scale:

Land area of Wales: 20,735 km²
Land area of the province of Canterbury, NZ: 45,346 km²
Land area of the Forest of Dean: 526.4 km²

So Canterbury is more than twice the size of the whole country of Wales, and the Forest is a fraction of the size of Wales.

My ancestors once lived in Aylburton as well. There is a beautiful road up a ridge from Aylburton to the village of St Briavels; we encountered a traffic jam of pheasants on that road. Wherever your ancestors came from, visit the area around St Briavels Castle - the views towards Wales are lovely.

My great grandparents emigrated to Saltwater Creek, North Canterbury in 1860, and were followed by a number of siblings in the following years.