Experience the expanding lanscapes of the Hokianga region in the late 1800s. A harsh land where you could make a fortune digging Kauri gum or catch your death. In this land we meet Hugh Clifford who has come to try his hand at digging. Idealistic and honourable, Clifford treats the weak with kindness and the mean with contempt and when he rescues a damsel in distress, Esther Hamilton, it is love at first sight. Esther unfortunately is engaged to another, Albert Roller, who together with Esther's father, Dr. Hamilton, treat Clifford with contempt. The facts remain that Roller is a store keeper and a much better match for a doctor's daugther and Clifford is just a lowly gum digger. Or is he?