Peter Griffith, the hard bitten Kiwi who has worked for decades to save the ancient forest in the country's far north, picked me up at the lodge and drove Nick Mason and me to the trailhead for the gnarly 17 kilometer Herekino Forest Track.

While routes in the north such as North Cape to Cape Reinga, 90 Mile Beach, or Cape Brett are better known, this full on rute through one of the most diverse forests in New Zealand shows you a different side to the region. The Herekino forest contains remnants of old growth forest that escaped the loggers ax because it was just too difficult to get to. Hikers who do this newly restored trail can get a glimpse of what this part of New Zealand looked like before it was cleared for farming.

Nick, who has been tramping these woods since 1980, was the perfect companion.

A woodworker as well as an avid hiker, Nick appreciates the different qualities of the many species of trees that make up the dense forest, and brings that perspective to the hike. In about eight hours on the steep, winding trail, we saw most of the major tree species of New Zealand: tarari, tawa, rata, rimu, totara, miro, and rewa rewa, to name a few.

But the highlight comes about three hours in when you reach a grove of giant kauri trees. Prized by shiprights for masts, the towering trees once covered the west coast of New Zealand. Now only a few remain, so impressive that the Maori people of the area gave them names, like people, recognizing them for the individuals they are. The biggest of all, a little south of here, is called Tanu Mahuta. The big grove of kauris made the elevation gain and muddy trail worth the effort.

The track finishes with a climb up one of the biggest mountains in the forest, a 500 meter summit that offers views off to both sides of the Cape Reinga peninsula, from the South Pacific to the Tasman Sea. The Herekino will never challenge the Milford Track for popularity, but the remote route make for a Kiwi hiking experience that reveals a different side to what this island country has in the way of fascinating tramping.