VisionWest Horticulture Students—16 October 2012

Today a group of students and teachers from the VisionWest Community Trust joined us for a day of planting, weeding and exploring.  This is the third time a group from the VisionWest horticulture school has visited CUE Haven as part of their field work experience.  The Trust operates a training centre which provides a holistic approach to training by integrating class work, work experience and opportunities for students to discover individual talents.

The group arrived shortly after ten and included teachers Joan, Kevin and Peter and students Bernadette, Brian, Daniel, Destry, Ethan, Haque, James, Nikita, Shelley, Soe Soe and Tony.

After morning tea and an orientation and safety briefing, the group went to work.  We are at the end of the planting season, but it is still possible to plant in the wetlands and part of the group worked on planting up some of the remaining flaxes.

When we aren’t planting trees, one of the main tasks at CUE Haven is weed control and the rest of the group went to work with spades, grubbers, feet and hands to clear out some of the weeds from one of the areas we planted this past season.

It was difficult work but the team made great progress.

After several hours of hard work, the team broke for a well deserved lunch.  Nestle New Zealand had generously provided Peach and Lemon Nestea for refreshment which was greatly appreciated by the group.  Thanks Nestle!

After lunch, the team took a tour of the CUE Haven property and explored the gully walking track.

The team was so motivated that they even did some weeding during the walk!

Once again, we were very impressed by the group from VisionWest.  The students were hard working and enthusiastic and we enjoyed having them as our guests.  The teachers are dedicated and knowledgeable and they provide us with a lot of valuable advice and insights on everything from New Zealand native plants to weed and pest control.

We wish the students the best of luck with their studies and future endeavours!  Thanks very much and we look forward to seeing you all back at CUE Haven again and we look forward to continuing to work with VisionWest teams in the future.