IAG—21 February 2014

IAG is the largest general insurance company in New Zealand, covering approximately 37% of the market.  Today a hard working group from the Procurement, Property and Administration departments in the Auckland head office spent the day at CUE Haven for a volunteer community support day.

The team arrived at nine using a variety of transportation.

The group included Andrew, Brendon, Daniel, David, Eva, Havovi, Jessica, Latham, Michael, Nasreen, and Tim.

Over morning tea we provided an overview about the CUE Haven project, the work planned for the day and safety issues.

The tasks for the day included transplanting seedlings in the nursery from their germination tubes into larger pots and working on the wetlands boardwalk project.  Group members were given the option of working on either or both activities.

In spite of practically record heat and humidity, most of the team decided to tackle the boardwalk.  The first task involved loading up the timber that we would be using.

We were very happy that our friends Kevin and John, who have worked on other parts of the boardwalk, were able to join us for the day and help out.  Once we got into the field and unloaded the timber and tools, we broke into two groups.  One group would work with John building a curved boardwalk section around a tight corner of the track.  The other group would work with Kevin building one of the longest bridges on the property.

Dan and Latham went to work to dig out the sloping section of the track joining the two work areas.  It was very hard work and they did a great job creating a nice curved approach to the bridge.

John’s team had to determine how best to build their section.  It was a challenge because the ground was very uneven and they had to ensure that there wasn’t too great a slope on their boardwalk section.

They did some measuring and tried some test layouts and then built the framework for their board walk section.

Once the frames were in place, the group went to work nailing down the top planks.

And the result is a beautiful section of walk that will be enjoyed by many people for a long time.

In the meantime, Kevin’s group worked on the bridge which goes over a stream which flows freely in winter but in summer is relatively dry.  A previous team had put in the support posts for the bridge and today’s first job was to assemble the framework.

Once the frame was in place and secure, the top planks were nailed in to finish off the bridge.

When the team got to the end of the bridge, they continued work on extending the board walk.

The bridge is an amazing achievement and a unique feature of the wetland walking track.

While the boardwalk work was in progress, Brendon & Tim were busy in the nursery assisting with potting up some rewarewa seedlings.  This work is very important because the seedlings grow very fast and quickly outgrow the little pots they start out in.  If they are not given more room, they can become root bound and will either not have healthy growth and can even die.

After lunch, Havovi and Nazreen joined Brendon and Tim in the nursery to pot up some nikau seedlings.

In just a few hours, almost 200 rewarewa and nikau seedlings were potted up into bigger pots. A fantastic effort!

We would like to thank Daltons for generously providing their excellent premium potting mix that we used for today’s planting.

After a hard day’s work, the team still had enough energy to take a tour of the property.  We drove up to the top.

And then walked back down.

The team took a couple of well-deserved breaks on the way down.

It was a really hot day and the Iced Peach Nestea generously sponsored by Nestle was much appreciated. Thanks Nestle!

We’d like to thank Havovi for championing the visit to CUE Haven and Nasreen for her effort in organising the day and making sure everyone knew where to be and what to bring.

Our many thanks to Kevin and John for all their hard work and help today.  We very much appreciate it.  Your hard work and expertise in construction have added a lot of value to the project.

And finally a very big thank you to the enthusiastic and hard working team from IAG.  You were a great group to work with and we hope you will come back again.   You have made a major contribution to the CUE Haven project and your efforts will be enjoyed by visitors for many years to come.  THANK YOU!