Air New Zealand Enviro Hunt—5 November 2016

The Air New Zealand Greenteam is a group of Air New Zealand employees who assist environmental projects all over the country on their own time.  For the past two years, the amazing Greenteam and some of their families have helped out at CUE Haven by planting trees.

The Greenteam members and their families were back out to CUE Haven today for a spring BBQ picnic and an “enviro hunt.”  The enviro hunt was an opportunity for people to enjoy a walk in the native bush while also testing their knowledge of New Zealand animal life.  The challenge was to find picture cards of New Zealand birds, insects, mammals and fish which were hidden along the walking track and then to correctly identify them.

Shelley Crawford, Air New Zealand Greenteam coordinator who organised the event, arrived early in the morning and set out the picture cards.

A green ribbon was tied near the card to let people know where to search.

The group of 50 arrived at one and included 17 Air New Zealand staff and their families.

The group had light refreshments and Mahrukh gave a brief introduction to the CUE Haven project for those people who hadn’t been out before.  Shelley then described the programme for the hunt and Thomas gave a safety briefing.

The group was broken into teams which were sent out at five minute intervals along two different routes.

Each team had a blank chart with the numbers of the cards in the field.  The challenge was first to find the cards hidden along the track and then to correctly identify the creature in the picture.  The team had to write their answer on their chart. They got 1 point for each correct answer and additional points for correctly including the scientific name of the creature.  The winning team would be the ones who identified most cards in the least amount of time.

The teams headed out and enjoyed perfect spring weather as they tracked down the cards and identified them.

In addition to identifying animal cards in the field, the teams also had to correctly identify a few native tree specimens in the nursery.

While the teams were busy in the field, Shelley, Mahrukh, Grace and Barry got lunch organised.

When the last of the teams returned—all within the two hour time allotted—we had a nice relaxing lunch.

During lunch the teams’ worksheets were checked for accuracy.

And the results were announced!  The top two teams were the Davidson family and the Tukuitoga family with each team receiving a big prize.

There were also prizes for other team achievements.

. . . and a prize for the most funny incorrect answer!

Other Greenteam members received spot prizes too.

And even CUE Haven won a spot prize. The model of the latest Air NZ 787-9 Dreamliner will be a lovely feature on the display stand in the cottage. Thanks!

Because it was close to Halloween, people were encouraged to wear costumes and some of the children had dressed up.  We had a quick competition to see who had the best costume and it was decided that all of the costumes were equally deserving of a prize – so all the kids got a special prize.

Shelley also had prizes for all the young attendees for participating so enthusiastically in the enviro hunt.

It was a fantastic afternoon of fun and we all really enjoyed it.

Not only did everyone get a chance to explore and enjoy the growing native forest at CUE Haven, they also learnt about  NZ plants, birds, animals, fish and insects along the way.

Our many thanks to Shelley for all of her hard work organising and managing a very successful family day out.  Shelley, your enthusiasm was infectious and helped get everyone keen to explore the outdoors and learn about nature while having a great time. We hope that the Air NZ Greenteam enviro hunt at CUE Haven will become an annual event.

And a big thank you to all the great Air New Zealand Greenteam members and their families who joined us today.  It was wonderful seeing old friends and welcoming new people and we look forward to seeing all of you again soon.