ANZ Asian Business Banking Group—25 March 2017

ANZ has a group of professionals dedicated to developing and servicing Asian businesses and clients and today fourteen members from their Auckland office joined us to continue to work on the new walking track at the top of the property.

The enthusiastic group arrived bright and early and included Daisy, Fiona, Heather, Julia, Lily, Lin, Martin, Miki, Nary, Pari, Shu, Solomon, Summer and William.

We got acquainted over morning tea and then Mahrukh gave a welcome and an introduction to the CUE Haven project.

Thomas then described the planned activities for the day and gave a safety briefing.

We drove up to the top and went to work.  The section of track we are working on was built across a sloping section of the property and it is therefore prone to erosion.  Soil can wash down from the higher ground onto the track and the track surface can also be washed off onto the lower ground on the other side.

We are getting close to finishing off the track there are only a few steps left to box in.  As a result we broke into two teams for the day.  One team worked on finishing off some steps that needed to be adjusted and boxed in and the other team worked on smoothing off and levelling the track surface to get it ready to finish off the track with gravel.

Levelling and smoothing the track involved filling in low spots and raking the surface.

While the ladies were levelling off the track, the guys worked on finishing off a section of steps that needed to be boxed in.

They started by digging out the area around the steps and test fitted the side boards.

They took the time to study how the track bent around the curve and decided that they could improve the appearance and flow of the track by adjusting some of the steps that had shifted because of erosion or earth movement. This meant a lot of digging and hammering but the result is a big improvement in the track.

They checked to make sure everything was even and level.

And then fastened everything in place.

Later in the morning, the ladies caught up and went to work helping out on the steps.

In just a few hours the team made some major progress on the track and improved its safety and appearance.

And when they finished the work, they even helped carry the surplus timber and tools back up to the ute.

The entire team should be very proud of their efforts which have made the track much safer, easier and comfortable to walk on.

On the way back to the cottage for a late lunch, we took a leisurely walk back to the cottage so the group could see more of the property and enjoy the growing native forest.

It was a wonderful and very productive day and we want to thank Kirstie, who couldn’t join us, and Lily for organizing today’s visit.  We really appreciate your help and support.

A big thank you to everyone for giving up your Saturday and coming out to help!  We really enjoyed meeting you all and working with you and very much appreciate your enthusiasm, hard work and amazing contribution to CUE Haven.  We were very impressed with your teamwork and commitment to do a good job. It was great to see you all participating fully and working as a team and coming up with good ideas for making the track better.

We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.  You have made a much valued and lasting contribution to CUE Haven and New Zealand’s natural heritage and the community. The track you built today will be used and enjoyed by visitors for many years to come as they explore the growing native forest at CUE Haven.

We very much look forward to having you out again for a leisurely visit with your friends and family, and we hope to also see you again for another fun and productive volunteer day.

Thank again!