ANZ—23 February 2018

ANZ, New Zealand’s largest bank, continued their wonderful support for CUE Haven as representatives from the Auckland-based Performance and Delivery Team spent a day assisting with the walking track upgrade.

The team arrived at 8:30 and included Andy, Annmarie, Chantal, James, Joanna, Kirstie, Koryn, Lily, Linda, Lynnette, Rachel, Rajmita, Tracey and Vicki.

Also helping us today was our friend Alan.

We got acquainted over morning tea and then Mahrukh gave a talk about the CUE Haven project and our plans for the future.  Thomas then described the plan for the day and gave a safety briefing.

Because of the size of the group, we broke into two teams.  One team worked with Alan to widen and level an old section of track that had seen excessive wear and erosion.  The other team worked with Thomas to clear and build approaches to the new wetlands bridge.

Each team headed out to their work sites and went to work.

Alan’s team worked on a section of track near the top of the property.  It had been built in 2012 before a lot of planting had been done in the area and it is close to the stream and a wetland area.  As a result, it was built with the thought that there would be a lot of water running along the track and drainage ditches were built along the sides which made the track surface very narrow.

Since then, the area has been planted and we’ve learned a lot more about how the area drains.  The bottom line is that the track needed a lot of remediation work and it turned out we had just the team to do it.

The only issue was that we have had an unusually wet summer and had a big downpour just before the group arrived.  As a result, the ground was as wet as it normally is in winter.

The first task was to widen the track and this involved a lot of digging. It was a hard job as the ground is very clayey and wet clay is heavy and sticky!

As areas were dug out and prepared, other team members started installing the side boards to frame the track.

And that required lots of measuring, sawing and hammering.

The group accomplished an amazing amount of work in just a few hours and fixed almost 34 metres of tracks!! Yeah!

Once the area dries out a little, future teams will level the track, metal it and install new drain piping.

In spite of the messy conditions and the hard work, the team didn’t complain and kept smiling.

Even though their shoes will never be the same again!

Ironically, Thomas’s team, working in the wetlands had dry feet!

Their assignment was to build approach steps to the new wetlands bridge.  The bridge connects two existing walking tracks that access the main wetlands and there are a lot of memorial trees planted in that area.  As a result, the area will see a lot of visitors and we want the access to be both attractive and safe and easy to walk.

The team started by studying the area to decide the best way to build the track.  It was a challenge because the ground slopes down to the bridge and steps would be required at both ends.  It was great to see the teamwork as the group discussed options.

They measured the gradient and decided that two wide steps would make a nice gentle approach.

They then started digging out the steps and sides.

Once the steps were dug out, they test fitted the riser boards.

And the side retaining boards were laid in place as a guide for where to place the steps.

They temporarily pegged the structure in place to make sure everything was level and looking good.

The riser boards were then secured with pegs and nailed into place.

The next step was to cut and install the side retaining boards.

The team took extra care to join up their new section to the existing track section.

And finished by installing boards on both sides.

While the steps were being built, part of the team went to the other side of the bridge to work on that approach.  They decided that two steps were needed to connect the bridge and the existing track.

Thanks to the creativity and hard work of the team, the area is looking much better and well on the way to becoming a real showcase of the CUE Haven landscape.

Future teams will finish off the side boards on the other side and metal the new track sections.

We all then headed back to the cottage and cleaned and put all the equipment away and then had a relaxing lunch.

A great end to a very productive day. This ANZ team lived up to their promise of performance and delivery 🙂

We want to thank our friend Alan for making the time to join us today and helping out with his expertise.  Thanks very much Alan – we look forward to having you back to lead other teams.

And a big thank you to Linda for coordinating all of the ANZ visits and for her help today.

And of course a huge thank you to all the hard working team members.  We really enjoyed working with you and very much appreciate your efforts.  You have made a major contribution to the CUE Haven landscape and your work will be enjoyed and appreciated by visitors for many years to come.  We hope you will come back with your families and friends to visit and walk the tracks you have helped build.

THANK YOU!!