King’s College—24 August 2018

King’s College in Auckland has been in existence since 1898.  The school has a strong commitment to academic excellence and all round personal development.  As part of that program, Year 10 students participate in a month long “Adventure Challenge,” during which they are involved in sailing, tramping, and a variety of outdoor activities, including community service.

We were very happy that this year the school chose to do their community service work at CUE Haven and today we had eighteen students and three instructors on site to help us with some planting work.

The group arrived at about 11 and included Alex, Charles, Gene, Hamish, Harry, Hunter, Josh, Lachlan, Levi, Logan, Matthew, Monty, Muhammad, Oliver, Rory, Thomas, Troy and William.  Instructors included Joel, Louis and Steven.

We got acquainted over lunch and we were really happy to see Alex and Hamish who had been out to CUE Haven with their primary school to plant trees when they were in Year 6.

Mahrukh gave a short talk about CUE Haven and Thomas gave a description of the work planned and a safety briefing.

The plan for the afternoon was to do some planting in a wet area near the top of the property and also to relocate some trees that have grown up in the area where we will be building a viewing platform later in the year.

Because the work site was near the top of the property, we drove the boys up two groups.

We had previously laid out the plants in the area to be planted.

However, a rainstorm before the team arrived made the planting site rather messy!

But the students had come well prepared with gum boots and wet weather gear and went to work planting the wetland trees in the wetland.

We also planted some manuka and karamu on higher and drier ground around the wetland.

The area we planted today is close to where we will be building a viewing platform next year.  As a result of design changes, we needed to relocate some trees we had planted last year,  that would otherwise have been bowled during the site excavations.

Some of the students helped to dig out and replant the trees in an area where we hope they will be happy.

Once this team finished relocating the plants, they joined the others and finished off the wetland planting.

When all the plants were in the ground, the students picked up all the empty pots and trays and loaded everything into the ute.

We finished off the day with a leisurely walk back to the cottage for afternoon tea. Along the walk the group got to see more of the property and learn a little about the restoration project and see the bush at different stages of development.

We want to thank King’s College teacher, Rod Pancourst, for organizing the visit and bringing the students out to CUE Haven to help out for the afternoon.

Once the viewing platform is constructed this summer, we will be then be constructing a walking track connecting the platform to the main track.  This new track will pass alongside the area planted by the students today and so visitors will be able to see and appreciate the efforts and contribution of the students.

Our many thanks to Joel, Louis and Steven for their help with organizing the students and planting. And a big thank you to the hard working students.

We really appreciate everyone’s efforts and help today. You have made a big contribution to CUE Haven, our environment and the community and we hope you will continue to make a difference and have a positive impact in all the projects you undertake.

And we hope you will frequent CUE Haven over the years with your family and friends to see the trees you’ve planted and to enjoy the community nature reserve that you have helped develop.

Thanks Again!!