ANZ Institutional and Commercial Operations—13 February 2019

ANZ, New Zealand’s largest bank, continued their wonderful support for CUE Haven as a small but hard working group from the Auckland-based Institutional and Commercial Operations Team spent a day assisting with walking track maintenance.

The team arrived at 8:30 and included Barry, Bijal, Farisha, Irina and Jean.  Also joining us were student volunteers Bridie and David.  It was great to see old friends and meet new people.

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.

In order to give the group a chance to see a little more of the CUE Haven property, we scheduled two different activities for the day.  We also wanted to spend as much time in the bush to avoid the hot sun! The first task was to trim some of the vegetation has that has been growing onto the walking tracks.

We drove the group up to the top of the property and then started working down the track.

In addition to being a nice social activity, the group enjoyed the exercise they got—stretching . . .

And bending!

After trimming almost half the track, the group took a short break and then moved on to the next task.

We recently built a short boardwalk over a low spot on one of the track sections but hadn’t had a chance to finish off the approaches to the boardwalk where the ground was uneven.

The group broke into two teams to tackle each end of the boardwalk.  They studied the situation and came up with the best solution to the challenge.  The first step was to dig out and level the ground.

The groups decided that to prevent erosion and improve appearance, some side boards on the approach to the boardwalk would be a good idea.

They measured the lengths of timber required.

And then cut the boards to the required size.

Sawing the boards in the field required teamwork!

The side boards were then pegged and nailed into place.

And the track was levelled off.

The end result is a great improvement and the group should be very proud of their efforts!

The group also moved down the track to have a look at another section where the steps could be widened.  They didn’t have a chance to complete the job but got a start and future teams will finish off their idea to improve that space.

It was a very productive day and we finished off with a leisurely walk back to the cottage for a relaxing lunch and good conversation.

Our many thanks to Jean for organising today’s visit and for championing CUE Haven at ANZ.

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 for a more leisurely visit and back next year for another ANZ volunteer day.

THANKS AGAIN!!