IAG—18 November 2019

IAG is the largest general insurance company in Australia and New Zealand.  Today a hard working group from the Supply Chain team in the Auckland head office and some of their family members spent the day at CUE Haven for a volunteer community support day.

The group arrived early and included Alex, Cruz, Havovi, Jasmine, Matt, Michael, Navzad, Ruth and Sacha.

We spent some time getting acquainted over morning tea and because most of the team was new to CUE Haven, Mahrukh then gave an overview of the CUE Haven project and our current activities and plans.

Thomas gave a safety briefing and overview of the work plan for the day

The plan for the day was to work on a variety of improvements to an old section of walking track.  We wanted to widen and level the track and install some side boards to improve the appearance.  The track runs along a sloping section of ground and there were some places where retaining boards were moving out of alignment and we also asked the group to replace or repair several sections.

Once in the field, we carried all the gear down to the work site and went to work.

We broke the group into three teams and each team focused on a different set of track challenges.

One team tackled a stretch of track that needed side boards to protect against erosion.

They studied the track section and came up with a plan for how to route the track.  The plan was to reorient the track through the bush and install side boards to clearly define the track edges to make it easier for visitors to stay on the track.  The first task was to determine the route for the track and then to measure and dig out channels for the boards.

As they dug out the channels, they measured and cut and test fitted the boards.

There are a few steps in that section of track and they realigned the steps before putting on the side boards.

The boards were pegged and nailed into place.

The result is a great improvement in the track.  Future teams will level the surface and put down a layer of gravel.

The other two teams worked on replacing and repairing existing side boards at different sections of the track.  They inspected sections of the track to identify places where boards had warped or slipped out of alignment and fixed them.

It was challenging work because they needed to first determine the best way to correct the situation, dig or cut out the old boards and replace them with new board sections.  Because we were working in a close area, people moved between teams to help out.

The first step involved clearing away the soil to be able to remove or reposition the existing boards.

Some sections needed to be cut out and replaced.

And new boards were prepared and nailed and pegged in place.

It was a very challenging work, but the improvement in the track is amazing!

Thanks to everyone’s hard work the track got an amazing makeover within a few hours.

The team then packed up all the gear and took a leisurely walk back to the cottage for a late but relaxing lunch.

Many thanks to Havovi for once again organizing the day and bringing her team out.  And a special thank you to Cruz, Jasmine and Navzad for giving up a day of your school holidays to join us.  We really appreciate you joining the IAG team today and helping out.

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for all their hard work and efforts today. You have all made a major contribution to CUE Haven and your efforts will be greatly appreciated by visitors as they comfortably walk the tracks to explore the growing native forest.

We thoroughly enjoyed working with you all and we hope that you will come back to CUE Haven soon to explore more of the property with your family and friends. And back again next year for another productive volunteer day!

Thank You!  Thank You!