ASB–11 December 2019

ASB is one of the four big banks in New Zealand and has a strong commitment to community service.  Thanks to a small but hard working team from ASB’s Major Commercial group in Auckland, we are one step ahead with our track maintenance work.

The team arrived first thing in the morning and included Christine, Danny, Dylan, Kelly, Michelle, Steve and Tara.  Also joining us for the day was our regular student volunteer, Xerxes.

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 continue to work on upgrading an old section of walking track.  Once in the field, we carried all the gear down to the work site and went to work.  The more progress we make on this track, the farther we have to walk!

The main work for today was to widen a long section of track and to install side boards to protect against erosion.  There were also several steps along the same track section that needed to be realigned and boxed in.  Because of the size of the group, we were able to work together in the same area and people were able to work on a variety of tasks.

The first task was to study the track issues and come up with creative solutions.

Once the team decided on the routing and layout for the track, they marked it with string and then dug out channels for the side boards.

As the channels were cut out, they fit the boards.

The side boards were then cut to size to match the contours of the track and secured in place with pegs and nails

As they finished a section, they moved down the track, digging out the sides of the track and fitting in new boards.

The steps presented a different set of track work challenges.  The team had to study the existing steps, determine if they were properly aligned or needed to be moved and also whether new steps were needed.

Once the steps were in place, they could put on the side walls and complete that section of the track.

The result of the group’s efforts are an amazing improvement in the track.  This is how it looked when they started.

And this is how it’s looking now!

Thanks to the team’s hard work the tracks got an amazing makeover within a few hours.  When we were finished, the team then packed up all the gear and took a leisurely walk back to the cottage for a well-deserved lunch.

Our many thanks to Kelly for organizing today’s visit and bringing her team out for the day.

And a big thank you to Xerxes for giving up a day of vacation to help out again.

And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for all their hard work and efforts today. It was really nice meeting you and we thoroughly enjoyed working with you.  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 hope that you will come back to CUE Haven soon to explore more of your community native forest reserve with your family and friends. And back again next year for another productive volunteer day!

Thank You!! Thank You!!