ANZ—12 May 2022

We had yet another hard working team from ANZ join us today to continue to improve the walking tracks at CUE Haven. 

The enthusiastic group arrived bright and early and included ANZ Mobile Mortgage Managers,  Anmaree, James, Jim, Joe, Mike, Penny & Winnie; ANZ Commercial Business managers Becky, Bex, Darrel, Hannah, Jack, Julie, Leo, Maggie, Nic, Rama, Ramesh, Rick and Sam, and Vinal, from ANZ’s strategic partner, Cigna.

Also joining us for the day to help out was our good friend and regular volunteer, Alan.

We spent some time catching up over morning tea and then Mahrukh gave an overview of the project as most of the team were new to CUE Haven and updated the group on current activities and future plans.

Thomas then gave a safety briefing and outlined the work planned for the day.

The primary plan for the day was to continue to work on upgrading a section of walking track. 

We drove up to the work site and went to work.  It was a bit of a hike from the road to where we would be working and the first task was to bring down all the gear.   Once on site, we broke into three teams and each one attacked a different section of track. 

One team worked with Alan on putting side boards along a section of track.  The job involved digging out channels for the boards and securing them in place with pegs.

Nailing the boards to the pegs took a lot of teamwork.

They moved down the track as they completed a section.

The hardworking teams made so much progress we had to bring up additional timber!

On curved sections of the track, it was necessary to cut the side boards to size.

Another team worked on installing side boards along several sets of steps.  The job took a lot of digging, measuring and cutting.

In just a few hours, the teams improved an amazing length of track.  Well done!

The third team worked on replacing a small bridge which was beginning to deteriorate.  The  top boards were fine but the underlying support structure was beginning to rot away.  The first task was to remove the old bridge to assess the situation.

The team decided that the best solution would be to try to salvage the top boards and build a new and more secure framework.  We measured the dimensions of the bridge and went down to the nursery to build the frame.

Once the boards were cut to size, the frame was nailed together and carried back out to the track site.

The frame was test fitted and the team dug out the soil around where the new bridge would go.

The new frame was then secured in place.

The old boards were then nailed to the new frame.  The team counted 88 nails, not counting the staples used to secure the wire mesh in place.

Thanks to the team’s efforts, the sturdy new bridge is going to last a long, long time!

For the last task, all the teams combined to spread some gravel on the completed track sections.  We cover all of the tracks with a layer of gravel to make them easier to use in all weather.

We loaded up buckets of gravel.

We then drove as close to the site as we could and from there, the buckets were carried to the track where they were dumped and the gravel raked in.

The empty buckets were taken back up and refilled.

By lunchtime the teams had upgraded and totally transformed a long section of track which will be enjoyed by visitors to CUE Haven for years to come.

The team accomplished a huge amount of work, exceeding our expectations for the day.  They made major improvements to the track and should be very proud of their efforts.  

Once we were finished, the group brought down all the gear, cleaned up and had a relaxing lunch.

As always, we really enjoyed working with everyone.  It’s great seeing the collegiality and teamwork amongst the group and they worked hard and showed a lot of creativity and energy in coming up with solutions, whether it was a track question or bridge engineering.

Many thanks to James and Rick for organising the volunteer teams and to Jim for continuing to champion CUE Haven at ANZ.

And we want to thank our dear friend Alan for all his hard work and continued help and support.  Alan – we really appreciate you taking the time to help out—your expertise and advice have added a lot of value.

A BIG thank you to everyone who came out today!  We very much appreciate your hard work and amazing contribution to CUE Haven. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did and look forward to having you out again for another fun and productive volunteer day.

And we also look forward to having you out with your friends and family for a leisurely visit soon to explore more of your community native forest reserve.

Thank You!! Thank You!!