Air New Zealand Data Analytics—27 May 2022

Today a group of professionals from the Air New Zealand Data Analytics group spent a day at CUE Haven helping out with a variety of maintenance tasks.

The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Chris, Felicity, Ian, Izzy, Michelle, Nelle and Simon.

As almost all of the team were new to CUE Haven, we spent some time getting acquainted over morning tea and then Mahrukh gave an overview of the project and described our current activities and future plans.

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

The plan for the day was to trim vegetation that had grown out over the roads and walking tracks, install some signs, plant some trees and do some track maintenance. 

We drove up to the top of the property and went to work.  We split into two teams.

Felicity, Izzy and Michelle’s took on the task to trim vegetation that had grown over the main road.

They moved down the road, trimming as they went.

The enthusiastic and hardworking team exceeded our expectations and by lunchtime managed to clear the overhanging vegetation along the entire length of Huarahi Kowhai—just over a kilometer of trimming!

The second team took on a number of different tasks.  The first was to install several signs that had been created by our wonderful volunteer, Rosemarie.  Thomas had previously laid out the signs where they were to be installed, but the first task was to figure out the best orientation.

Once everyone agreed on the siting, the job involved digging a deep hole to secure the signs in the ground.  The biggest part of the job was the digging and the team made it both an individual and group effort!

Once a sign was installed, we moved to the next one.  The second sign was installed in the bush near the outdoor chess board.

The team took the opportunity to clean up the chess and checker pieces and disturbed some wetas.

The next sign, which we installed in Wāhi Māramatanga, posed a challenge because it was larger than the others and had two posts—which meant digging two holes.

The last sign was installed midway up Huarahi Kowhai by the entrance to Arā Taraire.

Once all the signs were installed we requested the team to do a little tree planting.  We were fortunate to source two kawaka trees—New Zealand cedar.  As far as we know, there is only one other kawaka tree at CUE Haven.  We found good locations where the trees would be close to each other.

The kawaka are a nice addition to the CUE Haven landscape and visitors will be able to see them growing up in the years to come.

The last task that we asked this team to tackle was to repair a small bridge that 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.  They removed the bad sections of timber from the top boards so they could be reinstalled.

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.

The frame was taken down to the track site.

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

And the bridge was anchored in place.

Once the new frame was secured in place, the top boards were then nailed back on.  Thanks to the team’s efforts, the sturdy new bridge is going to last a long, long time!

Both teams finished up in the field at the same time and we all headed back to the cottage for a relaxing lunch.

It was a fun and very productive day and we really enjoyed working with this team.

A big thank you to Izzy and Simon for organising the day.  And many thanks to everyone for coming out and working so hard. We enjoyed meeting you all and getting to know you and we really appreciate your efforts.

You all have made a major contribution to CUE Haven and thanks to your efforts the tracks are looking better than ever.   We look forward to seeing all of you again soon for a leisurely visit and back again for another fun and productive volunteer day.

Thank You!! Thank You!!