NIQ, formerly known as Nielsen IQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company.  They work with businesses in gathering and analysing data to improve understanding of consumer behaviour.  Today eight professionals from the Auckland office kicked off our spring maintenance work by doing some major enhancements to a section of walking track.

The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Akansha, Johan, Lance, Lyndel, Milena, Phil, Piria and Yaroslav.

This was the first time NIQ have volunteered at CUE Haven so Mahrukh gave a talk about the history and philosophy of the project.

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

The plan for the day was to upgrade a section of walking track that had been originally built in 2013.  A large portion of the track had a lot of wear and side boards only on one side.  Recent weather events had caused some erosion on the side with no boards so the objective for the day was to repair the damage and install new side boards.

The first task was to bring down the gear.  You can see that the track needed work!

The next task was to trim away some of the vegetation growing over the track so it wouldn’t get in the way.

Once the area was cleared up, the team started working on their track sections.  The first task was to assess the situation and plan the work.  They needed to determine the alignment of the track to ensure that it was straight and level and the best way to ensure proper drainage.

The teams used string lines to mark out the track edge.

They then went to work digging channels for the side boards using the string line as a guide.

Once the track sides had been cut out, the new side boards could be fitted.

The teams took the time to level and smooth the track benching to make sure the boards would be straight and upright.  The boards also needed to be cut to size which required a lot of measuring.

The individual boards needed to be cut to size.

Because there were a lot of turns in the track, there was a lot of sawing required.

The boards were installed and secured with pegs and nailed in place.

By mid-morning, the teams had made so much progress that Thomas had to bring up more timber.

Once the boards were installed, the last task was to level and smooth out the track.  Future teams will carry on extending new boards and putting down a layer of gravel on the improved track.

The team also repaired a short section of track wall that had slipped out of alignment. 

They studied the situation and determined that the ground under one side of the track had subsided and the solution was to install new wider boards with longer pegs.

They measured to determine the length of the new boards and pegs.

And cut the new boards to size.

And installed the new boards—a huge improvement.

In just a few hours, the teams totally transformed the old track.  They accomplished an amazing amount of work and everyone should be very proud of their achievements.

The team gathered up all the gear and we headed back to the cottage for a leisurely lunch.

Today was a fun and very productive day and we really enjoyed working with everyone and also enjoyed many interesting conversations.

A big thank you to Phil for organising the day.

And many many thanks to everyone for working so hard.  We so appreciate your hard work. You accomplished a lot and have made a major contribution to CUE Haven. Thanks to your efforts the tracks are looking better than ever. 

 We very much look forward to seeing all of you again soon for another volunteer day and to explore more of your community native reserve.

Thank You!! Thank You!!