In February of this year, Cyclone Gabrielle did a lot of damage at CUE Haven with lots of downed trees which blocked roads and walking tracks.   Volunteers have been able to clear most of the damage, but there were two large trees—a 150+ year old kahikatea on the Ruru track and an old kanuka on the Taraire track that required professional arborists to remove them.

We contacted our friends at Treescape who have often helped us at CUE Haven over the years and Paul Lindsay, Trainer/Assessor in the Aboricultural department came out to have a look at the work that needed to be done.

Paul felt that the challenges presented by the fallen trees would be a good training opportunity for some of the new Treescape staff and advised us he would try to set up a day for them to come out with him for a training exercise and clear the tracks of the fallen trees.  Treescape arborists have been inundated with work as there has been so much damage from the cyclone throughout the North Island and then with the unseasonably wet weather we have had, it has been a challenge to schedule a time for the team to come out to CUE Haven. 

We will be starting our spring maintenance work soon and were hoping to have all of the tracks open so we can get them ready for summer visitors, so Paul very kindly offered to come out on his own time on a weekend and clear the tracks of the trees.  

The fallen trees would remain at CUE Haven as the CUE Haven Trust deed specifies that “All native trees on the Property will be protected into perpetuity.  In the unforeseen event of a natural disaster, fallen trees and debris should only be cleared from the access roads and walking tracks and left in the woods to go through their natural cycle of decay with other fallen trees. Trees should not be logged or taken away from the Property.”

Paul arrived this morning to tackle the trees and Thomas and our bee keeper Richard, who also works at Treescape, assisted with the clearing the timber off the tracks.

We drove up as close as we could and then walked down to the site.  Paul got his gear ready.

We tackled the kahikatea first.  Paul studied the tree to determine the best way to remove it and made several cuts before getting the big section across the track to fall away. 

Once the middle section had fallen away, Paul could determine how the rest of the tree would behave and was then able to cut more off of the ends.

He cut off small slices which would be easier to handle.

He then cut the big middle section into smaller bits.

And then cut off sections from the other side to fully open the track.

Richard and Thomas helped Paul clear the track by stacking the timber off to the side.

The Ruru track is now clear and accessible from both directions!

We then moved up to the Taraire track to deal with the kanuka.  Although the kanuka was less bulky, it was equally complex a challenge because there were several branching trunk sections and the tall tree had fallen into thick bush that was supporting it, so it was necessary to take care to see how it would fall.  After thorough study, Paul went to work cutting out the trunk sections.

Paul cleared up the remaining branches and the Taraire track is also clear again.

And all done! Volunteer groups over the spring and summer will work to remediate these tracks so visitors can continue to explore the CUE Haven bush.

We headed back to the cottage where Mahrukh had a nice lunch awaiting us.

A huge thank you to Paul for giving up his Saturday morning and volunteering his time to help out with some very challenging work and getting the tracks usable again.  And a big thank you to Richard too for making a special trip to help out today. We really appreciate it!

Thank You!! Thank You!!