Today a team from the ASB Corporate banking group joined us for a day of challenging walking track work.  The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Greg, John, Mark, Nick, Paul, Stephen and Will.

Everyone was new to CUE Haven so Mahrukh spent some time telling them about the history of the project and plans for the future.

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

The plan was to make some improvements to one of the oldest sections of walking track.  The track was originally built ten years ago and ground movement, wear and tear have affected it.  That section is also in an area that had a lot of cyclone damage and some of the falling trees damaged parts of the track.

We started out by taking a short tour of the property to give the team a better sense of the restoration work.  On the way, they picked up a sign that had been knocked down during the storms.  We carried it back to the nursery and will restore it and reinstall it later.

We then drove out to the closest spot to the work area and got started.  The first task was to carry the gear out to the site.

We then broke into two teams and each team worked on a different section of track.  The main issues involved straightening side boards which had moved out of alignment and improving steps.

The first team worked on a long curving section of track where the side boards were out of line.  They started by digging out the old boards.

They then brainstormed to decide the best way to restore the side of the track.

They used a string line to determine which way to run the new boards.

In addition to issues with side boards, there were areas where steps had moved out of alignment and the team decided to replace them.

They determined the best alignment and width for the steps and we cut new step boards and reinstalled the steps and side boards.

In keeping with the CUE Haven ethos of sustainability, the team reused the old side boards where possible. Where necessary, they cut the old boards down to fit the new track configuration.

The new boards and steps were installed and secured with pegs.

The new steps were wider than the old ones, so the ground was levelled and filled in to smooth out the track surface.

The team continued down the track, replacing other side boards.

The second team worked at the other end of the track section, also replacing misaligned side boards and improving steps.  The first task was digging out the old boards.

The team reused as many of the old boards and pegs as possible, which required some challenging disassembling.

Once the old boards were removed, the team determined the best approach to improving the track and decided that some new steps would be required.  We went down to the nursery to cut the new timbers.

A string line was used to determine the location and alignment of the new boards.

Exact measurements were taken and the new side board was cut to size.

The new board was fitted into place and secured with pegs and nails.

And then the new steps were installed.

New side boards were cut.

The step boards also required some trimming to fit properly.

In just a few hours of hard work, both the teams made major improvements to the old track. They then packed up all the gear and headed back to the cottage for a relaxing lunch.

The widened and improved track looks really good and future teams will carry on with additional improvements.

Our many thanks to Julie for organising the day and championing CUE Haven within ASB. 

And a huge THANK YOU to the entire team.  We really enjoyed meeting you all and working with you and enjoyed many interesting conversations. You have all made a wonderful contribution to CUE Haven and all your hard work and efforts are very much appreciated.

We look forward to having you back out with your family and friends for a leisurely visit to explore of your community reserve -CUE Haven, and, also returning next year for another fun and productive volunteer day.

Thank You!! Thank You!!