Today a big team of ANZ professionals from the Mobile Mortgage group and Albany branch joined us on a hot autumn day for a variety of maintenance and fix up work.  The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Allan, Ashleigh, Christian, Jacinta, James, Janice, Jia, Jim, Josh, Karen, Kelly, Lee, Mike, Maria, Ray, Richard, Tony and Yiwen.

Most everyone in the group had been to CUE Haven previously, so after catching up over morning tea, Thomas gave a safety briefing and described the work planned for the day.

Because of the size of the group, we broke into four smaller groups.  One would work on trimming back vegetation that had grown out over roads and tracks and the other three would work on a variety of walking track maintenance tasks.

Trimming

After the nice summer weather we’ve had, everything is growing well at CUE Haven and that means that some of the plants along the roads and tracks need to be cut back.  One team went to work clearing out flaxes and other bushes that were growing onto the main driveway.

They worked down one side of the driveway and then up the other.

Once they finished the driveway, they moved on to other sections of the property.

Thanks to the efforts of the trimming team, the entry to CUE Haven is looking better than ever.

Track Work

The track teams headed out to the start of the walking track.  The first task was to take all of the gear out to the work areas.

Two of the three teams went to work making 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 walk along the track where Thomas pointed out the sorts of issues that needed to be fixed. The main issues involved straightening side boards which had moved out of alignment and improving steps.

The first team worked on fixing some steps that were out of alignment.

They then continued on to replace a side board to align with the repaired steps.  A lot of the work required digging out old sections of track and the teams tried to reuse as much of the timber as possible.

Once the old boards were removed, they used a string line to determine the correct line for the track.

The new board was installed and secured in place with pegs.

They continued up the track, identifying areas in need of improvement and coming up with solutions.

In the meantime, the second track 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.

Once again, in keeping with the CUE Haven ethos of sustainability, they tried to preserve and reuse as much of the old timber as possible.

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

Once the track side had been dug out, they made up a new side wall

The new side wall was installed with pegs and nailed in placed.

Once a section was complete, they moved up the track fixing other issues.

Once they finished off that section of track they continued along to put side walls on a section of steps further up the track.

Once the track work was finished off, they gathered up all the tools and gear and carried it back down to the starting point.

Bench Relocation

The third track team tackled a challenging task.  When the original walking track was built, we had installed a bench in a spot which provided a view of the wetlands.  However, as the trees have grown up there is no longer a view and as we’ve observed how people use the space, we wanted to relocate the bench to an area where school groups assemble for an outdoor classroom.

Back then we used to cement benches into the ground so the bench had to be extricated from a deep foundation.

Three brave individuals went to work digging out around the concrete base.

They were able to loosen and remove the bench.   They removed the concrete bits and levelled the area and we will plant out the area this winter.

You’d never know a bench had been there!

They carried the bench sections up to the new site and prepared the area. 

Because student groups often gather in this area for a learning session, we have named this space Wahi Mohiotanga or place of knowledge. The sign marking the area was damaged in the cyclone and the team reinstalled it.  They dug holes for the legs.

It was a team effort to make sure everything was level.

They then turned to the challenge of digging holes for the bench legs.  The task was complicated by the slope of the ground (and some big tree roots).

Extra muscle power was needed and they got some help from another colleague.

Once the holes were dug, they reinstalled the bench and built a small step up from the downslope side.

It was a lot of hard work, but the Wahi Mohiotanga is looking great and the bench will definitely get a lot more use in its new home.

Boardwalk Repair

A section of the walking track passes through a low spot that is often muddy and several years ago we built a short section of boardwalk over the area.  After last years rain events, water flowing downhill from the neighbouring property undermined a section of the boardwalk, causing it to tilt. 

The ground has now dried out and some of the track team members took at look to see if it was possible to straighten the boardwalk.

They inspected the bottom of the boardwalk and felt that it could be lifted up and supported with new foundation boards which would prevent it from sagging in the future.  We assessed the health and safety aspects of the project and the first step was to lever up the section.

Using some old jacks, the boardwalk section was held in place while new foundation boards were packed underneath.

The team tested out the new section with a spirit level and with some foot traffic and the boardwalk section is as good as new.

Track Metalling

The last task that the hard working teams tackled was putting down a layer of gravel on some of the track sections they’d worked on to completely finish them off.

We went up to the gravel pile and filled buckets.

We then drove as close as possible to the work area where the buckets were unloaded.

The buckets were carried out onto the track and the gravel dumped and raked smooth.

And the track is looking better than ever!

The group today accomplished an amazing amount of work on a hot day—and they took on some unusual challenges and showed a lot of teamwork, energy and creativity in coming up with solutions.  We really enjoyed working with all of you and really appreciate your efforts.

Our many thanks to James for organising the day and to Jim for championing CUE Haven within ANZ.

And a huge THANK YOU to the entire team.  We really enjoyed meeting you all and working with you. 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!!