Today our good friend from Westpac, Afi, brought out a small team of staff from the Westpac Customer Contact Center to help out with some spring maintenance.  The staff members are involved in a programme that gives them a chance to learn about all aspects of the banking business.

The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Afiafi, Cecilia, Elizabeth, Feletoa, Frances, Jennifer, Logan, Nicole, Siua and William.  Also joining in for the day were Will, Afi’s husband, and Nola, sister of one of the volunteers.

We got acquainted over morning tea and because most of the group was new to CUE Haven, we spent some time talking about the philosophy and history of the project and our plans for the future.  Thomas also gave a description of the work planned for the day and a safety briefing.

Spring maintenance at CUE Haven usually starts with cleaning up the walking tracks after the winter weather and we thought that would be a nice way for the group get a feel for the property and to learn a little about the restoration project.  The plan was to start at the top and work down and then plant four long lived trees to commemorate the visit.

We drove up to the top of the property and went to work, trimming vegetation that had grown out over the tracks.

It was crowded at first but the group quickly spread out with different teams working on different sections.

The team also cleared the tracks of fallen branches and leaves.

As they moved down the track, Thomas pointed out different features and aspects of the property and the bush.

They continued working down the track.

A saw was needed for some of the bigger branches.

They also took out some dead trees that were about to fall onto the track.

They also got rid of some invasive vines growing over some of the bush.

Shortly before lunch we arrived near the bottom of the property and disturbed the neighbour’s hens who were exploring the area.  They left behind a few eggs which passed the float test!

Our last activity before lunch was to plant four trees to commemorate the visit.  First, we planted two kahikateas in the wetlands.

We then moved out of the wetlands and planted a totara and a puriri in an area where pioneer planting had been completed in 2013 and where the canopy was now opening up.

Today’s Westpac team accomplished an amazing amount of work and a great start to our spring clean up.  It was a very productive day and we really enjoyed working with everyone and also enjoyed many interesting conversations. Thanks everyone!!

A big thank you to Afi for organising the day and handling the logistics and for her continued support of CUE Haven.

Many thanks to Will for once again coming out to help.  We really appreciate your advice and help!

And thank you to Nola for joining us and helping out by taking pictures of the team at work.

And a huge THANK YOU to the entire team for their enthusiasm and for working so hard. We hope you all enjoyed the day as much as we did. You accomplished a lot and have made a major contribution to CUE Haven and we really appreciate your efforts. Very much looking forward to having you all back for another fun and productive volunteer day and also for leisurely visits with your family and friends.

Thank You!! Thank You!!