QBE is a commercial insurance company which has served markets in New Zealand and Australia for over 125 years.  Today it is one of the top 25 insurers and reinsurers in the world.

The company has a long tradition of community support for the arts, sports, and social and environmental projects and CUE Haven has been the fortunate beneficiary of QBE Foundation grants as well as staff volunteer support.  

Today we were very happy to once again welcome staff from QBE’s Auckland office who chose to send their volunteer day helping us at CUE Haven.

The group included Andrea, Dougle, Ian, Jim, Maxim, Ronald and Pat.

As most of the group were new to CUE Haven we took some time getting acquainted over morning tea and Mahrukh gave a description of the history of the CUE Haven restoration project and future plans. Thomas then gave a safety briefing and a description of the work planned for the day.

The plan for the day was to tackle some walking track challenges by installing retaining planks along a section of track that was subject to erosion and also to build a bridge over a section of track.  The first task was to take the gear down to the work areas.

Once on site, we broke into two teams.  One team worked on installing side boards on a steep section of track.  The job involved levelling the track, digging out a channel for the boards and installing them.  They took some time to plan the work.

They used a string line to determine the straight line of the track and went to work with spades to dig out the channel.  Once that was complete, they could install the side boards.

The board were secured with pegs and nailed in.

The boards needed to be cut to size in some places.

And in a short time the team managed to improve a long section of track.

The second team worked on a challenging task.  There is a waterfall on the CUE Haven stream with an interesting grotto that is home to weta and glow worms.  At the bottom of the waterfall, the stream flows under a land bridge that we built the original walking track over. 

After the 2023 rain events, the volume of water coming down the fall eroded part of the land bridge and we built a railing along one side of the walking track to keep visitors away from the area. 

As we consider the resiliency of our walking track network, we decided that the worst case scenario could be further erosion of the land bridge due to future heavy rain storms and accordingly, we requested the team to devise a boardwalk bridge that would protect the track in the event of future erosion.

The job was an engineering challenge because there is a sharp turn in the track as it goes past the fall.

The team took some time to study the situation and come up with a proposed solution.

They decided on a plan for a curved boardwalk section.  Part of the team went to work digging out a foundation for the boardwalk.

Because there is a slight incline in the track, they cut timber for a step up onto one end of the boardwalk.

And installed the step board.

Detailed measurements were taken for the boardwalk dimensions.

And we then went down to the shed to cut the timber for the boardwalk frame.

The boards were nailed together.

And the frame was taken up to the site.

Once on site, the framework was installed.

The frame was checked for alignment with the track and secured in place.

Future teams will finish off the boardwalk by installing the top planks.  The team’s creative solution will make a significant contribution to future proofing the track network.

The team today accomplished a lot of important work and weren’t afraid to tackle the many challenges we requested their assistance with. 

A big thank you to Debbie for organising the very successful and productive volunteer day and continuing to champion CUE Haven at QBE.  We look forward to having you out to CUE Haven with the next QBE volunteer team! 

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came to volunteer for the day and for all your hard work and efforts.  We really enjoyed meeting you all and the interesting conversations. Your hard work and amazing contribution to CUE Haven is most appreciated. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did and do look forward to having you out again for another fun and productive volunteer day next year. And we also look forward to having you out with your friends and family for a leisurely visit soon to explore more of CUE Haven.

And finally, our many thanks to QBE Foundation for their most valued support of CUE Haven and joining us in our mission to provide a well maintained nature reserve for the community to freely use for education and enjoyment.

Thank You!! Thank You!!