Today we welcomed our friends from ANZ’s North Shore business team for another day of volunteering.   It’s always great having them and for most of the group it was their sixth year volunteering at CUE Haven and for some it was their eighth year!

Allan, Ada, Daniel, Ella, Hunter, Joe, Keith, Kim, Marianne, Miki, Nary, Shrenik and ZhenZhen were joined by David and Mia from the corporate insurance division of Gallagher Insurance, ANZ’s strategic partner.

We spent some time catching up over morning tea and then Mahrukh gave an update on our recent activities and plans and Thomas gave a safety briefing and described the work planned for the day.

The plan was to continue to do some late summer maintenance on the walking tracks.  Unfortunately, the situation was complicated by the fact that our much loved, reliable and well used 1992 Mitsubishi ute finally gave up the ghost last week.  As a result, instead of driving up to the work site, the team had to walk uphill.

The group broke into three teams.  Two would work on the track while the third would work on trimming vegetation and cleaning up the track on the walk up.

We got to the start of the walking track and the trimming team went to work, cutting back branches that had grown out onto the track.

They used a yard rake to clear the track of leaves and twigs.

There were also some larger branches that either had fallen or threatened to fall on the tracks and they cut those out with saws.

A small tree that had fallen across the track took some teamwork to clear away.

The team continued working up the track until they joined the track work teams higher up.

Thanks to the team’s hard work, the tracks are looking much neater.

The other two teams worked on a variety of walking track maintenance challenges.  We aren’t building any new tracks, but the existing track network needs regular maintenance due to wear and tear and ground movement. 

One team moved up a long section of track identifying and fixing different issues.  They spent time studying the issues and coming up with solutions.

They identified several areas where erosion or wear and tear had made the track surface uneven and they filled them with clay which they packed down firmly.

In some places, they found side boards which had moved out of alignment or loosened and they nailed everything back in position.

There were other areas where the team determined that the track could be improved by installing a new step.  They dug out the new step, measured the timber needed and cut it to size.

The new step was installed and secured in place with pegs and nailed in.

The team made some major improvements to a long section of uphill track that will make it a lot easier for visitors to use.

The third team worked on finishing off a boardwalk previous teams installed. 

The last step to complete the boardwalk was to add a step down to the walking track surface to make it easier for visitors to walk up and down.

The team took some time to have a look at the situation and brainstorm alternative solutions and decided on the best approach.  They gathered the timber they would need and carried it down to the site.

The first step was to level the area.

The next step was to install the supporting frames.

They then measured the required length of the top boards and cut them to size.

They test fitted the top boards and then nailed them in place.

As a last step, the team put a layer of gravel on the repaired track sections.  They filled buckets and carried them down to the track sites.

The end result is a major improvement to the boardwalk and overall track.  Thanks!

Shortly before lunch, the trimming team caught up with the track teams and we all met up on the viewing platform before walking back for a well-deserved lunch.

The group today accomplished an amazing amount of work and tackled some unusual challenges and as always showed a lot of teamwork, energy and creativity in coming up with solutions. 

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

And a huge THANK YOU to the entire team.  We so appreciate your hard work and help. You have all made a wonderful contribution to CUE Haven and all your efforts and your continued support over the years are greatly 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.