Since 2014, international students from Orewa College have come to CUE Haven to help out and also learn a little about New Zealand plants and animals and today we welcomed another group of thirty-seven students from Chile, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Africa.  Joining us were Amelie, Anna, Anni, Basti, Braydon, Charlotte, Colombina, Elena, Elias, Federico, Frieda, Henriette, Himari, Jacopo, Johanna, Kira, Koko, Lise, Luca, Luis, Maddalena, Mara, Marianna, Marina, Matilda, Maureen, Miko, Nico, Nina, Paul, Rika, Rosario, Sanya, Shino, Tomas, Valentina and Yurino.  The students were accompanied by Orewa College Director of International Students, Adriene Croad and staff Bruce Hume, Catherine Douglas and Trixie Croad.

We spent some time getting acquainted over morning tea and Mahrukh gave an overview of the CUE Haven project. 

Thomas then gave a description of the activities planned for the day and a safety briefing.

Because of the size of the group, we broke into two smaller groups.  One group worked on spreading mulch in the new picnic area behind shed and the other group worked on trimming back vegetation that had grown over tracks during the summer.

Mulching

In connection with the renovation of the old milking shed, we have converted the old orchard into a picnic area.  The potting table from the shed has been moved to the area as a picnic table.  Peter, the digger man, had levelled the area and set up drainage but the area is bare clay and we wanted a surface that will improve the appearance and suppress weed growth. 

Transpower very kindly donated a truckload of mulch and dropped it in the car park a few days ago.  Bruce and Catherine worked with the students who formed a bucket brigade and carried the mulch from the car park to the picnic area.

Two people with spades filled the buckets and the rest of the group carried them away.

The students emptied the buckets and Catherine raked the mulch to create a consistent layer.

The students brought back the empty buckets for a refill.

They continued the process, gradually covering the area.

The last step was to spread gravel under the picnic table to prevent weeds from growing and to also prevent it from getting muddy. 

The transformation of the area is amazing and a big thank you to everyone for helping us get ready for summer visitors.

Trimming

A wet spring has meant that everything in growing well at CUE Haven and that means a lot of vegetation has grown over the roads and tracks.  The second group led by Adrienne and Trixie worked their way up the main race trimming back overhanging vegetation.  Once they reached the top they split into two groups, one came down the main walking track and the other came down the service roads on the northern side of the property.

Before we got started, Thomas gave a brief explanation and demo for the trimming work.

They then went to work, cutting away overhanging vegetation on both sides of the track.

In just a couple of hours the hard working group managed to trim back the entire main race as well as portions of the walking tracks.  Well done!!

One student had injured her ankle over the weekend and wasn’t able to work in the field, so she helped Mahrukh in the kitchen with lunch.

At the end of the day, all of the teams packed up the gear and brought it back down and had a well-deserved and relaxing lunch.

We want to thank Adrienne for organizing the visit and continuing to champion CUE Haven at Orewa College. And a big thank you to Adrienne, Bruce, Catherine and Trixie for all your help today and your continued support.

And a special thanks to all the students.  We really appreciated your enthusiasm and hard work and hope you enjoyed the day.  You have made a great contribution to CUE Haven and visitors will definitely appreciate your efforts to create a nice picnic area and to clean up and beautify the walking tracks and roads—Many thanks!

We hope you have a great stay in New Zealand and wish you much happiness and success in your studies and all your endeavours.   And we hope that someday you all come back to visit CUE Haven with your family and friends.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!