The Sri Sathya Sai group is a spiritual organisation whose members make a commitment to fostering peace and community service. The group have made many contributions to the CUE Haven restoration project over the years and once again some members of the group and their friends gave up their Saturday morning to help us with restoration planting and other maintenance work.

The group arrived first thing in the morning and included Anil, Anna, Anuleshni, Anurag, Aroha, Cece, Dharma, Jacqueline, Janice, Jay, Jaya, Jessica, Jessie, Kavi, Kurt, Mandar, Matt, Mia, Nikita, Noah, Pippa, Praveen, Selva and Wen.

And also helping again today was our good friend and neighbour, Gerald.

As there were new members in the group, we took some time to get acquainted over morning tea.  Mahrukh gave a brief introduction to the CUE Haven project and talked about our current activities and plans.

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

The plan was for most of the group to do some planting near the top of the property.  Because of the size of the group, it took a few trips to get there and we met up on the viewing platform.

We then broke into teams.  One team did enhancement planting of kauri and totara in an area where the canopy has established.  These trees need to be planted several meters apart and they went into the bush to find suitable planting sites.

Everyone took turns digging and planting.

It was a dry and mild winter day, but it was still possible to get muddy.

A second team worked on planting ti kouka, mapere, kanono and harakeke in a small wetland area.

The third team took on the challenge of planting an area where storm damage had brought down some of the previously planted trees.  Getting to the planting site took some careful footwork.

They were able to enjoy some nice views from the planting site.

And also find some interesting creatures.

As the other teams finished up their areas, they joined this team to continue planting manuka and kanuka.

Once all the trees were planted, the group gathered up all the pots and trays and cleaned off the spades.

We then moved on to the next project, which was to trim vegetation that had grown out over one of the roads. 

One of the challenges was cutting back some muelenbeckia vines that grow over the tops of trees and can smother the tree.

Everyone’s arms got a good workout and as they cleared an area, they moved down the track.

They continued until lunchtime and then headed back to the volunteer cottage for a well-deserved lunch.

While the main group was planting and weed releasing, Gerald took a small team of three to do some track maintenance work.

A heavy vehicle had dug out some of the ground in the parking area by the entrance and the team fixed that damage.

The team then took on a monotonous but very important task.  When we had built Piriti Nui, we had installed a strip of wire mesh in the centre of the bridge to make it slip proof.  In wet weather, however, the exposed timber surface on the sides can get quite slippery and now with more visitors coming throughout the year to CUE Haven, we decided to cover the entire surface with mesh.

The team used plastic netting cut to size and secured in place with staples.

They managed to cover off the entire surface and the bridge is ready for more traffic!

They finished up about lunchtime and headed back and cleaned off the gear.

Everyone today worked very hard and accomplished an amazing amount of work–thank you so very very much!

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone for giving up your Saturday and coming to help out.  We very much appreciate your hard work and amazing contribution to CUE Haven.  The trees you have planted are a much needed addition to the CUE Haven reserve – what a wonderful legacy. And trimming the vines and putting the extra mesh on the bridge will make the visitor experience more enjoyable.

Many thanks to Mandar for organising the volunteer day. And Anil, Janice, Mandar and Selva thank you for continuing to champion CUE Haven and bringing your family and friends to help out too!!

And a special thank you to Gerald for all your help today.  Much appreciated.

We hope you all enjoyed the day as much as we did and do look forward to having you out again for another fun and productive volunteer day. And we also look forward to having you out with your friends and family for a leisurely visit soon to explore more of your community native forest reserve.

Thank You!! Thank You!!