After a few false starts marred by rainy weather, on 3 November 2022 our Quayside crew spent a day outside together for our Volunteer Day, on the banks of the Kaituna, undertaking replanting for the wetlands.

With gumboots donned and rain jackets at the ready, we spent a number of hours pulling out the  Carex secta plants from their temporary floating wetland on a local farm, preparing them for their new whare on the banks of the Maketū estuary.

Michael Tyler, Land Management Officer for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, ably guided us on the day and didn’t even mind the banter, saying “The Quayside volunteering day in the lower Kaituna Catchment was an exciting day out of the office for everyone. It’s a great opportunity to see some of the environmental work being carried out and the extra hands were greatly appreciated.”

The rain stayed away in order for us to put in some hard mahi at both sites.  As always, jokes abounded as we all found our best role to help transplant the Carex secta from their floating pontoons.  Zi and Michael did a great job of wading into the cold waters to pull the plants for us to prepare them for replanting.

A bit of hard yakka at the other end, digging holes for the fully grown plants transformed the riverbank in a couple of hours – and earning us some much appreciated kai at the end of it.

Michael shared the bigger picture, saying “The work was part of a floating wetland trial, transplanting fully grown plants into the Te Pourepo o Kaituna Wetland Project. The floating pontoons are still located in the waterway and are ready for re-planting by our summer students later this month.

“Many laughs were had through the day and we look forward to collaborating in potential future volunteering days like this”.

Guaranteed the team had an absolute ball – the smiles say it all – and we are already planning the next one!