Waiheke Island Tree Planting

The Plan/ The Event Saturday, April 9 at 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM

A fun day in the outdoors helping plant trees on the picturesque Waiheke Island, Learn about the conservation efforts happening on the island followed by a shared lunch. The plan is to meet at AUT WF building at 9:00am then walk down to the Explore Ferry to catch the 9:30 ferry to Waiheke. (cost of the ferry is covered as we are volunteering ) Michael, our guide From the Waiheke Resource Trust, will meet us on the ferry and give us a quick talk on some of the conservation efforts they are working on. Upon arrival, they will assign us areas to help with planting trees. Followed by a well earned shared lunch ( Fair Trade, Organic if possible and remember to not bring any packaging or rubbish that will be left on the Island ).Off to Waiheke Island to plant trees, the decision to go to this event was an unexpected and unplanned trip. I found this event on my Facebook newsfeed for Suggested Events and found out the event is held by AUT University's own Sustainability club. On the Saturday morning, two days after my Birthday I went off to the city by myself to meet the team outside the AUT Business Building, without knowing anyone there. We headed off to the ferry free of charge towards Waiheke Island, I started talking to everyone else in the team and particularly became good friends with Clairine who was also an AUT University student, she studies Communication Studies. What brought her here was that she came to New Zealand for a short period and has not really explored much of Auckland, so thought she'd try something different. Majority of the girls there are here because they study subjects relevant to ecologies, science and sustainability in architecture. Planting trees in Waiheke Island is relevant to make our world more beautiful, to create oxygen from carbon dioxide, and to replace trees that have been destroyed. It is important to conserve trees by reducing, reusing, recycling and purchasing recycled products as often as possible. For example, take your own bags to the store when shopping, use scrap paper whenever possible, and pack a waste-free lunch. When you go out to eat, using a reusable container with you to take home the leftovers will reduce waste in packaging. We met up with Waiheke Island's conservation team and the Council manager on the bus ride towards the destination to plant the trees. As he was talking on the bus, I jotted down notes of the information he was giving: Water supply is all dependent on each residents-they all have knowledge of water supply - Rain supply -Wetland filled -8000 people in the island -2000 work in Auckland -All water supplies are at the water tank- the toilet, shower -Sports field is filled in by rocks and dirt -Sometimes archaelogists discover bones -People visit the island for weddings, getaways, vacations, winery -Waste disposal system - recycling until Council bought it off the Department of Conservation -Moth plants are pests - our job today is to pull out the weeds -No spraying method, 10 pods, shaped like capsicums -Soil is rich in Auckland, Waiheke island soil is clay-like The climb up the island was insanely difficult, it was a 90minute hike where we trawled the deep forest bushes that had no trails, we climbed and fell into masses of mud and got caught in many tree vines. We got to our destination by 1pm and got started in pulling out great lengths and amounts of Moth plants, pest plants. Then, the planting of trees began. By the time we were done, it was an long, exhausting day and we all fell asleep on the way back home from the ferry. Everyone ate a whole box of pizza each and limped back home from tiredness. A great experience I would most definitley do again!