Volunteers work to keep Dacre Cottage and the Karepiro Bay maintained and improved for future generations. There are many ways you can volunteer and help and we thought it might be fun to start keeping a list of the efforts that many people make.
So each month we will try and make a note of what has happened. This account does not include the cleaning and site visits after each weekend and every hire, cleaning toilets etc.
September 2015
Lawns cut once and new/secondhand kitchen cabinets moved in ready to be installed in barn,enquirers increasing re staying.
26 hours
August 2015
Tree planting finished and track work continued, lawns mowed once and general cleaning done.
42 hours
July 2015
Tree planting and weeding continuing and new tap fitted, Beach roped off to protect nests and track reopened in grass area, lawns mowed once.
245 hours
June 2015
Tree planting and weeding and AUT held a training session for new students. Several rentals and visitors number looking good.
178 hours
May 2015
Set up for planting and weeding Lawns mowed once.
38 hours
April 2015
Lawns cut twice, Plenty of visitors
24 hours
March 2015
Lawns cut twice, AUT held a training session for two days based around first Aid, several school groups visited and planted a number of trees and cleared weeds. Several rentals and visitors number looking good.
74 hours
February 2015
Lawns mowed once and toilets cleaned weekly. several large school groups with loads of weed clearing completed. One walker taken out by helicopter from bush walk, twisted ankle. Visitor numbers are steady. Trees are handling the dry well.
178 hours
January 2015
Lawns mowed once with weekly visits to check on toilets and steady number coming through. Lady airlifted from cottage with a suspected broken arm from fall on rocks.
26 hours
December 2014
Lawns mowed twice regular visits and toilets cleaned, number on track constant.
23 hours
November 2014
Lawns are growing well needing two cuts, trees doing well and several school groups enjoying the area and helping out with Comunity service.
123 hours
October 2014
Weed clearing and lawn mowing good number on the track and loads of friendly visitors.
65 hours
September 2014
Lawns are growing at a fast pace and are having to be done every two weeks, visitor numbers are getting busy , some graffiti on Barn and rat bait still being eaten. Trees are doing well with the Karo flowering and hundreds of seedlings spouting under the more mature trees.
48 hours
August 2014
A last planting to finish up from July. 20 people for the morning and a yummy lunch. The grass is looking good and the beach has been getting extra sand blowing in, so the sand dunes are starting to rebuild after they were hammered with the storms. Normal toilets cleaning and a tidy up session. Repaired dune roped off area and set possum traps and re-baited rat stations. Purchase and install signage to warn people about Dotteral and Variable Oyster Catcher nesting areas along Karepiro Beach and Okura sand spit. 78 hours
July 2014
A huge effort from the Outdoors team at AUT and Northcross Intermediate Schools William Pike Challenge Class along with the Dacre Cottage volunteer team saw another 1500 trees planted over three different plantings. The area north of the cottage was added to and also the area on the south end of the beach. Previous storms and over keen Pukeko's have had a toll on the last planting so we added to them. The lawns have been mown and are looking great and toilets kept clean and stocked with paper. Install rat stations and possum traps. 280 hours
June 2014
Lawns still growing and new equipment purchased along with extra security for barn installed. Dead trees felled and trimmed and a small tree planting undertaken. Rubbish collection on the beach and the reinstalling of the Sand dune protection fences after storm damage.
63 hours
May 2014
A major clean up of the barn and cottage along with the lawns still growing well, so regular weekly working bees of three or four people.
53 hours
April 2014
Lawns requiring cutting so working bees on most Sundays.
46 hours
March 2014
Auckland City Council By law team had a volunteer day at the cottage. They painted picket fence and placed tons of mulch around trees. Northcross Intermediate were visiting and several students and parents pitched in and helped during their lunch break, a great effort thanks.
56 hours
Orewa College; four groups over four days had fun kayaking and walking to the cottage and then helped out on the mulching. A great effort by the kids and made a lot of trees happy. 100 hours
Committee mowed lawns 4 hours
Committee site visits to check on cottage and clean toilets 4 times 4 hours
Committee site visits while the awesome team from Shake and Shingle re-roofed the cottage. Thanks to the team and to Richard from Spotless and Tony from the council and most of all to Julia Parfitt and the team from the Local Community Board for the assistance in sorting it all.
8 hours
Committee completed toilet re-roof 6 hours
February 2014
Diocesan Girls School paddled and walked to the Cottage over four days and spent half an hour before lunch weeding and moving mulch to some of the 9500 native trees that volunteers have planted over the last 4 years. 60 hours
Committee started to re-roofed the toilet block 8 hours
Committee mowed lawns 4 hours
Committee compiled and submitted a submission to the Auckland Unitary Plan 20 hours
Committee site visits to check on cottage and clean toilets six times 6 hours