REGULAR EVENTS

Working bees

These are held on the third Saturday of each month, meeting at 9 am at the watershed. They provide an opportunity for neighbours and other interested volunteers to participate in seasonal tasks in the gully. After the mahi is done there is an opportunity for kai and interaction with other volunteers.

Mid-week working bees.

These are held every Wednesday at 10.30 meeting at the watershed. These have an educational focus appropriate to the season.

Bioblitz

The first Kukutaaruhe Bioblitz day was held on 13th November 2020 and has now become an annual event. Students and teachers from local schools and members of the community regularly attend. They all experience a variety of science activities, including:

·         finding kokopu in the stream.

·         investigating animal tracks,

·         identifying plant species in a quadrant

·         identifying species in soil samples.

We are grateful for the support of Hamilton City Council and other local scientists at this event.

Matariki 2025

The 21st of June was a beautiful morning for our Hautapu dawn ceremony. The rain stopped just in time for us to set up our fire pits and begin the ceremony to acknowledge those we've lost in the last year, and to send out our hopes and wishes for the year ahead.

Afterwards, we shared delicious kai and enjoyed each other’s company sitting around fires. who attended and helped make it such a special morning, This was a truly memorable community event and we thank those who attended and contributed to it.

Here is a video of the 2023 event.

Community Planting days

Community planting days are held every winter planting season. Each year more than a thousand trees are planted in in the Kukutaaruhe gully. 

These days fulfill one of our goals which is “community building”. This is typified by the following comment:

 ‘Thanks so much for this opportunity, I have never done anything like that before - it felt really worthwhile.’ (Community voice 2021)

2025 planting:

 Participants inluded

·         Students from Fairfield College who planted on the slopes above the wetland, to the north west of the site.

·         Students from Waikato Diocesan School for Girls who continued the planting to the east of the McNicol Street wetland.

·         Bankwood school students completed the planting in that same location.

 ·         Action Manufacturing come on a quarterly basis to plant, do plant maintainance and clear weeds in Kukutaaruhe Gully. This year the team from Action Manufacuring spent a day planting on another steep bank to  the north west of the site.

 In August we invited our regular volunteers, the Fairfield Project extended whānau and our key funders to plant the last few hundred trees. We then gathered back at The Watershed to celebrate with some kai and a catch up.

 We are eternally grateful for the support we receive from our volunteers, students from local schools, Action Manufacturing and of course our funders who enable us to do this hugely important mahi.

 The total number of native trees and shrubs planted in the gully is now 35,000.

Here is a video of the 2025 planting