title: Sallow men & shallow graves

authors: McPherson, Rogan

subjects: creative writing

abstract: For almost 30 years, members of the ‘Ludditious Faith of Our Heavenly Father, and the Foretellers of the Ongoing Apocalypse’ have been living a peaceful life. Fleeing the impending Y2K disaster, these Luddites buried themselves deep in the neglected wilds of east Aotearoa, founding the settlement of New Eden. Here, they follow the strict tenets set out by their founder and prophet, Enoch, while avoiding the technological apocalypse that has plagued the outside world. From their perspective, Y2K came to pass as a gradual moral degradation brought on by the onset of rapidly evolving technologies, and the greed and vanity of the 21st century has only cemented these beliefs. However, Enoch's sacrifice protected the Valley of Eden; thus, the year 2000 (and the sin of the millennium) never reached it. But that doesn’t mean New Eden is free of sin altogether.

Sallow Men & Shallow Graves follows Margaret “Peggy” Matheson, a private investigator who loathes her profession and is ready for a career change. After completing her ‘final job’, she is reigned back in when a woman from her bloody past comes calling. Peggy agrees to find the woman’s daughter, but all she gets in terms of clues are rumours of an eccentric religious group living in the hills north of Gisbourne. To Peggy, it all sounds a little far-fetched. But when she finds evidence of other disappearances in the area, she can’t help but wonder if this cult - the so-called ‘Ludditious Faith’ - is responsible.

While Peggy is our central protagonist, the novel briefly dips into the lives of those around her, such as Paisley (the main target of her investigation), William (the ‘Druid’ of the Ludditious Faith), and Tama (her guilt-ridden protégé). I explore the themes of guilt and deception and how they intersect with one’s perception of reality, both in terms of personal relationships and the overarching narrative of the cult. 

Throughout my writing process, I have endeavoured to avoid vilifying the cult as a whole. So often are fictional cults depicted as ‘evil’, but if you examine real communities like Jonestown or Centrepoint, what you find is a collection of ordinary people who lost their way in life, and a charismatic leader who can captivate an audience, and convince that audience that they are exactly where they need to be. Evil often begins and ends with one person, and everyone else - whether Luddite or citizen - is just trying to get by. 

Every character in this story has secrets: lies they tell themselves and others. But one reality I have aimed to enforce is that sometimes in life, you don’t get all the answers. Some, I offer freely. Others, I leave for the reader to decipher, interpret, or neglect. This story seeks your attention in some scenes and rewards it in others. It is a slow-burning narrative with a few small embers and flares along the way, but once it truly ignites, it doesn’t stop until there is nothing left but cinders and ashes.

text: Sallow men & shallow graves For almost 30 years, members of the ‘Ludditious Faith of Our Heavenly Father, and the Foretellers of the Ongoing Apocalypse’ have been living a peaceful life. Fleeing the impending Y2K disaster, these Luddites buried themselves deep in the neglected wilds of east Aotearoa, founding the settlement of New Eden. Here, they follow the strict tenets set out by their founder and prophet, Enoch, while avoiding the technological apocalypse that has plagued the outside world. From their perspective, Y2K came to pass as a gradual moral degradation brought on by the onset of rapidly evolving technologies, and the greed and vanity of the 21st century has only cemented these beliefs. However, Enoch's sacrifice protected the Valley of Eden; thus, the year 2000 (and the sin of the millennium) never reached it. But that doesn’t mean New Eden is free of sin altogether.

Sallow Men & Shallow Graves follows Margaret “Peggy” Matheson, a private investigator who loathes her profession and is ready for a career change. After completing her ‘final job’, she is reigned back in when a woman from her bloody past comes calling. Peggy agrees to find the woman’s daughter, but all she gets in terms of clues are rumours of an eccentric religious group living in the hills north of Gisbourne. To Peggy, it all sounds a little far-fetched. But when she finds evidence of other disappearances in the area, she can’t help but wonder if this cult - the so-called ‘Ludditious Faith’ - is responsible.

While Peggy is our central protagonist, the novel briefly dips into the lives of those around her, such as Paisley (the main target of her investigation), William (the ‘Druid’ of the Ludditious Faith), and Tama (her guilt-ridden protégé). I explore the themes of guilt and deception and how they intersect with one’s perception of reality, both in terms of personal relationships and the overarching narrative of the cult. 

Throughout my writing process, I have endeavoured to avoid vilifying the cult as a whole. So often are fictional cults depicted as ‘evil’, but if you examine real communities like Jonestown or Centrepoint, what you find is a collection of ordinary people who lost their way in life, and a charismatic leader who can captivate an audience, and convince that audience that they are exactly where they need to be. Evil often begins and ends with one person, and everyone else - whether Luddite or citizen - is just trying to get by. 

Every character in this story has secrets: lies they tell themselves and others. But one reality I have aimed to enforce is that sometimes in life, you don’t get all the answers. Some, I offer freely. Others, I leave for the reader to decipher, interpret, or neglect. This story seeks your attention in some scenes and rewards it in others. It is a slow-burning narrative with a few small embers and flares along the way, but once it truly ignites, it doesn’t stop until there is nothing left but cinders and ashes.

year: 2025

title: Site Characterisation and Assessment of Sediments For Beach Renourishment

authors: Longdill, Peter Clifford

subjects: Marsden Point

abstract: Marsden Point, Northland, New Zealand, is a Holocene, prograded barrier spit at the tidal inlet to Whangarei Harbour. The development of the Northport timber export port at Marsden Point in late 2000 modified the tidal inlet dynamic equilibrium due to a large reclamation (32.6 ha) and dredged turning basin (31.8 ha to 13 m below Chart Datum). The effects of the Northport development on the inlet morphodynamics and the potential use of dredge sediments as beach nourishment fill are the foci of this study.
Regional sediment transport patterns adjacent to the Northport development were inferred and documented through the interpretation of sediment grain size distributions, geomorphic analysis of historical shoreline and bathymetry data, analysis of beach profiles, identification of seabed sediment transport pathways, and calculation of potential sediment transport vectors from hindcast wind-wave and current meter data.
Sediments found in the lower harbour are consistent with Schofield's (1975) Hauraki (B) facies. Shelly lag sediments, which armour and stabilise the bed, were observed in similar locations to those present in 1983. Sediment transport directions inferred from sediment textural analyses were generally in agreement with directions found from beach profile analysis, morphologic interpretation and calculation of potential sediment transport vectors.
Analysis of thirteen rectified and geo-referenced vertical aerial photographs of the Marsden Point region over the period 1984 to 2001, indicated a general reduction in dry beach widths within the harbour, and an increase in beach width at Marsden Point, where opposing sediment transport vectors meet and the ebb tidal delta of Mair Bank became 'welded' to the shoreline. This area exhibits highly variable beach profiles and offshore bathymetry, indicative of the relatively large potential sediment vectors meeting at this location.
Comparison of digital bathymetric surveys, sediment transport pathways and bedform locations both pre and post-development, indicates changes have been limited to the local reclamation and dredge basin areas. Reduced post-development sediment transport potentials were found in the northern areas of the dredge basin. There is potential for scour and the development of a shell lag at the dredge basin's eastern edge. Small-scale (-1,000m³yr¹} accretion has been observed against both western and eastern edges of the Northport reclamation. Accretion is occurring due to dominant longshore sediment transport patterns (western edge) and the creation of a 'current transport shadow zone' (eastern edge). Dredge basin sedimentation is expected to increase over the next 5-10 years to reach 15-20,000 m³ yr¹ as the beach profile against Northport's western edge 'fills' with sediment.
Sediment grain size comparisons and sediment transport patterns have been used to develop an effective beach nourishment plan for Marsden Bay (West and Central) using sediments sourced from Northport's dredge basin.
The Northport development has caused only local modifications to sediment transport processes operating within the lower Whangarei Harbour. There have been no largescale changes in sediment transport patterns or morphology observed postdevelopment.

text: Site Characterisation and Assessment of Sediments For Beach Renourishment Marsden Point, Northland, New Zealand, is a Holocene, prograded barrier spit at the tidal inlet to Whangarei Harbour. The development of the Northport timber export port at Marsden Point in late 2000 modified the tidal inlet dynamic equilibrium due to a large reclamation (32.6 ha) and dredged turning basin (31.8 ha to 13 m below Chart Datum). The effects of the Northport development on the inlet morphodynamics and the potential use of dredge sediments as beach nourishment fill are the foci of this study.
Regional sediment transport patterns adjacent to the Northport development were inferred and documented through the interpretation of sediment grain size distributions, geomorphic analysis of historical shoreline and bathymetry data, analysis of beach profiles, identification of seabed sediment transport pathways, and calculation of potential sediment transport vectors from hindcast wind-wave and current meter data.
Sediments found in the lower harbour are consistent with Schofield's (1975) Hauraki (B) facies. Shelly lag sediments, which armour and stabilise the bed, were observed in similar locations to those present in 1983. Sediment transport directions inferred from sediment textural analyses were generally in agreement with directions found from beach profile analysis, morphologic interpretation and calculation of potential sediment transport vectors.
Analysis of thirteen rectified and geo-referenced vertical aerial photographs of the Marsden Point region over the period 1984 to 2001, indicated a general reduction in dry beach widths within the harbour, and an increase in beach width at Marsden Point, where opposing sediment transport vectors meet and the ebb tidal delta of Mair Bank became 'welded' to the shoreline. This area exhibits highly variable beach profiles and offshore bathymetry, indicative of the relatively large potential sediment vectors meeting at this location.
Comparison of digital bathymetric surveys, sediment transport pathways and bedform locations both pre and post-development, indicates changes have been limited to the local reclamation and dredge basin areas. Reduced post-development sediment transport potentials were found in the northern areas of the dredge basin. There is potential for scour and the development of a shell lag at the dredge basin's eastern edge. Small-scale (-1,000m³yr¹} accretion has been observed against both western and eastern edges of the Northport reclamation. Accretion is occurring due to dominant longshore sediment transport patterns (western edge) and the creation of a 'current transport shadow zone' (eastern edge). Dredge basin sedimentation is expected to increase over the next 5-10 years to reach 15-20,000 m³ yr¹ as the beach profile against Northport's western edge 'fills' with sediment.
Sediment grain size comparisons and sediment transport patterns have been used to develop an effective beach nourishment plan for Marsden Bay (West and Central) using sediments sourced from Northport's dredge basin.
The Northport development has caused only local modifications to sediment transport processes operating within the lower Whangarei Harbour. There have been no largescale changes in sediment transport patterns or morphology observed postdevelopment.

year: 2004

title: Talking together: The effects of traditional Māori Pedagogy on children’s early literacy development

authors: Derby, Melissa

abstract: This article presents findings from a project that sought to determine the effects of a home-based literacy intervention on bilingual (English and Te Reo Māori) preschool children’s early literacy skills. The culturally responsive intervention, which was adapted from Tender Shoots, incorporated traditional Māori teaching and learning approaches, such as the use of storytelling, songs, games, and reminiscing about the past, as practices for supporting key cognitive skills crucial to foundational literacy, specifically phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Over a 12-week period, during which the intervention was conducted, data were gathered from eight Māori preschool children and their families. The study utilised a crossover design. Four children and their families participated in the Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR) component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the Strengthening Sound Sensitivity (SSS) portion of the intervention. The remaining four children completed the intervention in the reverse order of delivery. The crossover approach established a control in the study and allowed the effects of each part of the intervention on the aforementioned cognitive skills to be more clearly revealed. Overall, the data indicate that traditional Māori pedagogical practices helped to strengthen the early literacy skills of the children participating in the study.

text: Talking together: The effects of traditional Māori Pedagogy on children’s early literacy development This article presents findings from a project that sought to determine the effects of a home-based literacy intervention on bilingual (English and Te Reo Māori) preschool children’s early literacy skills. The culturally responsive intervention, which was adapted from Tender Shoots, incorporated traditional Māori teaching and learning approaches, such as the use of storytelling, songs, games, and reminiscing about the past, as practices for supporting key cognitive skills crucial to foundational literacy, specifically phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Over a 12-week period, during which the intervention was conducted, data were gathered from eight Māori preschool children and their families. The study utilised a crossover design. Four children and their families participated in the Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR) component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the Strengthening Sound Sensitivity (SSS) portion of the intervention. The remaining four children completed the intervention in the reverse order of delivery. The crossover approach established a control in the study and allowed the effects of each part of the intervention on the aforementioned cognitive skills to be more clearly revealed. Overall, the data indicate that traditional Māori pedagogical practices helped to strengthen the early literacy skills of the children participating in the study.

year: 2023-02