title: Bicycles of perception: Motivations and meanings that promote long-term engagement with mountain biking in Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Franklin, John

subjects: mountain biking

abstract: This research explores the motivations and meanings of mountain bikers living in the Queenstown Lake District, Aotearoa New Zealand. Through a phenomenological paradigm, this research follows a qualitative methodology. Data for this research was gained through an ethnographic process, involving interviews, observations, and a self-practice of mountain biking. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain insight into mountain bikers' personal experiences. Observations were conducted to examine numerous aspects of mountain bikers' lifestyles. Observations were conducted at mountain bike tracks, mountain biking events, and social events; e.g. barbecues and bars. Self-practice by myself, the researcher, was used as an attempt to gain further insight into the subjective experiences of embodied action. The data was analysed via grounded theory to allow themes to emerge. Numerous themes came to light during data analysis. They reveal some of the ways mountain biking affects participants' lives. Some of the prominent themes to emerge were physical and mental health, connection to nature, stress relief, social connection and identity. The state of flow and deep embodied action mountain bikers experience, appears to promote long-term engagement. The above themes are strongly associated with overall wellbeing. They indicate that mountain biking offers a holistic approach to maintaining a well-balanced life. This research will give some insight into why mountain bikers continue to participate in a risky and physically demanding sport over long periods of time.

text: Bicycles of perception: Motivations and meanings that promote long-term engagement with mountain biking in Queenstown, Aotearoa New Zealand This research explores the motivations and meanings of mountain bikers living in the Queenstown Lake District, Aotearoa New Zealand. Through a phenomenological paradigm, this research follows a qualitative methodology. Data for this research was gained through an ethnographic process, involving interviews, observations, and a self-practice of mountain biking. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain insight into mountain bikers' personal experiences. Observations were conducted to examine numerous aspects of mountain bikers' lifestyles. Observations were conducted at mountain bike tracks, mountain biking events, and social events; e.g. barbecues and bars. Self-practice by myself, the researcher, was used as an attempt to gain further insight into the subjective experiences of embodied action. The data was analysed via grounded theory to allow themes to emerge. Numerous themes came to light during data analysis. They reveal some of the ways mountain biking affects participants' lives. Some of the prominent themes to emerge were physical and mental health, connection to nature, stress relief, social connection and identity. The state of flow and deep embodied action mountain bikers experience, appears to promote long-term engagement. The above themes are strongly associated with overall wellbeing. They indicate that mountain biking offers a holistic approach to maintaining a well-balanced life. This research will give some insight into why mountain bikers continue to participate in a risky and physically demanding sport over long periods of time.

year: 2024

title: Monitoring of subtidal reef biota off Motuotau Island in relation to dredge spoil dumping by the Port of Tauranga Ltd 2014-2018

authors: Ross, Philip M.

abstract: Background
• Dredge spoils generated from the development and maintenance of the Port of Tauranga is disposed of on the inner shelf off Mt Maunganui.
• Major channel deepening and widening programmes were undertaken in 1992 and 2015/16. Maintenance dredging is undertaken more regularly.
• Since 1990, monitoring has been conducted to determine if the dumping of dredge spoils was affecting subtidal reef communities around Motuotau Island, as island off Mt Maunganui beach and inshore of the dredge spoils disposal area.
• Three sites at Motuotau have been monitored since 1990. A site to the east of Motuotau has been monitored as a control site and two sites to the north-east and north-west of Motuotau have been monitored as impact sites.
• Monitoring has consisted of photographic monitoring of permanent transects close to the reef-sand boundary to record (a) changes in the elevation of the seabed relative to the rocky reef, and (b) changes in the biological community over time.
• Monitoring has taken place in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2009 and 2012.
• One of the difficulties of the monitoring programs was that the marker pins, which are cemented onto the reef, would often be dislodged between surveys and would need to be reinstated prior to each new survey taking place. This made it difficult to be sure that the same section of reef was monitored on each occasion and that the measurement of changes in seabed height was accurate.
• In 2013, a decision was made to reinstate marker pins for the permanent transects. In January 2014, holes were drilled into the reef and stainless steel rods were secured in these holes using epoxy cement. It is unlikely that these marker pins will ever be dislodged from the reef.
• At the same time, the monitoring methodology was reviewed and a number of changes recommended. Most significantly, it was decided that the reef being monitored as a control site did not really constitute a control against the effects of dredge spoil dumping and subsequently all three sites would be considered as impact sites.
• Monitoring took place in January and May 2014, November 2015 and April 2018 and is reported on here.
Findings
• Marker pins were reinstated in January 2014 and four and a half years later remain solidly in place.
• In general terms, the reefs around Motuotau appear to be healthy and in a state that is comparable to other reefs of similar depth, aspect and exposure along the Bay of Plenty coastline.
• The 2014, 2015 and 2018 surveys did not record any major changes in the biological communities of the reefs around Motuotau.
• Measurements of the distance between the bottom marker pin at each site and the reefsand boundary indicate that the reefs are not being inundated by dredge spoils. Seabed heights have fluctuated by as much as 30 cm since 2014 and this is not thought to be outside the scale of fluctuations that would naturally occur given the aspect and energy environment of the surveyed reefs.
• Photographic surveys continue to prove useful in capturing information about the diversity of subtidal reef communities. Although there is some evidence of minor changes in these communities over time this is to be expected. There is also evidence of stability in these communities with a number of sponges on these transects having been present for several decades.

text: Monitoring of subtidal reef biota off Motuotau Island in relation to dredge spoil dumping by the Port of Tauranga Ltd 2014-2018 Background
• Dredge spoils generated from the development and maintenance of the Port of Tauranga is disposed of on the inner shelf off Mt Maunganui.
• Major channel deepening and widening programmes were undertaken in 1992 and 2015/16. Maintenance dredging is undertaken more regularly.
• Since 1990, monitoring has been conducted to determine if the dumping of dredge spoils was affecting subtidal reef communities around Motuotau Island, as island off Mt Maunganui beach and inshore of the dredge spoils disposal area.
• Three sites at Motuotau have been monitored since 1990. A site to the east of Motuotau has been monitored as a control site and two sites to the north-east and north-west of Motuotau have been monitored as impact sites.
• Monitoring has consisted of photographic monitoring of permanent transects close to the reef-sand boundary to record (a) changes in the elevation of the seabed relative to the rocky reef, and (b) changes in the biological community over time.
• Monitoring has taken place in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2009 and 2012.
• One of the difficulties of the monitoring programs was that the marker pins, which are cemented onto the reef, would often be dislodged between surveys and would need to be reinstated prior to each new survey taking place. This made it difficult to be sure that the same section of reef was monitored on each occasion and that the measurement of changes in seabed height was accurate.
• In 2013, a decision was made to reinstate marker pins for the permanent transects. In January 2014, holes were drilled into the reef and stainless steel rods were secured in these holes using epoxy cement. It is unlikely that these marker pins will ever be dislodged from the reef.
• At the same time, the monitoring methodology was reviewed and a number of changes recommended. Most significantly, it was decided that the reef being monitored as a control site did not really constitute a control against the effects of dredge spoil dumping and subsequently all three sites would be considered as impact sites.
• Monitoring took place in January and May 2014, November 2015 and April 2018 and is reported on here.
Findings
• Marker pins were reinstated in January 2014 and four and a half years later remain solidly in place.
• In general terms, the reefs around Motuotau appear to be healthy and in a state that is comparable to other reefs of similar depth, aspect and exposure along the Bay of Plenty coastline.
• The 2014, 2015 and 2018 surveys did not record any major changes in the biological communities of the reefs around Motuotau.
• Measurements of the distance between the bottom marker pin at each site and the reefsand boundary indicate that the reefs are not being inundated by dredge spoils. Seabed heights have fluctuated by as much as 30 cm since 2014 and this is not thought to be outside the scale of fluctuations that would naturally occur given the aspect and energy environment of the surveyed reefs.
• Photographic surveys continue to prove useful in capturing information about the diversity of subtidal reef communities. Although there is some evidence of minor changes in these communities over time this is to be expected. There is also evidence of stability in these communities with a number of sponges on these transects having been present for several decades.

year: 2018

title: Pākehā counsellors consider their positioning: Towards postcolonial praxis

authors: Crocket, Alastair Robert

subjects: Counselling

abstract: The challenges of achieving the potential, which the Treaty of Waitangi offers for a postcolonial present and future, have shaped life in Aotearoa New Zealand over the last four decades. This thesis draws on this history and challenge to consider the practice possibilities for Pākehā counsellors when they work with clients and colleagues of other cultures. It is strongly influenced by the Treaty of Waitangi but seeks not to be limited to a Māori/Pākehā binary. It has been undertaken in the hopes of informing developments in the practice of students seeking to qualify to work as counsellors and more experienced practitioners. The first theoretical foundation for this study is poststructuralism which is considered as a braided stream of theorizing where braids divide and unite. A Foucauldian social constructionism underlies this project, which extends to a consideration of subjectification, agency and positioning theory. This study is also intentionally postcolonial drawing on Said’s seminal works, Orientalism (1979) and Culture and Imperialism (1993) and North American and European writing about identity politics and intersectionality. It views the centring of the Treaty of Waitangi in this land as postcolonial work. These two emphases, poststructuralism and postcolonialism, provide the theoretical base for an exploration of the context of professional counselling practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. Five experienced counsellors constituted a research group who firstly discussed practising as a Pākehā counsellor and then acknowledged their hopes and fears for their practice with clients of other cultures. In later stages of the data generation the participants were invited to join in processes of discourse analysis and deconstruction which produced shifts in practice and practice identity. This study identifies two forms of praxis that might inform a counselling practice which seeks to achieve a postcolonial purpose: these are named as critical discursive praxis and critical Pākehā praxis.

text: Pākehā counsellors consider their positioning: Towards postcolonial praxis The challenges of achieving the potential, which the Treaty of Waitangi offers for a postcolonial present and future, have shaped life in Aotearoa New Zealand over the last four decades. This thesis draws on this history and challenge to consider the practice possibilities for Pākehā counsellors when they work with clients and colleagues of other cultures. It is strongly influenced by the Treaty of Waitangi but seeks not to be limited to a Māori/Pākehā binary. It has been undertaken in the hopes of informing developments in the practice of students seeking to qualify to work as counsellors and more experienced practitioners. The first theoretical foundation for this study is poststructuralism which is considered as a braided stream of theorizing where braids divide and unite. A Foucauldian social constructionism underlies this project, which extends to a consideration of subjectification, agency and positioning theory. This study is also intentionally postcolonial drawing on Said’s seminal works, Orientalism (1979) and Culture and Imperialism (1993) and North American and European writing about identity politics and intersectionality. It views the centring of the Treaty of Waitangi in this land as postcolonial work. These two emphases, poststructuralism and postcolonialism, provide the theoretical base for an exploration of the context of professional counselling practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. Five experienced counsellors constituted a research group who firstly discussed practising as a Pākehā counsellor and then acknowledged their hopes and fears for their practice with clients of other cultures. In later stages of the data generation the participants were invited to join in processes of discourse analysis and deconstruction which produced shifts in practice and practice identity. This study identifies two forms of praxis that might inform a counselling practice which seeks to achieve a postcolonial purpose: these are named as critical discursive praxis and critical Pākehā praxis.

year: 2010