Temperate mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sediments and authigenic minerals are the current surficial deposits at shelf and slope depths (30-1015 m water depth) on the north Kaipara continental margin (NKCM) in northern New Zealand. This is the first detailed study of these NKCM deposits which are described and mapped from the analysis of 54 surficial sediment samples collected along seven shorenormal transects and from three short piston cores. Five surficial sediment facies are defined from the textural and compositional characteristics of this sediment involving relict, modern or mixed relict-modern components. Facies 1 (siliciclastic sand) forms a modern sand prism that extends out to outer shelf depths and contains three subfacies. Subfacies 1a (quartzofeldspathic sand) is an extensive North Island volcanic and basement rock derived sand deposit that occurs at less than 100-200 m water depth across the entire NKCM. Subfacies 1b (heavy mineral sand) occurs at less than 50 m water depth along only two transects and consists of predominantly local basaltic to basaltic andesite derived heavy mineral rich (gt30%) deposits. Subfacies 1c (mica rich sand) occurs at one sample site at 300 m water depth and contains 20-30% mica grains, probably sourced from South Island schists and granites. Facies 2 (glauconitic sand) comprises medium to fine sand with over 30% and up to 95% authigenic glauconite grains occurring in areas of low sedimentation on the outer shelf and upper slope (150-400 m water depth) in central NKCM. Facies 3 (mixed bryozoan-siliciclastic sand) consists of greater than 40% bryozoan skeletal material and occurs only in the northern half of the NKCM. Facies 4 (pelletal mud) occurs on the mid shelf (100-150 m water depth) in northern NKCM and comprises muddy sediment dominated by greater than c. 30% mixed carbonatesiliciclastic pellets. Facies 5 (foraminiferal mud and sand) contains at least 30% foraminifera tests and comprises two subfacies. Subfacies 5a consists of at least 50% mud sized sediment and occurs at gt400 m water depth in southern NKCM while subfacies 5b comprises gt70% sand sized sediment and occurs at mid to outer shelf and slope depths in the northern NKCM. vi A number of environmental controls affect the composition and distribution of NKCM sediments and these include: (1) variable sediment inputs to the NKCM dominated by inshore bedload sources from the south; (2) northerly directed nearshore littoral and combined storm-current sediment transport on the beach and shelf, respectively; (3) offshore suspended sediment bypassing allowing deposition of authigenic minerals and skeletal grains; (4) exchange between the beach and shelf producing similar compositions and grain sizes at less than 150 m water depth; and (5) the episodic rise of sea level since the Last Glaciation maximum approximately 20 000 years ago which has resulted in much sediment being left stranded at greater depths than would otherwise be anticipated. Sedimentation models developed from other wave-dominated shelves generally do not appear to apply to the NKCM sediments due to their overall relative coarseness and their mosaic textural characteristics. In particular, the NKCM sediments do not show the expected fining offshore trends of most wavedominated shelf models. Consequently, sandy sediments (both siliciclastic and authigenic) are most typical with mud becoming a dominant component in southern NKCM sediments only at greater than 400 m water depth, over 350 m deeper than most models suggest, a situation accentuated by the very low mud sediment supply to the NKCM from the bordering Northland landmass.

Set on a farm on the Kaipara Harbour of Northland, New Zealand, this novel traces the lives of a family over a six year period near the end of the twentieth century. Themes include: Scottish and Croatian-Dalmatian immigration, Māori spiritual and cultural values, the weaving and assimilation of diverse cultures into a vibrant new culture, the economics of farming on marginal lands, father-son relationships, sibling rivalry, marijuana cultivation and the disparities between urban and rural lifestyles and expectations. The plotline follows the frustrations and subsequent actions of the eldest son as he seeks a future, which he realises is dependent on his acquiring the family farm. His impulsive behaviour leads to the climax of the story and puts himself and other members of the family in jeopardy and risks the family losing the farm altogether.

This thesis contributes to the literature on the French Catholic Marist mission in New Zealand by providing the first critical in-depth biography of one of the early French missionaries, Antoine Marie Garin (1810-1889). It emphasises the importance of the Marists’ position as outsiders in nineteenth-century New Zealand society. As neither ‘colonising’ British settlers, nor ‘colonised’ Maori, the Marists were in a special position to view events unfolding in the mid-nineteenth century, when New Zealand was changing from a Maori-dominated to a predominantly Pakeha-dominated world. The records which the Marists kept of their experiences, including diaries, letters, memoirs and annals, have the potential to provide a significant contribution to New Zealand historiography, and remain relatively untapped. As a biographical study, this thesis uses the framework of Garin’s life story to add insight to the intercultural dynamic in nineteenth-century New Zealand. The thesis begins with an exposé of the theory used to examine the intercultural dimension in Garin’s experience. Garin’s life in New Zealand was a tale of cross-cultural encounter occurring within two cultural-social paradigms: the Maori-Pakeha paradigm, and the Catholic-Protestant settler paradigm. With respect to the Maori-Pakeha paradigm, it is argued that Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of hybridity provides an innovative framework within which to study early interaction between Maori and Pakeha. The concept of hybridity stresses the interdependence of coloniser and colonised, thereby recognising the existence of agency on both sides, and avoiding the binary opposition of ‘Maori’ and ‘Pakeha’ that continues to mark contemporary New Zealand society. Another postcolonial theory, that of diaspora, is used to illuminate Garin’s experience in settler communities. It is argued that religion can be the basis for a diaspora, and that the Catholics in nineteenth-century New Zealand had a diasporic consciousness because of their creation of separate Catholic institutions, and their connections to the wider Catholic world. Part Two of the thesis consists of the biography proper. It is framed as a cultural biography: a biography that seeks to illuminate not only the subject’s life, but also national history. Garin was a grassroots Catholic missionary, who, through talent, perseverance and a little luck, made a notable impact on New Zealand society, in particular in the area of Catholic education. However, even more important to his story was his ability to build bridges between cultures, and create communities of Maori and settler Catholics. Arguably, Garin’s greatest legacy is the diary that he kept while a missionary to Maori. This documents the everyday border crossing that was taking place between the Maori of Mangakahia and Garin himself in the hybrid society of 1840s’ New Zealand.