A House Less Crowded
March 26 saw the tragic death by suicide of drummer Paul Hester, Melbourne-born member of seminal NZ bands Split Enz and Crowded House. “We all knew him as an effervescent, vivacious fireball of talent,” said soul singer Renee…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Measuring by Memory
A group of Otago University researchers have proven that blind people are consistently more accurate in estimating the size of familiar objects – such as a loaf of bread – with their hands than their sighted…
Plastic fantastic
NZ’s Calvert Plastics in conjunction with the Wellington Institute of Technology has developed a plastic packaging innovation set to revolutionise global exporting. International market regulations are increasingly demanding alternatives to traditional wood and cardboard…
Queen of the Green
17-year-old Kiwi, Enu Chung, is the latest and greatest addition to Berkley University’s women’s golf team. Chung has previously represented NZ in the sport and was voted the country’s female golfer of the year for 2004. Daily…
You Beauty
Sindhura Gadde, a former news presenter in NZ, has been crowned Miss India World in Mumbai. She will represent India at the Miss World 2005 pageant later this year.
Country music’s saviour
Since winning Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2004 Country Music Awards, NZ-born Keith Urban has cemented his place as country’s best and brightest new star with a series of sell-out gigs. In…
Culinary invasion
An Independent feature nominates the ten best places to “eat Australasian” in London. These include The Zetter (NZ chef Megan Jones), The Providores and Tapa Room (Peter Gordon’s mini empire with fellow…
A field trip worth taking
For aspiring cooks looking to learn Down Under, the Independent recommends Te Horo’s Ruth Pretty Cooking School and Catherine Bell’s Epicurean Workshop in Auckland
Kai to die for
Independent food writer Jenni Muir nominates Nelson and Marlborough as the lesser-known food capitals of NZ. In Nelson, she recommends foraging for kai-moana with guide Mike Elkington of Te Hikoi Maori. Matua Valley is…
“Pretty Damn Sweet”
A US exchange student in NZ writes an ode to Aotearoa in his home college newspaper, the New Hampster. “I think I’ve got NZ fever already. This country has been described as a laidback, fun place…
Underbelly Exposure
One of the co-authors of controversial U.N tell-all Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth is NZ-born doctor Andrew Thompson. Described on Amazon as a “scorching, devastatingly…
2 Films, Much Praise
Taika Waititi’s acclaimed short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Oscar at this year’s awards. It is now touring the US alongside fellow nominees as part of an Oscar 2005 shorts…
Rock solid
Kiwi rockers The Datsuns have a glowing review of their sophomore album Outta Sight/Outta Mind in the Indy Star. “While contemporaries such as the Strokes and the Vines stumbled with releases last year, the…
A Step in the Right Direction
Hamilton inventor and former chemical engineer, Brian Goggin, is seeking patents in NZ, the US, Japan, and Europe for a reinforced metal fuel tank which vents hydrogen gas safely in the event of an accident. The innovation…
A Wine Like No Other
Pittsburgh Live writer experiences a dash of spring fever courtesy of Marlborough’s world-renowned sauvignon blanc. “The wine’s style elicits both tremendous enthusiasm and vehement rejection, but overall, sales of NZ sauvignon blanc are soaring, with more than…
Communication Lines Opened
Auckland University is to house a Beijing-sponsored language institute which will promote Mandarin as a second language in NZ schools. Chinese currently make up over 40% of NZ’s Asian population. NZ is currently in negotiations with China…
WORLD Comes to Sydney
WORLD is set to bring a splash of their trademark colour to Sydney’s Oxford Street, with the opening of a new flagship store there in March.
The Price is Right
NZ’s booming tourist industry has received another string to its bow with the introduction of free city tours. Financed by local tourism operators wanting to promote their services, the tours are now available in Auckland and Christchurch.
Built to Last
NZ economist Anthony Byett was interviewed on ABC Radio about the country’s booming economy. “We’ve had a great 10-year period, and the last three years in particular have been very strong … We have the economy –…
Double All Black
The Age profiles Eric Tindill; the world’s oldest living Test cricketer, NZ’s oldest living All Black, and one of the hallowed few to represent the country in both sporting disciplines. “The elderly gent watching the TV isn’t…
Kiwis in Flight
The “brain drain” issue is back in the news with a vengeance, sparked by Immigration Minister Paul Swain’s newly minted campaign to lure ex-patriots home. Writing in the NZ Herald writer Simon Collins received a staggering number…
Analysing the “Yucky Side of Life”
John Crace interviews Joanna Bourke, lecturer, historian and author of numerous academic books including the controversial An Intimate History of Killing and her most recent publication, Fear: A Cultural History. “Historians tend to come…
Je Le Prends = I’ll Take It
NZ fashion labels Sabatini White, Nom*d, Ng, and WORLD staged an acclaimed joint exhibit at the prestigious Tranoi trade show in Paris. Sabatini White was particularly successful, securing orders of more than $110,000 and…
Mark the Great
Mark Greatbatch comes in at number four on the Guardian‘s list of all-time greatest Test cricket rearguards. “He was better known as the man who invented pinch-hitting at the 1992 World Cup, but Mark Greatbatch could knuckle…
Sporty
The Guardian profiles Rachel Hunter, host of new reality TV show Make Me a Supermodel. “In the 1980s, the age of the supermodel, she was as ubiquitous as Linda, Christy, Naomi and Cindy -…
Kiwi Crusader
Having already cracked the Australian market, Kiwi hop hop superstar Scribe is now making himself heard in New York. NYT: “Scribe, 25, is at the forefront of the country’s exploding hip-hop scene -…
Diamond and the Rough
Independent travel writer indulges mind, body and soul in NZ’s up and coming wine and tourism centre, the Wairarapa. After experiencing chocolate therapy at Greytown’s Schoc, sampling the region’s famed Pinot Noir at Tirohana Estate, trout fishing…
Cutting Edge Electronics
NZ GPS innovators, Navman, showed off their latest creations at Germany’s prestigious CeBit electronics trade fair. These included the PIN 57, a Windows-based PDA, and the X300, which uses GPS to tell joggers, skiers and cyclists how…
Right Royal Stand-off
The Guardian ran an overview of NZ media coverage of Prince Charles’ recent tour of the country. Commentary ranged from the Christchurch Press dismissing the Prince as “a faintly comic participant in a toffee-nosed soap opera” to…
Academic Superstar
The Guardian celebrated NZ-based academic weblog Arts & Letters Daily‘s 100 millionth hit by profiling its founder, Canterbury University’s Denis Dutton. Quoted is Robert Fulford, a columnist with Canada’s National Post: “The idea of Christchurch, NZ, as the…
Modesty Blaize
Magazine editor, Auckland native and former Craccum muse, Louise Chunn, interviewed in the Guardian. Since leaving NZ in the early 1980s, Chunn has worked on such esteemed titles as Fashion Weekly, Just 17, Elle,…
Christopher Luxon by Degrees
Canterbury MCom grad and nz-edger Christopher Luxon is now based in Chicago via Australia and Europe, where he leads Unilever’s North American Deodorants & Grooming business. Presently he is jump-starting Degree for Men antiperspirant, advertising the brand…
Simple is Best
The British government is officially considering modeling its pension system on NZ’s current superannuation scheme, which is described in the Guardian as “a model of elegant simplicity compared with Britain’s multi-layered mixture of private and state provision, means…
Moko Shocker
US pro cyclist David Clinger has joined the list of international celebrities sporting “moko inspired” tattoos, which includes Mike Tyson and Robbie Williams. Clinger’s version covers the upper half of his face and most…
“Shining a Light on the Edge of the World”
Oyster takes a behind-the-scenes look at the “Invisible Heroes” of NZ fashion. Featured are Benny Castles and Lou Davies (Assistant Designer for WORLD Man and Woman respectively), Jenny Cook (Karen Walker), Gregory Brooks (Nom*D),…
Great Expectations
America’s premiere gay and lesbian travel magazine, Passport, ran an extensive travel feature on NZ in its March issue. “My boyfriend wanted to explore NZ because he’d heard that it was the most untouched, pristine land in the…
A Toast to Martinborough
Toast Martinborough features in a Guardian overview of the world’s greatest wine festivals. “Martinborough is one of the few ‘old world’ wine villages in the southern hemisphere and home to much- lauded pinot noir and sauvignon blanc….
From Wilderness to Café Culture
NZ features in a Lonely Planet dream itinerary compiled exclusively for the Observer. “NZ’s wild side is wonderful, especially the South Island’s rugged west coast, but it’s great to return to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch where cafe…
Russell Crowe – The Hard-Ass
GQ’s feature on the ten greatest actors of our generation leads with Wellington-born Russell Crowe and his passion for connecting emotionally with an audience. Does this peg him as a dinosaur? “In those respects-credibility,…
Perky paradise
A Kiwi oasis in the midst of Melbourne is winning the hearts of critics and customers alike. Batch Espresso, owned and operated by ex-Wellingtonian Jason Chan, earned a rave write-up in Melbourne food bible Cheap…
All Aboard
Independent travel writer takes a stunning tour of NZ by train. ” you want to experience your visual thrills in comfort and without the threat of sea-sickness, you can simply let the NZ’s trains take the strain…
Pinot Noir’s Paradox
“No other wine conjures up poetic descriptions like pinot noir; no other wine forges as direct a path to the soul. If a wine could make a person cry, it would have to be a pinot…
Grammy for Fran Walsh
From playing bass in 80s Wellington band Naked Spots Dance via a film or two, Wellington muse Fran Walsh wins a Grammy for Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:…
Rann – Global Warming “Frightening”
Mike Rann, the Auckland University-educated and former NZBC journalist and now, Labor Premier of South Australia, writes in The Australian that “the world should make no mistake: in 2005, global warming is a real…
Christopher Shaw leads motor neuron research
Professor Christopher Shaw, Professor of Neurology at Kings College London and Otago University graduate in Medicine (1984), is to co-lead a team to clone embryos to study motor neuron disease, in particular those patients whose condition cannot…
Miles Makes Leap to Big Pond
Managing Director of Vodafone NZ, Tim Miles, is to head the $12 billion UK branch from April 2005. According to the NZ Herald, Vodafone went from 1.8 million mobile subscribers in late 2001 to…
Home Turf Heroics
NZ went to the top of the IRB Rugby Sevens table after their third straight victory in the Wellington tournament. The Kiwis beat Argentina 31-7, giving them 52 points in total, ahead of traditional rivals Fiji…
My Favourite Ape
Compared with his work as an Oscar-winning director and the filmmaker behind the most popular trilogy in movie history, Peter Jackson’s first attempt to remake King Kong was by any measure amateurish. Jackson painted…
Taylor-made in New York
Empire waists, lace trim, pinafores and velvet jackets featured in Rebecca Taylor’s www.rebeccataylor.com collection in her runway show at New York Fashion Week. The New York-based Wellingtonian has also added the Bush…
SurfAid International Races Aid to Tsunami Areas
SurfAid International a non-profit organization founded by New Zealander Dr Dave Jenkins dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering through community-based health programs, has secured $500,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment, including 10,000 mosquito nets,…
Science’s Conscience
John Ziman, NZ-born scientist and humanist, has died aged 79. “After a brilliant youthful career in physics research he turned increasingly to reflection on the values and societal entanglements of the scientific endeavour as a whole ……
Reaching New Lows
A NZ ship has set a new world record for the southern-most point attained by water. The Spirit of Enderby, a polar research ship exploring NZ and Australia’s sub-Antarctic islands, reached a latitude of 78deg 40min and…
Biotech Baby Steps
NZ’s recently altered stance on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is the subject of an in-depth Technology Reviewfeature. “NZ, of all places, may have found a solution , proving once again that…
Wild about Buddha
Anna Wilding’s feature length documentary Buddha Wild sold out its sneak preview sessions at Rialto Cinemas as well as in Thailand, with all proceeds going to the tsunami appeal. Expect big things on the…
Kiwis on Both Sides of the Camera
Fresh on the heels of her international success with Whale Rider, Niki Caro is to direct an as yet untitled feature for Warner Bros. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek and Sean Bean,…
Top Five Twice-over
In a Lonely Planet poll conducted in early December, NZ was voted fourth most popular future destination and fourth favourite place already visited. The exhaustive survey drew nearly 20,000 respondents from 167 different countries.
