Observer wine critic Tim Atkin champions New World sparkling whites, particularly those from NZ, stating ” every bit as good as most non-vintage champagne and usually considerably cheaper.” According to Atkins, Lindauer Special Brut “consistently delivers the…
In a feature on celebrity hobbies, the Observer advises fans of sky-diving enthusiast Nicole Kidman to head to Queenstown. After all, “if you’re going to take the plunge, you might as well do it at one of…
“Self-catering in NZ has never been sexier.” The Observer rates four of the North Island’s most luxurious retreats; the Glass House on Waiheke Island (“this is a beach house in the same way that…
The Royal NZ Ballet production of Romeo and Juliet – helmed by star British choreographer Christopher Hampson – has received glowing reviews in the UK press. Guardian: “The NZ dancers are terrifically…
The will to thrill Kiwi-style shows no signs of subsiding, with bungy related features by the BBC and Observer, and one covering the full adventure spectrum – from tandem parapenting to fly-by-wire – in the Straits Times….
Observer wine critic, Tim Atkin, looks beyond the ubiquitous NZ Sauvignon Blanc, recommending instead our Pinot Gris, Riesling, Syrah, and – above all – Pinot Noir. “NZ may produce only 0.79 per cent of the world’s vino,…
The opening in March of NZ’s first and only luxury alpine retreat – the Whare Kea Chalet – rates a mention in both the Guardian and Observer. Guests reach the chalet via a “dazzling” 15…
The Observer‘s “20 journeys of a lifetime” includes NZ’s legendary Milford Track. “Traversing the heart of South Island’s wild fjord country, the Milford Track is often described as the finest walk in the world. Famed for spectacular…
NZ is one of 30 “hot spots for switched on travellers” recommended by Lonely Planet for 2004. To avoid the inevitable horde of Rings fans, LP suggests taking the Pacific Coast Highway down the Coromandel Peninsula, stopping…
14 December 2003 – Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas – former financial advisor to the Mayor of London, current Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, and chairman of the Royal Opera House – was one of nine “alpha females”…
Villa Maria’s 2002 Private Bin Riesling is one of the Observer‘s top 36 wines for Christmas drinking. “Villa Maria is better known for its in-your-face Sauvignon Blancs than its other New Zealand whites, but this screwcapped Riesling…
Sydney Morning Herald awestruck by the premiere, wonders how PJ managed to pull off “the trilogy of a lifetime” Operatic high praise from The New Yorker who credits the trilogy with reviving “the…
Peter Jackson: “‘He’s as cool as an elf, he has the heart of a hobbit, and he’s as mad as a wizard.’ That’s the awestruck opinion of Lord Of The Rings star…
Ex-pat bar proprietor, Kim Lucas, shares her views on “pride and prejudice” in an Observer feature on Britain’s 20 most outstanding homosexuals. Lucas opened London’s first official lesbian hangout – the Candy Bar…
With all eyes on Australasia for the Rugby World Cup, an Observer travel feature looks at new attractions on offer in the region. Included is the West Coast’s Wave Watchers Retreat (“a romantic bolthole with great…
“Jane Campion has made an incredibly sexy movie, and she knows it.” Further cinematic exploration along the edge of the erotic, In the Cut debuted at September’s Toronto Film Festival, stirring up as much…
The All Blacks go into this year’s Rugby World Cup ranked second after England, yet the British press largely favours them to win. According to the Observer, “the ABs are certainties for the final stages. If…
NZ wines rate highly in Tim Atkin’s list of ‘summer corkers’ at their peak of drinkability. 2002 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc: “I’ve never tasted a better vintage of this intense, guava, gooseberry and mango-like South…
Actress Kerry Fox interviewed in the Observer ‘favourite eateries’ column and muses on fellow Kiwi, ex-flatmate and celebrity chef, Peter Gordon’s Tapa Room – as well as his influence on her own culinary habits….
Lonely Planet experts offer Brits-in-need a two week itinerary of NZ. Reader response: “A two week(!) trip to NZ? We’re UK bird-watchers who have just spent three months there. It’s far too short a time…”
Observer offers a how-to guide to buying property in NZ in its assessment of the global property market’s latest hot spot. According to their sources, “screen gods and goddesses are buying up idyllic island…
Observer recommends Paua Cottage in Russell to Britons seeking a seaside escape. “Wake up in wondrous solitude to the sun rising from the Pacific Ocean at Paua Cottage … At the foot of a cliff sits…
Observer‘s guide to rock-star living suggests hiring your own island getaway. Featured is Forsyth Island, Marlborough Sounds. “This is a great one for the active – the 2,100 acre island has 35 kilometres of pathways for…
Observer reviews The Recruit, the latest Hollywood offering from one of NZ cinema’s pioners, LA-based Roger Donaldson. “Slick and highly enjoyable … scenes of induction and seduction have an almost documentary feel and the…
Kiwi chef Alex Mackay is one of the bright sparks leading Britain’s ongoing gastronomic revolution. After working in England and Italy, Mackay now runs an acclaimed cooking school at Le Baou d’Infer in Provence…
Teenage singer Hayley Westenra – “the next Charlotte Church” – is making her move on the UK market. The 15-year-old has based herself in Kensington, London, and is currently recording an album for Decca…
NZ waters crop up three times in the Observer‘s list of the world’s best scuba spots. Hauraki Reef and Kaikoura Canyon are recommended for mammal enthusiasts, while a night-dive at Rikoriko Cave (Poor Knights Islands) comes with…
The best supporting location features in the Observer‘s list of 20 dream holidays for the 21st century. “Hobbit fever has made NZ one of the hottest destinations of the new century, and there is still one…
AJ Hackett Bungy is soon to open the world’s first harbour bridge jump site. The latest addition to the Hackett franchise will be located on Auckland’s harbour bridge – already a tourist hot-spot thanks to the…
NZ writer Chad Taylor impresses international critics with his new noir novel, Electric. Pulp: “Dark, intense, fast-paced, and perceptive, both noir literary thriller and pulp crime fiction Cool, surreal and sexy – make…
NZ takes out the October slot of Lonely Planet‘s year planner for 2003. “Take one of the world’s great train journeys, the Tranzalpine, across the southern alps the varied scenery takes in the Canterbury Plains,…
Observer “unwraps Christmas in NZ” from the comfort of Karen Walker’s Waitakere Ranges home. “It’s a guaranteed white Christmas … the manuka trees are frosted with delicate white blooms so that the hillside appears…
“If you want a snapshot of the way rugby used to be, there is no more impressive monument to the past than Colin Meads, a man as straight as he was hard.” The Observer talks rugby,…
Dame Judith Mayhew will not seek re-election to her position as head of the City of London Corporation, claiming she is “doing too much.” She’s not joking either – see above for BBC profile. Described as “one of…
Waikato University’s resident surf expert – Dr Kerry Black – is helping create waves in Cornwall, where a £6 million proposal for constructing an artificial reef is currently under negotiation. Black and his team of marine…
Observer critics liken this year’s Man Booker Prize win to that of NZ’s Keri Hulme on “that unforgettable night in the mid-80s.” Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi won thanks to “a virtuoso display…
London restaurant Pied a Terre, where Kiwi chef Shane Osborn reigns as “creative genius,” praised in the Observer: “You may wonder how it is possible for a Michelin-starred restaurant to serve a three-course lunch…
Tours to the Northern Hemisphere winter by the The All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks saw some interesting pre-World Cup square offs with NZ, France and England (!) jostling for favouritism at the whistle. The match…
“Fleeing grey skies and commuting blues.” NZ raised the skills requirements for British migrants this month in response to record numbers seeking permanent residence. “Better lifestyles, cheaper homes and warmer weather” are the top…
6 page Observer spread: Walker uses her distance to advantage, preferring the hilltops of Auckland to the glamour and pace of Europe. “Karen Walker’s lived-in fabrics and homely knits evoke her idyllic New Zealand…
An Observer run-down of the 10 greatest Commonwealth Games’ moments gives two spots to NZ achievers. No. 4: one of the finest middle distance races run, the 1974 1,500m race between John Walker and Tanzania’s Filbert Bavi…
Ironically for Lynn, NZ was once again voted “Best Long Haul Country” over Australia, Cuba, Japan, Thailand et al by Guardian and Observer readers – they must have got off the bus and visited at…
Kiwi Ray Webster is Chief Executive of pioneering no-frills airline Easy Jet. Touching down in the market in a big way Webster works by the mantra that, “Airlines are about people, not about airplanes and airports.”…
NZEdged author Fay Weldon traverses a contradictory, but never dull life, in her autobiography Auto de Fay and finds her muse in the edge: “Always! Yes, always! I wanted to see more, it was…
Irish club side Munster’s shut-out 12-0 defeat of the 1978 All Blacks proclaimed by Observer Sport Monthly as the tenth greatest shock in sport’s history. Munster playwright James Breen (Alone It Stands – about the events surrounding…
“Are Tim Bevan (43) and Eric Fellner (41) the most powerful London-based film producers in history? As Working Title (of which they are co-chairmen) is responsible for Bridget Jones’s Diary, Billy…
13-year-old New Zealander, Jae An, becomes the youngest ever male to play a professional golf tournament, and then the youngest golfer ever to make the cut, when he lines up alongside Tiger Woods at the New…
Stella, a dark, candlelit bistro garnering acclaim in New York, is owned by Anna Weinberg and Paul Masters, a husband-and-wife team from New Zealand. “It has a comforting niceness about it,” writes food critic…
Picked by Observer critics as an Edinburgh Best of Festival 2 and winner of a prestigious Fringe First, Toa Fraser’s No. 2 continues to thrive and garner praise despite a bit of reality-biting about…
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox’s award-winning work in Intimacy continues to generate curiosity, awe and pursed lips: Getting Intimate in the Sunday Times; Truely, madly, explicitly in The Observer and Hanif…
“The only wine in New Zealand (as far as I know) that’s made entirely by Maori. If you’ve grown tired of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, this gooseberry and passion fruit white, with its fresh acidity and real…
“It’s like stumbling into your own birthday party – you don’t know where to look first. Centre stage is Neil Finn, hair greying but still a hint of that haphazard Crowded House quiff, a…
Jules Brown from The Observer takes a scenic trip up the stunning Whanganui river on some rather usual transport – a mail bus.
Peter Gordon is the man who launched a thousand experiments with seaweed, noodles and kangaroo. His latest book, “Cook at Home with Peter Gordon”, applies the same eclectic principles, offering something for cooks of…
The discerning readers of the Guardian and Observer have voted New Zealand as their favourite long-haul travel destination. “It is the Caribbean and the English countryside, Antarctica and California, Sydney and Gleneagles all rolled into one….
More centric thinking, this time from London’s Observer, “New Zealander’s are leaving their country in droves, placing a strain on the economy and painting a grim picture for the future.” Our opinion: New Zealand Edgers of the…
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