Tag Archives: Star (The)

Ariel Pearse Crowned Miss Tourism International

Ariel Pearse Crowned Miss Tourism International

Aucklander Ariel Pearse has beaten 59 other contestants to win the Miss Tourism International 2016/17 crown, presented at the New Year’s Eve final in Putrajaya, Malaysia. According to local publication, The Star, the 24-year-old blew…

Race to Save Maui’s Dolphin

Race to Save Maui’s Dolphin

With only 55 adults remaining, experts fear Maui’s dolphin will disappear entirely within the next 17 years unless urgent action is taken.  An expert panel was appointed by the New Zealand government last year…

Positively Bucolic Township

Positively Bucolic Township

Russell is a town of some 8 permanent residents, tucked into a beautiful, protected cove in the Bay of Islands, a stunningly beautiful stretch of rocky islets dotted with pines and thick…

First light treks

First light treks

New Zealander Reg Kaa, 46, and wife Dutch-born Jacqui Kaa, 39, run Eastender Horse Treks in Rangitukia. Their most popular route is a two-hour circuit along the isolated Rangitukia beach for a trot or…

Safety indoors

Safety indoors

The legislative changes introduced in New Zealand de-criminalising adult prostitution have been a model for Canadian judges to do the same, with courts recently ruling Canada’s adult prostitution laws unconstitutional. Justice Susan Himel considered…

Nothing but exuberant

Nothing but exuberant

Linda and Jules Topp’s award-winning documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls screened as part of the Inside Out LGBT film festival at the Royal Ontario Museum in May. The film is part documentary and…

Inspired Simplicity

Inspired Simplicity

Remuera boutique interior design studio Monochrome Inc is profiled in Malaysia’s online version of The Star. “Would you consider an interior design colour scheme that’s predominantly black and white? It probably would be tedious, wouldn’t…

Hatchery to Home

Hatchery to Home

In the last eight years, 89 chicks have been returned to the wild by the Whakatane Kiwi Project, and on a recent holiday to New Zealand, Vancouver-based freelancer Jennifer Laidlaw joins a crowd of…

Topps in Toronto

Topps in Toronto

Much-loved New Zealand entertainers Lynda and Jools Topp (aka The Topp Twins) will join the likes of Canadian rocker Neil Young, Joan Baez and horror film king George A. Romero for free public performances…

Neill the ruthless

Neill the ruthless

Actor Sam Neill stars in the made-for-television Canada-China co-production of Iron Road as ruthless Canadian railroad baron Alfred Nichol. The historical mini-series purports to tell the story of the thousands of Chinese labourers who…

Something Gained

Something Gained

Defending IndyCar Series champion New Zealander Scott Dixon, 28, has won the Road Runner Turbo Indy 3000 at Kansas Speedway. “We needed something,” Dixon said. “You know, even a sniff of something. Because so…

A Paddler’s Paradise

A Paddler’s Paradise

Abel Tasman Park on the northern coast of the South Island is a veritable kayaking nirvana, offering up pristine coastlines of granite headlands, tiny coves of golden sand, and voluptuous hills cloaked in emerald…

Wellington Reunion in KL

Wellington Reunion in KL

In the 1970s, Malaysian students at Victoria University’s Weir House relished the informality of calling each other by their first names, they cooked one another Malay and Chinese dishes, and the Malaysian VUW band…

Luxury Golf Getaways

Luxury Golf Getaways

The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs in the Bay of Islands was voted one of New Zealand’s best resorts in 2007 and one of the top 20 resorts in the world by readers of Andrew…

All Black Up-and-comers

All Black Up-and-comers

NZ has won the world under-19 rugby championship for the first time since 2004, with a decisive 31-7 victory over South Africa in Belfast, Ireland. “To win tonight, and also so resoundingly, was just fantastic,” said NZ…

Smither reveals wild side over tea and cake

Smither reveals wild side over tea and cake

NZ poet laureate Elizabeth Smither was a guest speaker at the recent Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival. A journalist interviewing her for the Malaysian Star was amazed at her calm and easygoing persona, which…

Adventure tourism for the tastebuds

Adventure tourism for the tastebuds

The Malaysian Star interviews NZ born Wendy Hutton, an intrepid food and travel writer who is “practically a household name in South-East Asia.” Hutton has published numerous cook books, including Singapore Food and A…

Rhodes Beats the Heat

Rhodes Beats the Heat

Brian Rhodes won the men’s open category of the Desaru International Triathlon in sweltering Malaysian conditions, beating last year’s winner Jason Shortis of Australia by nearly five minutes. Fellow Kiwi Stephen Sheldrake finished third. The annual event…

Travelers Flock to the Edge

Travelers Flock to the Edge

NZ’s booming tourism industry shows no signs of slowing down, with a 20% increase in overseas visitors arriving in July than for the same period last year. According to the Tourism Research Council, tourism will grow by…

The World According to Bob

The World According to Bob

Bob MacLaren – writer, comedian, and host of the Discovery Channel’s wacky travel show, Bob’s World – interviewed in the Star. “The idea was to take ourselves not just to the level of your…

Home Turf Win

Home Turf Win

NZ cruised to the top of the International Rugby Sevens table with a resounding 33-15 win over Fiji in the Wellington series final. Matua Parkinson, who had assumed the captaincy due to the unavailability of both Karl…

Edge espressoholics

Edge espressoholics

The Star attributes Wellington’s creativity and can-do attitude to its extraordinary topography and world-ranking caffeine intake. “Wellington, the ‘windy city,’ definitely enjoys one of the most challenging locations on earth. ‘Here’s your brief,’ the…

Giant of the Game Acknowledged by IRPA

Giant of the Game Acknowledged by IRPA

The International Rugby Players Association (IRPA) presented Jonah Lomu with its discretionary Special Merit Award at a ceremony in Sydney on November 18. Lomu, described by The Star as “the face of the last two World Cups,”…

Little Brother is Watching…

Little Brother is Watching…

NZ’s National Radiation Laboratory has been given the government go-ahead to build a NZ$1 million nuclear test monitoring station in Fiji. The station will be one of a global network of 321 facilities set up in…

Jobs for (Almost) All

Jobs for (Almost) All

Unemployment in NZ is at a 16-year low of 4.7% thanks largely to net gains in permanent and long-term migration. Employment Minister, Steve Maharey: “We are now experiencing lower unemployment than all our major trading partners, including…

Pure class

Pure class

Promoting her international debut release on Decca, (the world’s largest classical label) prodigious Christchurch singing talent 16-yr old Hayley Westenra continues to charm. The album mixes Westenra’s sonorous voice with classical crossover pieces, choral,…

How to Remember Sir Peter Blake?

How to Remember Sir Peter Blake?

The government has committed $2.5 million to the construction of a memorial museum in the late Sir Peter Blake’s honour on the Auckland waterfront. Sports Minister Trevor Mallard: “The  exhibition will ensure a…

Two-ton Fleming Squashes Records

Two-ton Fleming Squashes Records

A testament to leading by example, Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming hit a career-best 274 not out in the first Test against Sri Lanka. Fleming’s total is the second highest test score ever made by a…

Hey big spender

Hey big spender

Australia’s John Fairfax Holdings Ltd has bought NZ’s top media group – Independent News Limited (INL) – for NZ$1.19 billion. The package includes more than 80 major newspapers and magazines, and means that over…

Caddie by Day…

Caddie by Day…

Steve Williams – the NZ-born caddie to Tiger Woods – is gaining sponsorship recognition in his own right. The race car driver has just signed a lucrative deal with Valvoline, whose logo he will wear while…

Black Caps’ Dark Horse

Black Caps’ Dark Horse

Stephen Fleming will come out looking good no matter where NZ places in this year’s Cricket World Cup. So says Johannesburg’s The Star, which included the Black Caps’ captain in their official “World Hunks XI.” “One…

Perils of Modern Life

Perils of Modern Life

Who says desk-jobs are easy? NZ medical researchers have discovered a potentially deadly threat to frequent computer users. Dubbed “e-thrombosis,” the blood-clotting disorder has similar effects to those sometimes suffered by long-distance air travellers. The methods of prevention…

Rugby Sevens World Champions

Rugby Sevens World Champions

New Zealand won the World Rugby Sevens series title for the third consecutive year, wrapping up the series with a convincing 29-5 victory over South Africa in the Malaysia Sevens final. Said coach Gordon Tietjens: “I am…

Colonial Post

Colonial Post

New Zealand beat England for the first time at home in 18 years as the series finishes 1-1. “New Zealand are a very resilient side and they are very hard to break down”, says England captain…

Kitchen Cleans Up

Kitchen Cleans Up

Kiwi Shelly Kitchen squashes the opposition, taking out the YTL Women’s Open title. The win was the second in a row for Kitchen, also the winner of the Singapore Open.  

Big Cheese (and Milk)

Big Cheese (and Milk)

Taking on the world’s food ingredients multinationals, New Zealand farmers vote to merge NZ dairy Group and Kiwi Cooperative Dairies to form Global Dairy Co., a company that will be the ninth largest dairy company in…

Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura

When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…

Screw Up

Screw Up

Marlborough winemakers ditch traditional cork in favour of screw tops for better quality.  

Golden Drop Standard

Golden Drop Standard

New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA are on the way to mutual acceptance of differing wine standards, making market access easier for everyone.  

Climate Change Challenge

Climate Change Challenge

“The climate models are only useful if the science is correct, and so far they have simply not been validated. They predict far more temperature increase in the lower atmosphere than satellites are measuring,” says Auckland University…

What the Hell is That Smell?

What the Hell is That Smell?

Touring Canadian Chris Atchison notes Rotorua’s characteristic odour, but finds “the sheer wonder of the natural show makes the stench a bit easier to tolerate”.

Slight Change

Slight Change

New Zealand superbike champ Aaron Slight picks up two extra wheels driving for Peugeot in the British Touring Car Championships.

Economic Outlook

Economic Outlook

New Zealand’s economy continues on the up; will the edge buck the downward trend of trading partners and major players?

Peaceful PM

Peaceful PM

PM Helen Clark sat on the selection committee for the Millennium Peace Prize for Women, alongside writer Alice Walker and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta.

Bored? Zorb!

Bored? Zorb!

“Over the years, Kiwis apparently have become bored counting sheep and have amused themselves by coming up with some extreme sporting activities. They pioneered bungee jumping and zorbing (literally rolling down a hill strapped inside a ball). Also,…

Everybody on Board

Everybody on Board

“Kiwi Experience, a hop-on-hop-off backpacker bus service that was created in New Zealand in 1998 proved such a successful concept that it became a blueprint for imitators around the world.”

Defending Champ

Defending Champ

Michael Campbell came from behind to retain his title at the 2001 Heineken Classic in Perth.

Iron Birthday Suits

Iron Birthday Suits

“It was my destiny to win today,” said birthday boy Kiwi Bryan Rhodes after his record-breaking 8hrs 41:53 win in the Malaysian Ironman Triathlon.  

Smail Away

Smail Away

Seven days after coming home to take the New Zealand Open, David Smail won his second professional tournament after eight years playing – the Canon Challenge in Sydney.  

Bonded Money

Bonded Money

A province of Ontario 2008 bond in New Zealand dollars creates a flurry among savvy Canadian investors.

Wheezy September

Wheezy September

Mysterious medical matter: asthma admission in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Trinidad all have an unexplained annual peak in the third week of September.

Cultural resonance

Cultural resonance

”Everything I saw in this film I see in my own country,” says Maori Jillian White, speaking of Native Canadian films screened at Canada’s Sundance festival.

Fez Bus

Fez Bus

New Zealand-run Fez Bus service is top pick for transport in Turkey.

Flower Power

Flower Power

Does a pohutukawa in bloom signal a marriage, heat or no Father Christmas?

Vertical Exhilaration

Vertical Exhilaration

NZ-filmed and directed Vertical Limit goes public. The scenery scores universal acclaim: Ottawa Citizen, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, ctnow, entertainmentnewsdaily, National Post, Chicago Tribune, the Star, Washington Post. Scott Glen battled Mt Cook, the…

Killer Wine

Killer Wine

Wairau River Sauvignon favoured by the Star and National Post Online, “killer” Cabernet Franc in the Washington Post, Villa Maria leaves the National Post reaching for more.