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No 2, one year on
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…
Energetic Performance
Bringing energy to the Aussies, New Zealand super-drink V grows Frucor revenue 27%.
Driving On
Eric Bailey-Balfour, 99, of Timaru passes his “very easy” driving test and gets a cake from the AA.
Riding High
Kiwi wonder-kid jockey Michael Walker rides for Aussie trainer Lee Freedman at the Anniversary Cup in Queensland.
Whiff of Health
Edge-designed disease-detecting super-nose could lead to a revolution in doctoral diagnosis, as well as having commercial applications in the oil and gas industry.
Government Wind
New Zealand government brings wind power to Pakistan’s Gwadar district.
Polished Knowledge
“Digital Libraries hold the possibility that we might regain perspective on the billions of pieces of information in the web ocean.” In particular, DL system Greenstone, created by Dr Witten of…
Eco-powering Taranaki
Small-scale mixed-source energy generation at Pioneer Village “brings a little closer the prospect of freeing consumers forever from rising power bills and the guilt of contributing to pollution and climate change.”
Brits take to New Girl
Emily Perkins’s The New Girl: “The atmosphere of summer, youth and restlessness in a social backwater is strong, as is the projection of Miranda’s intriguing personality and its effect…
You Can’t Beat Them
New Zealanders – the world’s biggest consumers of ice-cream.
Van Dyke Taken to Heart
Former South African International Netballer Irene Van Dyke picks up public choice player of the year as New Zealand fans claim her as one of their own.
Schuster, Stoppard, Sauvignon
The 1999 Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (“my homage to Michael Schuster”) is a current favorite of British women’s-health guru Dr Miriam Stoppard. This New Zealand example is ‘fresh and rich and…
The Lion Doesn’t Sleep Tonight
‘If you must know, I woke up at two o’clock. My mind was racing. I tried to read for a bit, dropped off and woke again at four thirty. Mind…
Get Up Stand Up – Kiwi Cultural Laboratory
New Zealand doesn’t get the attention it deserves as a “kind of cultural laboratory for issues such as the rights of indigenous inhabitants or the equality of women”.
School’s dinner
On the heels of his hotly anticipated new venture Providores, edge fusion food-man Peter Gordon spurns the celeb-chef cliche for knife-wielding cruelty and cooks top notch cuisine to raise…
Palliser Palate Thriller
“My top pick Vintages white is a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that thrills the palate: Palliser Estate 2000 Sauvignon Blanc.”
Advice to Note
Icon of NZ music remembered. Composer Douglas Lilburn, 85, found a “distinctive voice from his native New Zealand.” The Guardian praises the “strong emotional appeal” of his music, noting…
Island Export
Treasure Island, Survivor – love them or loathe them “reality” means ratings. With a patent on the format Treasure Island is a New Zealand export success for…
Origin Controversy
Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria – or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?
Springsteen: Born to Shine
New Zealand astronomer names star after star.
Dealing to the Queen
It’s only a matter of time before New Zealand becomes a republic says PM Helen Clark, stressing that it’s still not a high priority.
Yankee Dangle
Want thrills? Inhale the air head to Queenstown for “utter exhilaration” and the town Bill Clinton called the “most beautiful place on earth.”
Easy-over or Sunnyside Up?
Which ever way you flip it, global warming will affect every part of New Zealand – but perhaps we’re among the lucky ones?
Historian Remembered
Professor Neville Phillips – erudite, open-minded “sometimes spiky”. One of New Zealand’s leading historians, remembered for the day he stood up to Rob Muldoon in defence of the university and intellectual freedom.
Neville…
ANZAC Bond
On April 25, 1935, Ataturk, the great general who masterminded the historic Turkish defensive victory at Gallipoli said, “Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now resting in our bosom and…
Miracle Reading
Reading Recovery, developed by New Zealand’s Dame Marie Clay, means results at a Toronto Public School where staff “watched miracles unfold” after the programme was introduced.
Mini Scandal
The Christine Rankin case causes an outbreak of nostalgia for the mini-skirt.
First class performance
New Zealand student Geoff Pinfield gains a first class degree and the inaugural Simon Callow prize for Theatre Criticism at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Financial Future Rosy
Finance Minister Michael Cullen optimistic about New Zealand’s economic future despite the global slowdown.
Trickster Wasp
Newly discovered New Zealand parasitic wasp creates a whole new insect family – Maamingidae, named after the Maori word for trickster, because it has taken so long to come to light.
Hogg Headed
New Zealand-born and educated scholar and teacher James F. Hogg appointed to head Western State University College of Law.
Maori Leader Born
July 3 is the anniversary of the birth of Maori leader and MP Sir Apirana Ngata in Kawakawa, 1874.
Writing With a Cause
Working for international NGOs appeals to journalists as “an honorable route forward”, including former New Zealand reporter Brendan Parry, now working for Amnesty International, where there is “a huge amount of recognition…
The New IT Kiwis
“We should be treating any skilled, IT-qualified immigrant to New Zealand like gold,” says Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce head Michael Barnett.
Intimate work
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox generates massive buzz for her award-winning work in Patrice Chereau’s Intimacy, based on the metro-culture sex and angst stories of Hanif Kureishi. For Fox,…
Another Shade of White
Bridget Jones not withstanding, the reign of Chardonnay is over – Sauvignon Blanc is the white of the moment, and Marlborough’s “peppery, citrus driven” offerings have set the contemporary standard. …
Healthy Holiday
Allergic to mold? Your best holiday destination is “a snow-capped New Zealand mountain above the Pacific” where the elevation, snow, and ocean breezes kill dust mites and mold.
Out of the Roo’s Pouch
New Zealand’s continued “innate patriotism and pride” make a political merger with Australia unlikely, but economic convergence is welcome says foreign minister Phil Goff.
Landing the big one
Turner New Zealand baits the hook for US seafood buyers with on-demand video demonstrations by celebrity chefs and NZ-fresh fish delivered to the door. Not only is Turner’s…
International Peak
New Zealand-born Rhys Millen drives over the competition, posting a record-breaking 11 minutes, 58.53 seconds in the 79th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
My brilliant career
Jurassic action hero and “rugged individualist” Sam Neill gets the NY Daily News career review: “tall, handsome, fiftyish, New Zealand accent”. And Neill wonders at the anonymity despite the…
Bach Symphony
Design/style bible Wallpaper scours the globe to compile a directory of the best architects to pick if you’re thinking of home improvements and includes the “sparklingly clear vision” of…
Clean as a Whistle
New Zealand comes up smelling of roses, second equal behind Finland in the world anti-corruption rankings.
Crackers Rowers
Former New Zealand representative sailor Dominic Mee and his best buddy Tim Welford are half way across the Pacific in a rowboat named Crackers.
Well Crafted
New Zealand-born Alice Beatrice Waymouth was a noted silversmith, enameler and jeweler. Her daughter Judith Hughes, now 89, is “a cabinetmaker and designer who reached the top of a male dominated…
The Fox Boy
Comment on Peter Walker’s “fascinating” biography of William Fox Omahuru, the Maori boy abducted to be raised by Sir William Fox, future New Zealand PM. A tale of colonialism…
Emily’s choice
British-based New Zealand writer Emily Perkins sat on the all-powerful all-girl jury for the Orange Prize, Britain’s major literary award for women only. Also, Perkins comments on the double jury…
The new girl
Emily Perkins is “an adventurous writer” whose recent novel, The New Girl is an “ambitious work, rich with creative tension”, and a “huge leap” for a writer whose first…
Sandwich Wars
How do Americans explain the antipodean phenomenon of Vegemite? “It looks like a mixture of kangaroo poop and old motor grease, but it doesn’t taste as good as either.”
Gentleman Amateur
Mourning the days when tennis players had urbanity and looked like professors, Howard Jacobson, first time Wimbledon-watcher turns to the past for solace: “Bored with it, I take a turn…
Jolly Jodphurs
“Suave, tanned and wearing tight white jodphurs,” New Zealander Peter Grace is Britain’s best polo coach, teaching the rich and trendy to swing mallets and retain a firm seat at Ascot…
Where Everyone Gets Some Shares
400 store managers at the Warehouse Group are to receive share options with a total value of $184 million, but Australian managers, working in newer, smaller stores will miss out.
Penguins Pegging Out
Global warming, along with over-fishing and oil-spills, threatens penguin populations around the world says University of Otago penguin biologist Lloyd Davies.
On the Up
A low dollar, good tourism revenues and buoyant international prices for our primary commodities are leading New Zealand towards an unexpectedly strong export-lead recovery, including a $95million current account surplus. Also, “It…
Fairytale victory
Kiwi co-directed Shrek is “a computer-generated miracle. Based on William Steig’s 28-page book, the film puts forward the most marvellous case for the craziness of repressing fairytales since Sondheim’s…
Nearly There
“In principle, we are just about there. I want it and everyone wants it,” says former NZ-PM, WTO head Mike Moore, confirming his work on bringing China into the WTO has…
