Beware the Shaky Isles

The grim travel warning issued for NZ by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has caused derision on both sides of the Tasman. According to the DFAT, NZ is a…

Canterbrian Chinatown

An amateur English historian claims that NZ was discovered and settled by Chinese explorers well before the arrival of Maori. According to Cedric Bell, a Chinese city of 4,000 people was…

A day like no other

Alone It Stands, John Breen’s play about the infamous 1978 All Black loss to Irish club Munster, ran at Sydney’s Opera House Drama Theatre during the Rugby World Cup…

X-treme for the Faint of Heart

Washington Post reporter goes tandem skydiving in Queenstown, one of the “softer” sports on offer in the home of X-treme: “somewhere between hot-air ballooning and needle-pointing … I survived without a scratch,…

Noiseworks

Houston Press reviews an exhibition by edge conceptual artist Julian Dashper at the Texas Gallery. ‘Unique Records’ is a collection of art-shrine sound-bites amassed during Dashper’s travels and presented…

Get Real

Brent Hansen, NZ-born MTV Europe chief executive, criticises the current obsession with ready-made pop stars epitomised by hit reality Television show, American/Australian Idol: “These programs make good TV but…

Hard-edged Cinema

05 November 2003 – Empire magazine applauds Christine Jeff’s Sylvia  the biopic of American poet Sylvia Plath starring Gwyneth Paltrow – calling it “a moving and supremely acted account…

Where Angels Tread

Time magazine special on exotic bike tours recommends Butterfield & Robinson’s NZ adventure, ‘Cloud Walk.’ After cycling Fox Glacier, participants are ferried to Mt Cook via helicopter: “There, from above the cloud…

Catch Me if You Can Merriman

NZer Stefan Merriman won the 250cc two-stroke class riding for Australia at the 2003 International Six Days’ Enduro in Fortaleza, Brazil. “The three-time world champion was an intimidating force on his…

Hunters and Gatherers

Baltimore Sun writer, Maureen Conners, accompanies her brother on a hunting trip to Shane Quinn’s Alpine Hunting Adventures, just out of Taupo. While brother bags deer, Conners wines and dines, shops,…

A Tailor of Two Empires

Bafta award winning costume designer Ngila Dickson profiled (+ slide show) in the New York Times. The signature of Dickson’s work on Lord of the Rings and Last Samurai…

Glisten Like a Pearl …

NZ locales and services scored points with international tourists in the annual Condé Nast Readers Choice Awards, the most prestigious and comprehensive poll of its kind. Christchurch and Queenstown ranked highly on…

“Round the Horn if You Dare”

Russell Crowe graces the cover of Time, prior to the release of his latest film, Peter Weir’s acclaimed maritime epic, Master and Commander.  His edge? “Hanks, Cruise and…

End of a Long Innings

Gordon Lindsay Weir, the world’s oldest surviving Test cricketer, died in Auckland on October 31 aged 95 years and 151 days. Known in cricketing circles as ‘Dad,’ the right-hand batsman and medium-pace…

Matchmaker

Scotsman sommelier, Rose Murray Brown, sheds light on the delicate task of food and wine matching. Not one to be bound by the traditional “white with fish, red with meat” mentality,…

Black sheep and proud of it

Jane Campion discusses love, Hollywood, and women directors with Harpers & Queen. “Jane Campion seems to have the wrong name. ‘Jane’ is one of those names that belongs to…

Fujinaki Tours Ltd.

29 October 2003 – Hoping that The Last Samurai will do for Taranaki what LotR has done for its various NZ locations, local guide James Heremaia has added the ‘A Mountain…

A World in Pictures

British photojournalist, Joan Wakelin, died on September 23 aged 75. Wakelin is best known for her images of Sri Lankan boat-people, Australian Aboriginal and NZ Maori communities; the latter with which she…

Twin Engined Sculls

Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell received the International Rowing Federation’s Female Rower or Crew of the Year Award at the annual FISA Coaches Conference in Athens this month. The twins won their second…

The Price is Right

New York Times feature addresses Peter Jackson’s record-breaking US$20 million salary for Universal’s King Kong remake, deciding he is more than worth the dollars. Jackson, with his collaborative team…

Go Karting Cunningham

Auckland teenager Wade Cunningham added to NZ motorsport’s current winning streak by claiming the world karting championship crown in Sarno, Italy. According to Kartsport NZ spokesman, Ross McKay, the 19-year-old’s victory is “unprecedented in…

Out-standing

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…

Go West … to the Edge

“There is another great shining land out there across the Pacific, far from the madding crowd. And it is all the things the Golden State once was. Onward then, to the…

President Hu Jintao Goes Oriental to the Edge

26 October 2003 – A 3-day diplomatic visit to NZ by Chinese President Hu Jintao has further strengthened economic ties between the two countries. Hu met with PM Helen Clark to…

Inter-national Bank

Australia’s ANZ Group has purchased the National Bank of NZ from Britain’s Lloyds TSB. The AU$5.4 billion deal is the largest takeover in the Asia-Pacific this year, doubling ANZ’s market share…

Supertramp

13-year-old Christchurch schoolgirl, Kimberley Shea, won gold at the 2003 Trampoline and Tumbling World Age Group games in Hanover, Germany. Shea came first in the 13-14 Women’s Double Mini Trampoline discipline. Her routine…

Galloping Grylls

NZ jockey Gary Grylls won the AU$90,000 Geelong Classic astride Penitentiary, despite lagging nearly 20 lengths behind leader North Face rounding the home turn. Grylls on his steed: “He was travelling…

Gracious in their Success

As their compatriots continue to climb the ranks in Hollywood  think Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Naomi Watts, and Hugh Jackman  the Australian public has decided to toss…

Kiwis Tie Down Kangaroos

The Kiwis convincingly defeated the Australian Kangaroos with a rousing 30-16 victory in a rugby league test at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. Led by the hat-trick of tries by Clinton Toopi…

Seeds of Discontent

The controversial lifting of a 2-year moratorium on genetically modified crop trials in NZ has been covered extensively by the Guardian, BBC, and Wired. The issue is a divisive…

Runway Successes

19 October 2003 – The usual suspects stood out from the crowd at the 2003 L’Oreal NZ Fashion Week in Auckland, with WORLD (above), Nom*D, and Zambesi flying the edge…

“Dark fairytale” played out on the edge

Gaylene Preston and Rachael Blake  NZ director and Australian star of Perfect Strangers  speak to the Age about filming on the South Island’s rugged West Coast….

Salty tales for stay-at-homes

Voyaging the Pacific, Miles Horden’s account of sailing between his native NZ and Patagonia, reviewed in Japan’s Daily Yomiuri. “Miles Horden’s book … is a cracking good yarn, mainly…

The ‘Rapa’s Best Kept Secrets

Herald writer, Tim Dick, extols the many virtues of his Wairarapa homeland – which have thus far escaped the notice of Wellingtonian wine tourists. High on his list of recommendations are…

Pacific Watchdog

Ngati Tuwharetoa leader, Tumu Te Heuheu, has been elected to represent all Pacific nations on the UN’s World Heritage Committee. NZ beat more than 20 other countries to win one…

Salt of the edge

In wake of the latest Booker Prize controversy – in which winner, DBC Pierre, announced his prize money would be used to pay off $200,000 in drug debts –…

AllOver UpOverDownUnder

Waikato University film graduate, Hadyn Butler, won both the best film and audience award at the annual UpOverDownUnder Antipodean Festival in London this year. His entry – Fresh –…

Day of Thunder for Dixon

Scott Dixon, 23, racing for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team, claimed the Indy Racing League title in Fort Worth, Texas. It was his first attempt on the circuit. Finishing 2nd…

Making Waves Out of Raglan

Kerry Black and his Raglan-based company, ASR (Artificial Surf Reef Ltd), are the focus of a SunSpot article on improving surf on America’s East Coast. A former Waikato University lecturer, Black…

Ocean Masters

Team NZ/Hawaii won the 52nd annual Hawaii Modular Space Molokai Hoe on October 12 by almost 5 minutes. The 41 mile race is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoeing. Team…

Sideline Action

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…

Winning Edge

2002 women’s rugby world champions, the Black Ferns, stormed a two-test series against a World XV with two convincing wins; 37-0 in Auckland, 38-19 in Whangarei. Chief point scorers in the…

Perfect Strangers

Sam Neill, Rachel Blake (Lantana) and Joel Toebeck star in Gaylene Preston’s genre-bending twisted-tale of a pick up gone wrong on the South Island’s rugged West Coast or, “chick…

Clean Dealings

An annual survey by global anti-corruption campaigners, Transparency International, ranks NZ as the world’s third cleanest business environment (equal with Denmark) on 9.5 points. Finland topped the list with 9.7 points, followed…

Let’s Talk About Sex

“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…

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…

Bring Back Germs

According to a NZ report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, children who suffer from asthma at an early age are less likely to outgrow the disease by adulthood. The…

Hillary the Height of Fashion

Newcastle designer, Nigel Cabourn, has released a limited-edition clothing range inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Everest in 1953. The collection was launched at an exhibition in Tokyo…

East Midlands Look to the South

England’s East Midlands are looking to NZ for inspiration in their bid to become a leading holiday destination. “In the world of tourism, NZ spent many years as the poor cousin…

Thinking Inside the Square

Auckland-based graphic design company, Creative Force, has won two awards at America’s Creative 33 competition for the second year running. Established in 2001 by Emma Mann, Creative Force beat thousands of…

Littler fish to fry

Fresh from US horror flick The Ring and Bollywood musical Bride and Prejudice, Kiwi actor Martin Henderson is to star alongside Cate Blanchett in the Australian film, Little Fish….

A star is Bourne

NZ actor Karl Urban, currently galloping across screens as Eomer in the LotR trilogy, will next appear in two major Hollywood sequels for cult sci-fi / horror flick, Pitch…

Great Expectations

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…

Not-so-cheap seats

LotR fans from Japan to Canada have been lining up to sponsor seats at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre, currently being refurbished in preparation for the world premiere of The Return…

Deep south delights

The Australian finds the university city of Dunedin a “hearty mix of charm and character – with plenty of wee surprises”. In the ‘Scotch Broth’ Stephen Brook includes culture…

Antarctic Archives

NZ’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences has received international funding to drill more than a kilometre beneath Antarctica in order to gain access to the “untapped record of climate change”…