Archive >> January 2004

Call of the Wild

A combined BBC and ABC production team has spent 3 years filming the first comprehensive nature program on Australasia. The 6-part series – Wild Australasia – uses state-of-the-art…

Opus Goes Trans-Atlantic

NZ firm Opus International Consultants has expanded its business in Canada with the purchase of Geoplan Consultants Inc. Opus already has offices in the UK, Malaysia and Australia, and in 2002…

A delightful upset

26 January 2004 – Peter Jackson may have been a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination, but the inclusion of first-time thespian Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) in the Best Actress…

Stopping traffic

Cliff Curtis is one of the key protagonists in the US miniseries Traffic – an adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film by the same name. Ever the ethnic chameleon (previous…

Lions and Tigers and Keas, Oh My!

National Post travel article muses on the many similarities between NZ and Canada: “The gracious wooden Victorian houses of Wellington could have been stolen from sea captains in the Maritimes. New Zealand’s…

Perkins on Gee

Regular Guardian contributor, Emily Perkins, gives a glowing review of compatriot Maurice Gee’s latest novel, The Scornful Moon. Perkins describes the tale of a struggling detective fiction writer working…

Quality Export

Former Wellington Saints player, Calum MacLeod, is the latest Kiwi basketballer to be snapped up by the US college league. The 20-year-old – who stands a fraction under 7 feet -…

Edge Adventuress

NZer Natalie McComb is the only woman in a crew of seven rafters aiming to sail the length of the Nile – a 4,200-mile journey from Uganda’s Lake Victoria to…

Under Gollum’s skin

The latest must-have for LotR enthusiasts is Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic. Written by Andy Serkis who played Gollum in the trilogy the book includes extracts…

The High Life

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…

Sun Shines on Black Caps

The Black Caps won a thrilling one-day international series against Pakistan 4-1, with captain Stephen Fleming leading by example. Highlights included an unbeaten century by Scott Styris in…

Beyond the humble bach

The Guardian explores NZ’s high-end bach culture, with profiles of such luxurious rentals as the Glasshouse on Waiheke Island, Oceania II and Villa Toscana Lodge on the Coromandel Peninsula,…

The People’s Choice

Aotearoa earned its second consecutive “Top Destination for the Coming Year” award in the annual poll of Lonely Planet staff around the world. According to global travel editor, Don George, for one…

Quality tucker

January 14, 2004 – Significant New York Times feature ‘The Other Down Under’ chronicles NZ’s culinary revolution – from land of the long boiled mutton to world-class gastronomic player….

Sir Bob Farewelled in Almost Perfect Symmetry

NZ golfing great, Sir Bob Charles, made his last ever appearance at the NZ Open – an event he won for the first of 4 times as an 18-year-old amateur in…

Down Under Up-and-coming

CNN profiles the rash of Australasian talent currently infiltrating PGA ranks. Included in its top ten are two NZ golfers, “since to North Americans they’re Down Under, too” – Michael Campbell (world…

Pure dynamite

Global sales of Pure, the international debut album by teenage singer Hayley Westenra, hit the one million mark in early January. Released in September, Pure is the best-selling debut…

Cultural export

Boston Globe writer catches a performance from acclaimed NZ dance troupe, Black Grace, at their first European festival outing in the Netherlands. “Australia and NZ are among those enlightened…

Mother of Invention

Age feature charts former Thompson Twin Alannah Currie’s career trajectory from 80s popstar to the face of MadGE (Mothers Against Genetic Engineering) – NZ’s most visible opponent of genetically modified crops….

Best of the Summer Wine

The NZ wine industry is set to benefit from the country’s Rings-inspired tourist influx this year, with two major travel features in the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. The former…

Track Star

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…

From Hollywood to Bollywood

NZ actor Martin Henderson is currently starring in Torque, the big-budget Hollywood motorcycle flick by the makers of 2 Fast 2 Furious and xXx. He describes Torque…

Taranaki’s Hollywood ambassador

Tom Cruise sang the praises of Aotearoa to the US on his promotional tour for The Last Samurai, the Japanese military epic filmed largely in Taranaki. As well as…

Over but Not Quite Out

No.1 women’s squash player, Carol Owens, retired from her professional career on a high note by winning her second World Open title in December. Owens may still represent NZ at the 2006…

Innovators R Us

NZ has been named one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries for the third year running by the annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The 41-country UK/US-based survey identified NZ – alongside Chile,…

Easy Money

NZ has the world’s third freest economy, to an annual survey by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong took the top spot for the tenth consecutive year, followed…

Earthsea in Aotearoa

NZ is to act as ‘best supporting location’ for yet another cult fantasy series; this time for an adaptation of Ursula Le Guin’s acclaimed Earthsea novels by the creative team behind…

Recognition for Political Torchbearer

Mayor of Dunedin, Sukhi Turner, has been conferred the Indian government’s highest honour for non-resident civilians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for the Indian Diaspora. She is the first New Zealander to…

From sea to sky

Witi Ihimaera – “debonair 59-year-old, multi-award winning author, playwright, librettist, anthologist, university lecturer, former foreign diplomat and Maori activist” – interviewed in the Age about his latest novel, Sky Dancer….

100 Years of Class

Worldwide centenary celebrations for Rolls Royce were launched in NZ January 25, with a commemorative dinner for fans and owners held in Auckland. 50 of the company’s luxury cars – including a…