Dispelling The Dark
An exhibition featuring New Zealand designers Nom*D, Doris De Pont, World and Zambesi is on now at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The exhibition, entitled, Together Alone: Australian and New Zealand Fashion,…
November 2009 Archives
Angelic sequel
Wellington author Elizabeth Knox’s latest – a sequel to her 1998 prize-winner The Vintner’s Luck entitled The Angel’s Cut – has been “published to strong praise” writes the Courier Mail’s Kathleen Noonan. The Vintner’s…
Home to Rest
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans heads home to Christchurch for some jet boating and a family catch-up having been at the helm of the Australian team for two seasons. Deans and the Wallabies flew out…
Together in recovery
Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, a benefit compilation for the Auckland musician who suffered a debilitating stroke in June, has been released in New Zealand on Knox’s own A Major Label, proceeds of which…
Top 50 title for Wright
Ghost Dance, the 2004 memoir by dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright, has been selected in Richard Canning’s Fifty Gay & Lesbian Books Everybody Must Read (Alyson Books, New York, 2009). ‘This untypical…
Planet Earth is blue
From Great Mercury Island, 18km off the Coromandel Peninsula, Mark Rocket and Peter Beck of privately-owned company Rocket Lab successfully launched the 6-metre rocke Atea-1 into space. The rocket, which was carrying a 2kg payload of…
Bevan Honoured in NY
Queenstown-born, London-based Academy Award-nominated film producer Tim Bevan will be presented with a career tribute at the 19th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York on November 30. Bevan has worked as producer…
Pursuing World Domination
The Christchurch-designed YikeBike has been named one of Time magazine’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009, making the cover of the publication’s Asia edition. “It’s like getting your first Big Wheel all over again — and you don’t even…
In living memory
“Three decades ago, New Zealand was a mass of tears. The country suffered its worst air tragedy ever when, on November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand plane on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica…
No hope for French
The All Blacks “overwhelmed” France 39–12 at Stade Velodrome in Marseille completing their four-test campaign in Europe without conceding a try. A rampant All Blacks wearing white jerseys to avoid a color clash scored…
Catton shortlisted
Wellington author Eleanor Catton, shortlisted for the 2009 Guardian first book award for her debut novel The Rehearsal, talks to the newspaper about the book’s beginnings, its inspiration and the “hardest bits”. “In…
Return to Form (Momentarily)
Christchurch fast bowler Shane Bond’s return to Test cricket has seen the Black Caps score a 32-run win over Pakistan in the first Test at Dunedin’s University Oval. Bond, 34, took eight wickets and the man-of-the-match…
Blissful ending
The Phoenix Foundation’s latest album Happy Ending has been given five stars by The Independent’s Andy Gill who says the Wellington sextet “are surely the most potent band to come out of New Zealand…
Arias for Chanteuse
Ladyhawke picked up two awards in the breakthrough single and album categories at the recent 2009 Australian Music Awards (Arias). The 30-year-old singer, originally from Masterton, performed her single ‘My Delirium’ live at the…
Armed with laughter
“Going to a Topp Twins gig in New Zealand is a bit like going to a thousand-strong family reunion,” writes Stephanie Bunbury for The Age. “Up front are Jools and Lynda Topp, 51-year-old identical…
Challenging Tradition
Wellingtonian Felicity Lusk, 53, has been appointed head of the prestigious 753-year-old Abingdon School, in Oxfordshire — the first female to ever run a boys’ public boarding school. “I don’t know why they chose me,”…
Out Damn Pests
New Zealand’s possum population has halved over the last 20 years down from 70 million in the 1980s to approximately 30 million. Possum control is carried out over 13 million hectares, which is about…
Miniature by might
A 25-hectare replica New Zealand city, dubbed “Little New Zealand” is being constructed in the northern Chinese city of Qufu. The $4 million New Zealand Gardens initiative will come with its own Maori village…
Phar Lap Home to Rest
A bronze statue of Timaru’s most famous resident Phar Lap has been unveiled at the entrance to the city’s raceway on State Highway 1. Timaru Herald sports editor Stu Piddington talks to the ABC’s New Zealand correspondent Kerri…
John Key on The Late Show
Prime Minister John Key presents ten reasons you should visit New Zealand on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Books come to life
Colenso BBDO are behind a stop-motion animated film developed for the New Zealand Book Council called Going West, which was created by UK design team Andersen M Studio and launched on YouTube in…
Televised Aliens
Wellington-based Weta Workshop is working with Disney XD on a television movie called Skyrunners creating, what the star of the show American Kelly Blatz describes as, a “unique and frightening … transparent” alien “with…
Common Southern Goal
Twizel pilot Kylie Wakelin, 36, is one of eight women skiing to the South Pole in a trek to mark the anniversary of the Commonwealth grouping of 53 former British colonies. Skiing six to…
Parliamentary eyesore
The Beehive has been rated among the world’s ten ugliest buildings, coming in at number three on a list decided by editors and members of the popular online Virtual Tourist travel network. Virtual Tourist’s…
Walker the Idol
New Zealand-raised eighteen-year-old Stan Walker has been crowned Australian Idol winning a AU$200,000 artist’s development fund and a recording contract with Sony. Described as a soul singer, Walker, who is a shop assistant in…
Slink Into Style
The Wairarapa’s Wharekauhau Lodge & Country Estate is one of five “sexy and stylish retreats” recommended by the Observer’s Mr and Mrs Smith who travel throughout New Zealand and Australia looking at the best….
Claim to Fame
Napier antiques dealer and former New Zealand hockey representative Kevin Percy, 74, is claiming to be the rightful heir to Alnwick Castle, the family home of the Earl of Northumberland, on an estate conservatively…
Marlborough in Seoul
Head winemaker at Jackson Estate Mike Paterson was recently in Seoul promoting the winery and hosting a wine-tasting event at the hotel W Seoul, which was interested in matching their food with Jackson wines….
Arguing the Green
“Sometime in the 2020s, New Zealand will become responsible for a massive surge in emissions from its forests,” writes Fred Pearce in his Guardian series ‘Greenwash’. “The central problem seems to be that when…
Travel Trailer Legacy
New Zealand-born entrepreneur Wade F. B. Thompson, who made his name reviving the American Airstream brand of travel trailers, has died at his Upper East Side home, aged 69. Raised in Wellington, Thompson dreamed…
Least bent
New Zealand is the least corrupt country in the world according to the annual Transparency International index which ranked 180 countries on a scale of zero to 10 with zero being perceived as highly…
Win on the wind
Nelson-born sculptor Phil Price, 44, has won the Allens Arthur Robinson People’s Choice Prize of AU$5000 for his sculpture “Morpheus”, which was part of the 18-day exhibition “Sculpture by the Sea” in Bondi. Price…
Digging For a Tipple
Next year, a team of New Zealand explorers led by Glenorchy man Al Fastier will head to Antarctica to try to recover 25 crates of rare McKinlay and Co whiskey gifted to Ernest Shackleton…
Haka and the Birds
The origins of New Zealand’s Ka Mate haka are traced and birds discovered by the Telegraph’s Sue Attwood who travels to Kapiti Island, the composer Te Rauparaha’s stronghold in the mid-1800s. Hunted by a rival tribe,…
Return to the Homeland
The remains of 12 Maori – known as koiwi tangata – were recently returned to New Zealand having been part of the Welsh national collection at National Museum Cardiff. Research has shown that the…
Shifting the Spotlight
New Zealand’s national soccer team, the All Whites, stole the limelight from its better-known rugby compatriots the All Blacks Saturday by securing a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – a…
Saving grace
New Zealand-raised cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh is praised for his work on the Mira Nair-directed film Amelia, about pioneering American aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The Observer’s Philip French writes that the film is “beautifully photographed” by…
Hawaiian theories
New Zealand may have been settled by sea-faring Hawaiians according to a new study of Polynesian canoe designs by Stanford University. The idea that ancient Hawaiians could have made the 4,400-mile journey south shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar…
All Whites Make History
The All Whites have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa beating Bahrain 1–nil at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. Striker Rory Fallon, 27, scored the only goal of the game to…
Auckland’s Happy Herd
In January 2010, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will film a new series of 10 California “Happy Cows” commercials in Auckland, taking advantage of New Zealand’s low production costs, but much to…
Green Mirage
The Guardian newspaper’s ‘greenwashing exposer’ Fred Pearce uncovers a number of offending countries who have succeeded in raising their emissions from 1990 levels despite signing up to reduce them. “Step forward Spain, Portugal, Ireland and…
Kanohi Ki Te Kanohi
Whale Watch Kaikoura has been named overall winner of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009. The Telegraph’s Mark Chipperfield travels to the seaside town to spot some southern cetaceans. Whale Watch Kaikoura is…
Teaching top form
Kiri Te Kanawa, who recently gave a recital at Washington, DC’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, also has a speaking role as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Donizetti’s comedy The Daughter…
Future Bright in Print
The future of New Zealand’s 23 daily newspapers is bright and not likely to follow international trends of downsizing. Wairarapa-based publisher and writer Ian Grant said the country’s small regionally-based newspaper market continued to…
Ski Season Success
New Zealand’s 2009 winter ski season was the best it has ever been with 1.5 million sets of skis and snowboards hitting the slopes, including over 100,000 skiers from across the Tasman. New Zealand…
Vili One of the Best
Rotorua-born shot putter Valerie Vili, 25, has been shortlisted as one of five female finalists vying for the 2009 World Athlete of the Year award. The winners will be announced during the 2009…
Welcoming business nous
New Zealand’s migration policy has been relaxed in an effort to allow potential investors and entrepreneurs to gain permanent residency. Currently the majority of Brits hoping to live permanently in New Zealand must have…
Finals Footy
Canterbury has won what could be the final Air New Zealand Cup 28–20 against Wellington in Christchurch. Two tries to Colin Slade helped Canterbury to an 18–3 half-time lead and that deficit proved too…
Creative in Cardiff
Fly half Dan Carter “played sublimely” against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff despite jeers from the capacity crowd, writes the Guardian’s Eddie Butler, “showing no sign of the calf injury that had persuaded…
South Island Sauropods
Proof that dinosaurs did roam the South Island 70 million years ago has been found with the discovery of 20 footprints across a 10km stretch in northwest Nelson. The footprints were found by geologist…
All the Way South
Online reality show The Gap Year: Challenge New Zealand began in November and follows the adventures of five British travellers battling it out over four weeks to make it to the final. Model Kimberley,…
Park’s Plinth a Triumph
A statue of revered New Zealand airman and Battle of Britain hero Sir Keith Park has been unveiled on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. The unveiling was a triumph for the veterans who…
#121: Five Fab Fellas (and a cast of thousands)
Edge Message #121 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM From left: choreographer and writer Douglas Wright; historian James…
Not taking punches
New Zealand-born Charlotte Dawson, 43, co-host of Australian reality boxing show The Contender, talks candidly to The Age about the programme and what she knows about the opposite sex. “Women want to be open…
