Archive >> June 2011

Ever-Changing Glacial Beauty

Franz Josef’s remote location on the wild West Coast of the South Island makes it the perfect place to hide away, and it’s one of the few places in…

#134: Get Closer

Edge Message #134 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

Greetings (from Nantucket). NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook and

Lured by Indian Skies

A host of New Zealand companies are keen to enter the Indian aviation market enticed by the South Asian country’s booming economy and its burgeoning aviation sector growing at…

Challenging the Purists

Wine producers from New Zealand, the United States and France are switching from glass to plastic wine bottles, saying they are lighter, good for the environment and not bad…

Focus on Winning

Described as the world’s best number 1, All Black Dan Carter is focused on one thing: winning. And not just the William Webb Ellis Trophy at the Rugby World…

Right Whale Returns to NZ

More than one hundred years after it was hunted to local extinction, the right whale is finally finding its way back to its ancestral calving grounds in New Zealand,…

Revealing Familial Tales

“They didn’t know it at the time, but when New Zealand-born Chris and Peter O’Doherty lost their quietly spoken father 11 years ago, his story wasn’t over and theirs…

Kirwan’s Japanese Goal

“It’s been five years since coach John Kirwan, an All Blacks hero from the rugby stronghold of New Zealand, took the helm of the Japanese team,” Shuhei Nomura writes…

Empire Covers Middle Earth

“In honour of Jackson’s long-awaited return to Middle-earth for two dragon-and-dwarf-laden prequels — as a “good luck charm” according to the director — Empire takes its symbolic and…

Beats Nine-to-Five

Hamilton-born cyclist Brett Tivers has won the Fond du Lac Bicycling Gran Prix Men Pro ½ in Wisconsin, a 9-minute race around the city’s downtown streets. “It’s a good…

Jumping the Gap

With New Zealand still reeling from the effects of the Christchurch earthquakes, and its economy struggling to shrug off the turmoil caused by the global financial crisis, many people…

Après-Ski in Queenstown

While New Zealand towns generally don’t have a reputation as nightlife hubs, the South Island’s adventure capital, Queenstown is a vibrant exception according to The Australian’s Susan Kurosawa. “My…

Living His Dream

At the age of 12, Wellingtonian Cole Peverley, who currently plays at midfield for Charleston Battery in South Carolina, travelled to Europe for a youth tournament in 2. He…

Bewildering Benevolence

Janet Frame’s novel Living in the Maniototo is included in a Wall Street Journal’s ‘Novel Approaches to Kindness’ ‘Five Best Books’ feature as one of the “oddest acts of…

Naked at Glastonbury

Auckland band The Naked and Famous, together with Metronomy and Wu-Tang Clan, helped open this year’s Glastonbury music festival. Bass player David Beadle talked to NME ahead of the…

Enough Room for Everyone

The New Zealand company behind Toyota people-carriers Spaceships — in the UK now for 18 months — is recommended by the Guardian in a travel feature about campervanning in…

Avalanche City: Love Love Love

Listen to Avalanche City’s hit debut single, Love Love Love.

Cheer Up, New Zealand

The population of New Zealand is convinced “the future looks bleak … yet by almost every possible metric New Zealand is a success,” says US economist Sebastian Edwards in…

Relief for Christchurch Residents

Thousands of Christchurch home owners are breathing a sigh of relief following John Key’s announcement on the future of their properties. Entire suburbs of Christchurch are to be abandoned…

New World Struts its Stuff

A selection of New Zealand reds were pitted against those from Bordeaux at a recent blindtasting in Hong Kong at Club Lusitano with a New Zealand bottle taking third…

#133: Rapid Evolution

Edge Message #133 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM | 21 June 2011

Greetings. NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook and Twitter….

Out of the Blue Accolades

Akaroa lodge Maison de la Mer has been named fourth-best bed and breakfast to stay in the world by leading online guide Tripadvisor. Owner Bruce Hyland said that after…

Exploring Emperor Intrigues

For only the second time in recorded history, an Emperor Penguin has swum 3km from Antarctica to New Zealand, making landfall at Peka Peka beach on the Kapiti Coast….

On a Whole Other Level

“Getting to rub shoulders with world-class rugby stars like Richie McCaw and Dan Carter is just one of the many benefits young players from around the world are experiencing…

Kiwi Icon Collection by Designer Rugs

Learn about the inspiration behind the latest Designer Rugs collection, Kiwi Icons. The collection features designs from some high…

Westenra Performs in Malta

Christchurch “music sensation” Hayley Westenra, will perform alongside Italian pop icon Lucio Dalla and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja on July 9 at the annual Joseph Calleja concert at the…

Wisconsin Look-Alikes

New Zealand father and son Michael and Mitchell Roberts are the winners of the Wisconsin Green Bay Press-Gazette’s father-son look-alike contest beating 3 other participants. You know it by…

Travel in Day-to-Day Iran

New Zealand author and journalist Jill Worrall’s travelogue Two Wings of a Nightingale: Persian Soul, Islamic Heart about her 8km road trip through Iran was unveiled during…

Audain’s Professional Legacy

Thirty years ago this month Auckland-born Olympic middle and long distance athlete Anne Audain accepted $1, for winning a 15km race in Oregon, launching a lucrative road-racing career while…

On-the-Road Epicurean

Fat Freddy’s Drop keyboard player Dobie Blaze features in the Irish Times weekly feature “Booking the Cooks”, in which the Wellingtonian reveals his secret recipe for ravioli of abalone…

Sleeping Right in Pregnancy

Auckland University researchers have found a link between sleep position in the final hours of pregnancy and the risk of late stillbirth. Women who did not sleep on their…

Hart’s Packaged Deal

New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart’s Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd has acquired Graham Packaging Co Inc (GRM.N) after raising its bid to $1.69 billion. Reynolds, a private-investment firm…

Dallas Represents

“New Zealand’s finest” hip hop star Aucklander David Dallas, who recently signed with US label Duck Down Records, reveals plans for a return to America in July and says…

Ahead of Season Four

As anticipation builds for the June 26 season premiere of True Blood, New Zealander Anna Paquin, spoke with The New York Times about her maturation on the…

Huffer on Ice

New Zealand fashion label Huffer and Absolut Vodka, a brand owned by spirits and wine company Pernod Ricard USA, are collaborating on a limited edition bottle featuring…

Jones’ Cerebral Legacy

Upper Hutt-born neuroscientist Dr Edward “Ted” Jones, who was an expert on brain anatomy and the causes of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders, has died in Los Angeles, aged…

Vision for a Settled Ground

‘“Happy the country that never makes the front page’ we said recently of Australia,’” Auckland Banyan columnist writes for The Economist. “Even more apt for its smaller…

Temple Built to Burn

New Zealand builder Chris “Kiwi” Hankins is putting his skills to use in Reno, leading the construction of the Temple of Transition – the latest super-sized art project for…

Living in a Postcard

There are no cars in New Zealand according to the Telegraph’s Tarquin Cooper, on holiday experiencing “a country unlike any other on Earth.” “As someone who is…

Authentic Fresh Energy

Auckland director Christine Jeffs, known for acclaimed Indie films Sunshine Cleaning and Rain, has signed with the New York-based commercial production company Xenon for exclusive US spot representation. Xenon…

Blue Rates Destiny

Waiheke Island’s Destiny Bay Vineyard 27 Magna Praemia has been awarded a rating of 98 out of 1 by top United States wine critic and editor-in-chief of The Tasting…

Lit by the Might of Another

Mt Taranaki features in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ‘News of the World Pictures’ section, the snowy peak lit by a “warm glow” as the ash cloud from Chilean volcano Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle…

Xena’s Mt Albert Eco-Home

Lucy Lawless, star of television series Xena and Spartacus, is returning to her roots in Mt Albert, Auckland where she is converting a large part of her estate into…

Return of the Warrior

The 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior made the converted fishing trawler a campaigning icon. Now, in its 4th anniversary year, Greenpeace is launching its first purpose-built…

Norwich Empire Expands

“New Zealand chef Chris Coubrough’s food empire has been growing faster than an asparagus stalk in May,” Norwich Evening News Sarah Brealey writes in a review of…

Pitching For the Cardinals

Christchurch baseball player Alex Dawson, has been pitching for the midget AAA St. Albert Cardinals team and has already experienced some of the major differences between baseball…

Keeping Germs at Home

An editorial written by Victoria University sociologist Professor Kevin Dew and published in the British Medical Journal says “presenteeism”, prevalent among health workers and those in other…

Roadside Mussels the Best

Green-lipped mussels, or Perna canaliculus are indigenous and exclusive to New Zealand, and they’re a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, The Australian’s Susan Hurley writes. The molluscs are almost…

Challenging the Monopoly

New Zealand company Pacific Fibre has embarked on an ambitious unlisted capital raising to fund a submarine cable from Australia to New Zealand and on to the US…

Reverence for Heritage

A more “tranquil” New Zealand adventure is sought by the Wall Street Journal’s Paul Baylis, who takes a kayaking daytrip on Lake Taupo to see the Maori…

Pioneer Territory Emerges

The sumptuous depiction of New Zealand in the 195s and ‘6s trumps the weepy story at the heart of one of the most expensive Dutch films ever made…

#132: Headlines and Events

Edge Message #132 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

Greetings. NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook and Twitter. This newsletter presents a…

Escaping the Clippers Forever

New Zealand’s celebrity merino Shrek — who evaded muster on Bendigo Station for six years and carried 27kg of fleece — has been put down at the age of…

Auckland in the Spotlight

Food writer Simon Farrell-Green is the Guardian’s tour guide about Auckland ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Auckland’s life is “all in the suburbs” according to writer Rachel Dixon….

Wellington in the Spotlight

Wellington journalist and blogger Nick Churchouse takes the Guardian about the capital on a culinary tour of where to find the best food and drink between Rugby World…

Master of Sports

Sonny Bill Williams is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to sports. “SBW,” who has played in both Australia and France, turned down big money offers from other…