Fabled Serenity Endures
Despite the tragedy of February’s catastrophic earthquake, New Zealand still delivers sublime travel experiences, writes Chris Leadbeater for The Independent. “Since 1884 has played a role as a lone token of man’s…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Cracking quake sites
Seismic hazard expert at Lower Hutt’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Dr Mark Stirling is part of a scientific research team using sonar to scan layers underneath the sea floor where past earthquakes…
Keeping it Bright and Light
New Zealander Kirsten Cameron and Canadian partner Manuelle Langlois’ Montreal apartment features in The Vancouver Sun’s weekly series ‘Shelter’. The “self-confessed mess-makers” take reporter Laurel Baker on a tour. “I like to have the…
Taking Priscilla to Broadway
New Zealand-born Simon Phillips is the director of the new Broadway version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert which opens in New York on March 2. Phillips said that his North American producers —…
Wizardry with Melody
“What Peter Jackson did for New Zealand tourism with the most expensive ad campaign ever — The Lord of the Rings — singer/songwriter Maisey Rika could possibly do for New Zealand music,” Honolulu Weekly…
Kind and Gentle Comparisons
“If some folks felt a few years back that Canada was the kinder, gentler nation America wanted to be, I felt New Zealand was the kinder, gentler nation we’d like to think of ourselves…
Downhill Game-Changer
Auckland-based Mike Hodgkinson’s 57kg off-road Mountain Moto is a “game changer” according to motorcycle blog 2Wheel Tuesday, and “takes the best of downhill mountain bikes, paired with a 125cc engine making for an unbelievable…
Learning Curls From the Best
Nelson Ede is the development officer for the only dedicated indoor curling rink in the Southern Hemisphere, which is located in Naseby, Central Otago. Ede is currently in Canada at the 211 Tim Hortons…
Epic Voyage Via Bora Bora
Cunard’s newest ship, the 292-passenger Queen Elizabeth, will sail an epic, 36-day voyage from Los Angeles to New Zealand and back in early 213, the historic line has announced. Cunard says the trip will…
New Governor-General Named
Former Defence Force head Jeremiah (Jerry) Mateparae has been named as New Zealand‘s next Governor-General, succeeding Sir Anand Satyanand on August 31. Mateparae joined the New Zealand Army in 1972 and rose through the…
Critical darlings most promising
Art-pop quintet The Naked and Famous has been named as this year’s “most promising new act” by NME; post-award ceremony the band talks to Mark Savage of BBC 6 about their recent “good fortunes”….
Henderson Aims for Yellow
Professional cyclist Dunedin-born Greg Henderson won the second stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Amilly, France, on March 7, outsprinting Australia’s Matthew Goss and Russia’s Denis Galimzyanov. “It was a very fast sprint…
Me’a Kai Beats Usual Suspects
“You could call it the gastronomic upset of the night,” The Independent said. “New Zealand-born chef Robert Oliver beat out some formidable competition to land the title of best cookbook, which was announced last…
Most Influential Player Ever
Jonah Lomu, “a defender’s worst nightmare” is “rugby’s ‘most influential’ figure the sport has ever seen”, taking the number one spot of Stephen Jones’ Top 2 Countdown in a 12-week series featured in The…
Tempest on Broadway
Auckland-based choreographer Lemi Ponifasio will perform Tempest: Without A Body on Broadway at the historical Million Dollar Theater on April 2-3. Performed by Ponifasio’s company MAU, the production is making its US premiere in…
Maritime Vines
“As land masses go, New Zealand is the youngest country on Earth, having been around for about three million years,” Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson writes for an article in the Winnipeg Free Press. “Averaging around 12km…
Competitive Nature
“He is an All Black legend, regarded as an inspirational skipper within New Zealand’s proud Test rugby union history,” Stathi Paxinos writes for The Age. “And now at the age of 37, Tana Umaga…
Jerry Hall-Inspired
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor, who is celebrating her label’s 15th year, is collaborating with Citizens of Humanity jeans and Porselli shoes on special capsule collections and opening her second New York store in…
Couldn’t Ask For More
New Zealand has clinched their second win at the Cricket World Cup beating Zimbabwe by 1-wickets at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmadabad. Opener Brendan Taylor top-scored with 44 for Zimbabwe but when he…
Man in the Running
Wellington author Craig Cliff’s debut short story collection, A Man Melting is in contention for this year’s Commonwealth £5, best first book award. Cliff is up against South African writer Cynthia Jele’s Happiness is…
Talking Clinical Ethics
Associate professor and chair of the department of philosophy at the University of Auckland Tim Dare recently delivered the keynote talk, entitled “Challenges to Clinical Ethics Committees”, at Washington and Lee University’s Medical Ethics…
One Hundred Days Without Fail
New Zealander Geoff Vuleta runs New York’s Fahrenheit 212, an innovation consultancy firm that helps Fortune 1 companies build products and bring them to market. “This business structure leads to greater opportunities, as we’re…
Dynamic Energy
Aucklander Bob Storey, a former army officer and rugby player, was one of 13 rookies racing at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska, held over the weekend of March 5-6. Storey…
Revolutionary Gel
University of Otago scientists have developed a ground-breaking gel for healing wounds after sinus injury derived from a polymer named chitosan extracted from crab-shell and squid. According to researchers, the new gel has the…
Legendary Friendly
“We here in the ‘west island’ like to cling to that old cliché of New Zealanders being slightly simple sheep-botherers, so it’s a bit of a shock when you get there and realise how…
Everest of Fishing
“New Zealand’s South Island is a trout hunter’s dream,” Cathy and Barry Beck write for the magazine Fly Rod and Reel magazine. “In this land of big fish and gin-clear water, guides tell you…
Spiritual Path in Pictures
Auckland-born artist Max Gimblett’s new versions of the Buddhist ‘Oxherding’ series — ten drawings which represent a parable about the conduct of Buddhist practice, most commonly attributed to a 12th-century Chinese Zen master –…
Bottled Mysteries
During the February 22 earthquake which struck Christchurch, the bronze statue of the city founder, John Robert Godley toppled to the ground. The discovery under Godley’s plinth of two time capsules, one made of…
Turquoise Currents
As New Zealand’s summer draws to an end, blooms of tiny ocean plants swirl in turquoise and green along the shores of the South Island. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on February 1…
Hyde’s Bitter Strength
Robin Hyde’s “remarkable tribute, in tough and rugged language, to a Chinese peasant”, the poem “Ku Li” is the Guardian’s “Poem of the Week”. “Ku Li” was begun in China during the second Sino-Japanese…
Taking the Tube
“Taniwha Cave Tubing, embraces much of what makes the New Zealand West Coast so special, with its combination of wild rivers, unspoiled forest, turbulent mining history … and an adventurous spirit,” Jim Eagles describes…
Educational Destination
India has emerged as the second largest source country after China for international students in New Zealand during 2010-11, according to statistics released by Immigration New Zealand (INZ). The number of Indian students approved…
Travel to New Zealand
“I’ve always liked Phil Keoghan as host of The Amazing Race,” Orlando Sentinel television reviewer Hal Boedeker professes. “I didn’t realize he was from New Zealand, but there he was on The Late Late…
Strategic Partners
New Zealand will open an embassy in the UAE within two months, announced Minister for Economic Development and Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee. Brownlee said the country is looking to the UAE and Saudi…
Mysteries Remain
“Days after the quake, a friend returns home to the eeriness of a place that’s undergone incredible violence,” author Emily Perkins writes for an article in the Guardian. “Everything is upended, on its side,…
Unflagging Optimist
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has been there in front of the news cameras almost from the moment the deadly earthquake struck the tourist city of Christchurch. At 57, Parker is Christchurch’s Earthquake Mayor. It’s…
Sense of Community
The White House deployed disaster-response and urban-search-and-rescue teams to Christchurch following the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the city on February 22. They were greeted there by Timothy Manning, a deputy administrator at the US…
Roman Wallflower
Lucy Lawless, New Zealand’s one and only Xena, Warrior Princess, doesn’t mind being typecast, saying, “What am I going to complain about? How many actresses work as much as me?” “Being the star of…
Celebrating Chardonnay
“We hardly ever talk about New Zealand chardonnay yet a decade ago it was the country’s most widely planted grape,” the Telegraph’s Victoria Moore writes. “As recently as 21 there were 333 hectares of…
Looking at Tectonics
The devastating earthquake that tore through Christchurch on the afternoon of February 22 is the product of a new fault line in the Earth’s crust — an offshoot from the Alpine fault — that…
In The Press Building
“I was on the phone to a man whose earthquake-damaged home burned down in Pines Beach when the earthquake hit,” eyewitness Nicole Mathewson writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “At first I thought it…
Glacier Collapses
A huge vertical slab calved off the front of New Zealand’s longest glacier, the Tasman Glacier, into Tasman Lake after the 6.3-magnitude quake hit Christchurch on 22 February. The chunk is estimated to have…
Google Responds
New Zealand-born Google executive Craig Nevill-Manning, who lives in Tribeca, New York, has been using his high-tech skills to help anxious relatives locate loved ones in earthquake-ravaged Christchurch. Nevill-Manning first created the Google Crisis…
Our Darkest Day
Christchurch has been struck by yet another devastating earthquake, this time with scores of casualties, after a 6.3-magnitude shock struck just before 1pm during a busy lunchtime on Tuesday 22 February. The official death…
Goal Overshadowed
West Ham defender Auckland-born Winston Reid has spoken of his sadness at the deadly earthquake that rocked Christchurch hours after the Hammers had booked their place in the last eight of the FA Cup…
World Transformed
Author David Haywood describes the earthquake that destroyed his home and killed scores of New Zealanders in an eyewitness account for the Guardian. “The first jolt knocked me off my feet. A desktop computer…
Steaming Forward
Contact Energy is to go ahead with the $623 million Te Mihi geothermal power project, having awarded the contract to engineering and construction management giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. in a joint venture with United…
Enduring Friendship
New Zealand has the “enduring friendship and support of many partners around the world,” President Obama said in a White House statement. Obama offered his “deepest condolences” to the people of New Zealand and…
Rear View Girls
Aspiring Auckland actresses Jessie Gurunathan and Reanin Johannink used hidden cameras fitted to the back of their jeans to film unsuspecting individuals staring at their backsides. The footage, taken in LA, was the idea…
Culinary Samplings
New Zealander Sam McFarren has lived in Brentwood, Tennessee for the past four years; she is profiled by the local newspaper The Tennessean in an article in which she talks about the differences between…
Complex Notes Cast
“Complexity — The Fine Wines of New Zealand”, a webcast wine tasting project which was launched by 21 boutique wineries last year in Denver, Colorado, was held again on Waitangi Day in Chicago in…
Easy Opening Match
The Black Caps have begun their World Cup campaign with a resounding win over Kenya, who had “no answer to some outstanding New Zealand bowling, which was full and accurate.” Paceman Hamish Bennett took…
Getting Noticed in NY
Matamata’s Emily Baker and Palmerston North’s Jessica Clarke took to the catwalks at New York Fashion Week recently with Baker named one of the top 1 newcomers of the season by online fashion bible…
Timelord Travels South
“We had only been in New Zealand for a weekend but already I had begun to understand how the country’s dramatic landscape — volcanoes, mud pools and geysers, pristine beaches, lush vegetation, lakes and…
Packing a Punch
New Zealand is one of those countries that packs an enormous amount into a relatively small package. It’s unpretentious, despite its wonderful portfolio of natural treasures that range from the semi-tropical tip of North…
Crowds Go Wild
Gisborne hosted as many as 25, spectators and 2 competitors at this year’s National Kapa Haka Festival, Te Matatini o Te Ra, held from16 through 2 February, with Rotorua-based Te Matarae i Orehu taking…
