Unsung Hero of Buchenwald
Napier-born Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, who has died aged 93, was the leader of a group of Allied airmen sent to Buchenwald concentration camp by the Gestapo. Lamason worked in the Hawkes Bay as…
May 2012 Archives
Willis Readies for London
One of New Zealand’s “most revered track and field athletes”, Nick Willis, 29, will defend his Olympic silver medal in the men’s 1500m run at the 2012 Games in London. The London Olympics will…
Case of the Disappearing Stock
“One would never think that sheep could be an endangered animal, at least not in New Zealand,” Global E & C Solutions Marketing’s senior director Manju Bansal writes for Forbes. “Over the last few…
White Water Wins
New Zealand 2012 Olympic slalom kayaking team member Mike Dawson has taken first place in the Bud Light Lime Steep Creek Championships at this year’s Teva Mountain Games in Red Cliff, Colorado. Dawson, from…
All Black Across the Board
New Zealand Maori and the national men’s sevens team will be rebranded and known as the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks Sevens, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has said, with a change…
Harnessing Light in Venice
Port Chalmers-born sculptor, photographer and installation artist Bill Culbert will represent New Zealand at the 2013 Venice Biennale. The e-flux announcement for the appointment says that Culbert was born in 1935 and describes him…
Walking Amongst the Dead
South Island cemeteries intrigue visiting USA Today correspondent, Liz Lewis, who stops in at Collingwood cemetery and the idyllic Church of the Holy Innocents graveyard at Peel Forest. “New Zealand crime writer Ngaio Marsh…
Dress Them Like Children
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor, Metro’s “go-to designer for pretty, feminine ensembles perfect for first dates, anniversaries and meet-the-parents moments, just launched a line for another important part of a woman’s life:…
In Memory and For the Future
Several hundred people attended the unveiling of a new memorial in Paekakariki to commemorate the lives of 10 American servicemen who died at the town’s beach when a landing craft capsized during training exercises…
Hall’s Racy Debut Feature
New Zealander Regan Hall is the director and producer of Fast Girls, a new film about the UK athletics team. Directing his first feature film, Hall was determined to find young actresses…
Whakapapa a Cool Destination
Skiing down the side of active volcano Mt Ruapehu, the Herald Sun’s Sarah Nicholson is “getting to know the Whakapapa ski area… and keeping an eye out for a puff of smoke…
Rethinking Early Education
An analysis of pupils in New Zealand has found that pupils kept out of formal schooling until the age of seven perform just as well as those subjected to normal lessons at five. Academics…
Sustainable Award for Cement Works
Golden Bay Cement has been recognised for its use of bioenergy to reduce CO2 emissions, winning the Renewable Energy category in the 2012 Energy Efficient and Conservation Authority (EECA) Awards. The company has cut CO2…
Half a Century of Wine Style
New Zealand wine pioneer Villa Maria Estate’s Sir George Fistonich is celebrating his 50th vintage in the New Zealand wine industry. Sir George says the enduring popularity of the screwcap closure and sauvignon blanc…
Taxing the Habit
Over the next four years, smokers in New Zealand will have to pay 40 per cent more for a packet of cigarettes after the government announced tobacco tax hikes in this year’s budget. Prices…
Shakier Isles Than First Thought
A study has found earthquake-prone New Zealand is even more unstable than previously thought, after Victoria University scientists discovered deep tremors lasting up to 30 minutes along the country’s biggest fault line, the Alpine…
Honey, It’s a Superfood
The nectar collected by honey bees that forage New Zealand’s manuka bushes, contains unique antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, stomach-healing, wound-repairing, and overall health-promoting properties that make it an amazing “superfood” worthy of…
Tracking Space Travel from NZ
AUT University’s Institute of Radio Astronomy and Space Research (IRASR) was contracted in May to track the re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere of the world’s first privately-owned space craft to the International Space Station (ISS)….
Prime Minister John Key On Budget 2012
Prime Minister John Key outlines the Government’s 2012 Budget priorities.
Tourists Returning to Region
Chief executive of Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism Tim Hunter says tourism numbers have been “firming up” over recent months after last year’s earthquake, a process which he sees as important to the region as…
She’s Got the Look
New Zealand musician Kimbra “has the potential to be like Prince,” according to Warner Brothers Records chairman Rob Cavallo. “That’s how strong her musicality is,” Cavallo says. “Kimbra’s a real artist, and I envision…
Thorn Garners Further Prestige
Mosgiel-born lock Brad Thorn, 37, has become the first player to clinch a global three-title sweep of World Cup, European Cup and Super 15 honours, completing the triple when he helped Leinster retain their…
Forrest Family Mesmerises
“Emily Perkins’ new novel opens with the making of a home movie and retains the feel of one, full of fragmentary impressions; momentary visual clarity mixed with the jumpy blurrings…
Marshall Shows Them
Whakatane-born league star Benji Marshall’s goal-kicking “sparked a remarkable come-from-behind win over the Warriors at fortress Leichhardt Oval” beating the Auckland team 24-22. “The experience of Marshall, 27, both with the ball in hand…
Shakespeare Goes Camping
New Zealand-shot film Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song, directed by Tim van Dammen, is showing at Cannes, “asking buyers ‘where art thou?’ in the Marche du Film.” Van Dammen’s version promises trashy trailer…
Bienvenue à Akaroa
“Akaroa is reportedly sufficiently French to confuse some passengers straight off the ship, who are puzzled by the French flags flying above the town, perhaps thinking they’ve ended up in New Caledonia rather…
Every Living Species Accounted For
In a world-first, New Zealand scientists have accounted for every animal, plant, fungi or micro-organism – more than 56,200 living species and 14,700 fossil species – ever to live in New Zealand over the…
Palatial Pretty in Wickstead
The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton chose another New Zealand designer to wear this week, stepping out in an Emilia Wickstead pink coat dress for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee lunch at Windsor…
Lake Views To-die-for
A seven-bedroom home with unobstructed views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables features in the online property pages of the Wall Street Journal. “They’ve got quite a bit of land, a stream a…
Meet Our Distinguished Worm
New Zealand’s velvet worm shares the title of a new book by British palaeontologist and writer Richard Fortey. Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms describes “the distinguished groups of organisms that are still recognizable and…
Riotously Vibrant at Saatchi Gallery
Former Matangi, Waikato resident and mother of two of New Zealand’s richest men, Ana Tzarev, is exhibiting her riotously colourful large-scale canvases at London’s Saatchi Gallery in conjunction with the…
No Fake Jamaican Accents, Thanks
Wellington eight-piece band The Black Seeds – described by Clash Magazine as, “one of the best live reggae acts on the planet” – play the fourth Perisher Snowy Mountains of…
One Fast Growing Underwater Volcano
Scientists have discovered a submarine volcano in New Zealand waters, 1000km northeast of the North Island, that has undergone the fastest episode of collapse and growth ever recorded in a volcano. The Monowai Cone…
Mountain Biking for the Well-heeled
Queenstown’s Fat Tyre Company is recommended for “those who like riding down and can afford not to pedal up” in the Globe and Mail’s travel pages. “For the well-heeled rider, there’s a…
Tiki Tane: Is Our Life Worth Fighting For
The music video for Tiki Tane’s hit, Is Our Love Worth Fighting For.
Funky Cuts for Rolling Stone
“Inventive New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra stopped by the Rolling Stone studio to play a few funky cuts off her experimental pop debut LP Vows.” “After impressing with her intense live looping technique, she talked…
Sevens Title Won at Twickenham
New Zealand have retained their Sevens World Series title, ending the season with a third-place spot at the London Sevens to finish on 167 Series points, six ahead of closest rivals Fiji. A record…
Reviewing Safety in a Major Export
“Adventure tourism is one of New Zealand’s biggest drawcards, but sometimes tourists can get far more adventure than they bargained for,” begins a report by Dominque Schwartz for ABC. “This week, the industry made…
Hypnosis as Anaesthetic
Auckland Regional Pain Service pain specialist Dr Bob Large says he expects hypnosis will be used more widely in the future as a form of analgesia and anaesthesia. Large, who was a guest speaker…
Committed to Social Cohesion
Helen Clark, formerly New Zealand prime minister, has just announced that she will be seeking a second term as the first female head of the UN Development Programme. While visiting Brussels, she spoke to…
All Systems Are Go
New Zealand’s largest solar power plant, a 68-kilowatt farm, has opened in Drury, South Auckland and “if – or perhaps when – the world’s natural resources run out, New Zealand will be laughing all…
From a New Perspective
Christchurch-born singer Bic Runga, 36, has released her first album in five years, Belle. Runga, who is currently on tour in Australia, tells the Illawarra Mercury’s Kate Walsh that since her 1997…
One of the Best Places for Mothers
New Zealand has been rated the fourth best place in the world to be a mother, in line after Norway at the top followed by Iceland and Sweden. Just ahead of Mother’s Day, Save…
Cambodian Mountain Discovery
Two researchers from Otago University’s anatomy department are using radiocarbon dating technology to unravel the mysteries of a lost culture that once inhabited the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia. The researchers have dated samples of…
Owls Resonates Fifty Years On
Janet Frame’s debut novel, Owls Do Cry, released by New Zealand’s Pegasus Press in 1957, is the Frankfurter Allgemeine’s ‘Book of the Week’, reviewed by Sabine Doering. Doering writes that in the novel the…
Living Shrine to Deco
Within two years of Napier’s devastating 1931 earthquake the city, which had chosen to rebuild in the Art deco style, was being dubbed the “most modern town on the globe”. “Much of the innovative…
On Set with One Beautiful Caster
New Zealand-born actress Alice Englert, the daughter of Academy Award-winning film director Jane Campion, stars in Warner Bros.’ supernatural thriller Beautiful Creatures, a film adapted from the first book of the Caster Chronicles series,…
Counting the Bleat
Principal investigator at New Zealand’s Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) in Palmerston North, Peter Janssen hopes that by measuring every belch and bleat of their sheepish subjects they can come up…
Diversity Under the Gold Coast Sun
Controversial New Zealand reality television show The GC, about young Maori living on Australia’s Gold Coast, has prompted comparisons to America’s Jersey Shore, and heated debate about whether the show was seen as a…
Super Image of Cosmic Lunar Event
Auckland photographer Simon Runting captured this once-a-year cosmic event which lit up the New Zealand night sky as the full moon passed at its closest point to Earth, making it appear 14 per cent…
Arrival Delights Korean Audience
Award-winning play, The Arrival, performed by New Zealand’s Red Leap Theatre and based on Shaun Tan’s graphic novel, “fascinated” a Korean audience at the LG Arts Center in Seoul recently. The Arrival,…
Chopper Ride into Cloudless Bliss
“It’s supposed to be ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’”, but when Helen Parker of The Australian visited the North Island’s east coast “there wasn’t a cloud in sight – or people for that…
Introducing a Guardian Fan
New Zealander Roger Cowell, a UK-based freelance writer and registered nurse, features in the Guardian’s reader series, ‘Good to Meet You’. “In 1974, aged 23, I came to the UK from New Zealand and…
Homemakers Reunite in Indiana
Apparently, when a New Zealander makes a promise, it’s a vow to remember – even if it means travelling halfway around the world to attend a birthday party. That’s just what Yvonne Moore (left)…
Dr Bogan No Dimwit
Dave Snell has graduated from Waikato University with a doctoral degree that examined the social habits of bogans, who are typically portrayed as “dimwitted, uncultured, and unworthy of serious academic study,” Snell writes in…
