Entrepreneurs in the Making
“Many third world countries have incubators, often to try and utilize and preserve local skills” like weaving, dying and sewing, says Tracy Kennedy, (right) manager of the Dunedin Fashion Incubator, started in 2001. Like…
September 2012 Archives
Dubrovnik Standout
War Photo Limited is a gallery in Dubrovnik, Croatia curated by New Zealand-bred photojournalist Wade Goddard, who covered the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s. The gallery, which features images of “the city’s fraught…
Cycling Through History
The 317km Mountain to Sea Trail begins on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu, passes through two national parks (Tongariro and Whanganui), includes a jet-boat ride down the Whanganui River, and ends at the Tasman…
Southern Hemisphere Champs
The world champion All Blacks routed Argentina 54-15 to secure the southern hemisphere’s inaugural Rugby Championship with a game to spare. New Zealand outscored the Pumas by seven tries in La Plata, all coming…
Pleased to Meet Him
“Flying Nun is as synonymous with indie rock in New Zealand as Chemikal Underground is in Glasgow or Creation Records is in London,” John Everhart writes in a web exclusive for American magazine Under the…
Heaven on Earth
“In the northwest corner of New Zealand – where craggy Pacific Ocean bluffs offer a panoramic view of the Cavalli Islands, sheep and cattle roam freely, and gently rolling hills are blanketed with thick…
New Zealand Has a Choice
Greenpeace New Zealand’s chief political analyst and strategist Nathan Argent argues that New Zealand’s “clean, green values” and its “history of progressive reform” are being undermined by the current government. “New Zealand, once considered…
Making the Right Moves
Now a veteran globe-trotting performer at the ripe old age of 22, Kimbra seems to be making all the right moves, Bill Locey writes for the Ventura County Star. “Lurkers, assorted geeks a gawkin’ and editors…
Other Side of Paradise
“New Zealand, a country that routinely tops international lifestyle indexes, may not be the first place you would associate with gang culture – but violent gangs have deep roots in society,” Rebecca Kesby writes…
Charming Mixture
Lonely Planet’s 16th New Zealand edition praises Wellington’s “compact and vibrant” CBD for its artsy mix of theatres, galleries, boutiques, museums and a “cocktail- and caffeine-fuelled hospitality scene” that fairly “fizzes and pops among…
Mapping Our Souls
Titahi Bay-based tattoo artist Mark Kopua, 52, explains the meaning of t? moko in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allegemeine. “I don’t have to say who I am … you can read it in…
Call It an Evocative Scowl
Joe Dredd, played by New Zealand actor Karl Urban, 40, “is meant to be the most fearsome judge – but we don’t get to see many more of his kind around,” USA Today’s Claudia Puig writes…
Possums Take Tennessee
New Zealand string band the Johnny Possum Band will perform at the Music on the Square festival in downtown Jonesborough, Tennessee on 28 September. Kingsport Times-News describes the band: “The roots of bluegrass music may lie…
Taia o Moko
Dr Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, author of Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo and essayist and commentator on Maori and feminist issues in New Zealand, memorialized the Maori Queens’s death by taking a traditional facial tattoo….
Hitting ‘Em With Enthusiasm
“Kimbra throws every angle of modern fem-pop at the wall with such ball-lightning enthusiasm that all of it sticks,” the Guardian’s Mark Beaumont writes in a review of the New Zealand singer’s London performance at…
Made in New Zealand
“Visiting New Zealand with my 1-year-old daughter, and with nephews at home in America, I became obsessed with finding them something actually made in the country,” Meg Nesterov writes for Gadling. “I was impressed…
In Transit Amongst Spies
Auckland singer Gin Wigmore, 26, stars alongside James Bond star Daniel Craig in a new interactive television and digital ad campaign for Heineken and the latest 007 film, Skyfall. Wigmore wrote the ad’s theme song…
Benefits of Security
The first Pentagon chief to visit New Zealand in three decades, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, announced that the Obama administration had modified United States policy so that, in the future, the defense secretary can…
Oily Attractions Off Shore
Three New Zealand exploration blocks, owned by Anadarko Petroleum, could hold up to 150 million barrels of crude oil or trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, according to a company executive. “There’s significant…
Trailer: The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey
The trailer for Peter Jackson’s 2012 film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Bevin’s Got Great Legs
New Zealand cyclists Patrick Bevin and Logan Hutchins have taken first and second places respectively in the inaugural Thompson Bucks County Classic professional bicycle race in Pennsylvania. Finishing 1-2 with Hutchins was a special…
Paddling Out in Raglan
Raglan, 50 kilometres west of Hamilton, “is your archetypal surf town, with annual surf contests, a busy surf school and a bohemian buzz reminiscent of the 1960s,” Kerry van der Jagt writes for The Age….
Profiting From Here On In
Chief executive of Virgin Media New Zealander Neil Berkett, 56, is at No. 51 in the Guardian’s annual Media 100 list which ranks the industry’s most powerful people. It has been a landmark year for…
Art of Rugby
Examining the All Blacks 21-11 win against his national team, the Springboks, Brumbies coach Jake White writes in The Citizen’s sports column: “The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands,…
Deservedly Great Painter
New Zealand artist Don Binney, best known for his striking emblematic paintings of birds, has died in Auckland aged 72. Binney worked in oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink and carbon pencil. Many public collections feature…
Wonderful Piece of Theatre
New Zealand playwright Catherine Downes’ The Case of Katherine Mansfield, which was on in Glebe as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival, “is a simply wonderful piece of theatre — the kind that makes you…
Memories of New York
Wellington-born artist and actor Susana Lei’atua’s exhibition Wall of Light, on at New York University’s Kimmel Center through 28 September, is a “memorial for the everyday nature” of New York showcasing how the city…
Talent Gets On With It
“The golf prodigy Lydia Ko was asked how she would cope with being the youngest competitor this week at the Women’s British Open, which was like asking Sean Lennon how he deals with being…
Why New Zealand is a Great Place to do Business?
New Zealand Trade & Enterprise ask business leaders why New Zealand is a great place to do business.
Looking Out For Archey
Archey’s frog, which is found on the Coromandel peninsula and in Whareorino Forest, finds itself on the full list of the planet’s 100 most endangered animals, as compiled by the International Union for Conservation…
Walker Goes Dotty in NY
New Zealand fashion designer Karen Walker “gets next summer spot-on with a fun polka dot-filled collection at New York Fashion Week,” the Daily Mail’s Olivia Fleming reported from the runway. “Walker went completely spotty for spring/summer…
Talking of The Small Screen
Palme d’Or and Oscar-winning New Zealand director Jane Campion will attend the international television market MIPCOM next month in Cannes, France to talk about her first small-screen foray, the new series Top of the Lake….
Actually Rocking The Bowery
“ gorgeous, sweeping power ballad ‘Cellophane,’ had it been released 25 years ago, would have moved entire rooms to slow dance, and I’ve got to assume only unfamiliarity held Bowery Ballroom’s crowd back,” Katherine…
Work in Progress
West of Memphis was produced by the Oscar-winning team of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who enlisted filmmaker Amy Berg, herself an Oscar nominee for the documentary Deliver Us From Evil, to make their own film…
Mister Pip Premieres
New Zealand-born writer-director Adam Adamson’s film adaption of Lloyd Jones’ prize-winning novel Mister Pip, starring Hugh Laurie, has premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto as part of the city’s annual film festival. Laurie…
Charming Sport Over Ice
“Here at Naseby, a seriously small town in Central Otago region, I meet Sean Becker, a former Olympic curling representative and current member of the New Zealand men’s team, his father, Peter Becker, and…
Finding the Middle of Nowhere
For those looking for an off-the-beaten-path excursion in New Zealand, Emily Dayton of the San Diego Reader recommends visiting Lake Tekapo. “The small town is a cluster of homes and motels at the south…
Win After Dark
A blackout at Wellington’s Stadium “was an apt metaphor” for the All Blacks versus Argentina game, “with few highlights to speak about as both sides battled driving rain and swirling gale-force winds”, the Buenos…
Cry Over This
Crowded House song Together Alone is what British music blogger Paul Sinclair wants played at his funeral. Sinclair chose the track as part of the Guardian series ‘Six Songs of Me’. “The…
Instead of Adrenalin
New Zealand’s less extreme tourism activities provide the Gadling’s Meg Nesterov with plenty to do for a trip throughout the country in which she finds out “why Auckland is worth more than a stopover,…
Fruitcake Finish Wins US Gold
Two rare whiskies from the New Zealand Whisky Collection have won gold medals at the Mid West Whisky Olympics in Michigan, outperforming some of the world’s most revered from Scotland, Ireland and Canada. The…
How Good an Actress She Is
New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey is the “highlight” of Hello I Must Be Going writes Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, who says she “shines as the film’s focus.” “If you…
Miss Nasty a Total Professional
Wellington-raised chef Monica Galleti, 36, who is a judge on BBC2 cooking show MasterChef: The Professionals, will also appear alongside British chefs Marcus Wareing and Fred Sireix at the London Rumble in the Jungle…
Flights Back to the Ice
Antarctica Sightseeing Flights is offering the first commercial flight from New Zealand to Antarctica – 33 years after the Erebus disaster. The tourism operator will take a chartered Boeing 747 from Auckland to the…
Giant Impresses
New Zealander Steven Adams, 19, “just may be one of the most intriguing players in college basketball this season, not to mention one of the most physically impressive at 7-foot, 250 pounds,” ESPN senior…
Back to the Eighties
New Zealand fashion label Zambesi’s Autumn/Winter 2013 collection, which previewed at New Zealand Fashion Week “harkened back to the 1980s … focus on a colour palette of black, grey, silver … with a touch…
River with Standing
In a framework agreement signed between the Crown and the Whanganui River, New Zealand’s third largest river will be recognized as a person when it comes to the law, much the way a company…
Now at Centre Stage
The other half of the Heavenly Creatures duo, Melanie Lynskey, 35, has been working consistently in Los Angeles for a decade. Lynskey is perhaps most well-known in America for having appeared in more than…
On Wooing Women with a Bicycle
New Zealander Emily McLean, a columnist for The Copenhagen Post, writes about the difficulty of “Dating the Danes.” In this column McLean explains “The Danish Instrument of Love.” “I’ve come to notice during my…
Writer Tells Stories in Berlin
New Zealand novelist and short story writer Paula Morris was a guest at this year’s International Literature Festival in Berlin on from 4 through 16 September. Morris read from Rangatira, which is based on episodes…
