Chicken Little Might Be Right
Over the past ten years, the height of clouds has been shrinking according to researchers at the University of Auckland. The time frame is short, but if future observations show that clouds are truly…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Thrilling Win for Paddison
Wellington golfer Gareth Paddison, 31, held on in a nail-biting finish to win the Victorian PGA Championship at Creswick’s Forest Park by one shot ahead of Australian Leighton Lyle. Forest Resort pro-golfer Ben Roberts…
Compelling Business Software
New Zealand-based small business accountancy software developer Xero has recently expanded its footprint to the United States. Business Insider reporter Ramon Ray talks to the president of the company’s American operations Jamie Sutherland. “Xero is first…
Servant of Cricket
New Zealand cricket commentator, coach, administrator and former Canterbury offspinner, Peter Sharp has died aged 72. Sharp played eight first-class matches over two seasons, taking 21 wickets at an average of 26.90. He began…
Downtime In The Trailer
Actor Sam Neill, who is starring in the US television series Alcatraz, has convinced his famous friends to compile Top 10 lists of their favourite songs, publishing them on the website for his boutique winery,
We Bought a Marina
Three years ago, Wellingtonian Boyd Tomkies, 38, combined his childhood passion with a way to support his family – buying what he described as a “failing” inflatables business and recently becoming the owner of…
Sam Neill Extols NZ Pinot Noir
New Zealand actor Sam Neill pioneered pinot noir in his homeland. In 2012, Neill’s pinot noir won gold at the London International Wine and Spirit Competition. ‘In a matter of about 30 years, we’ve come…
Staying Atop an Alpine Meadow
“Whare Kea Lodge pilot James Ford is gunning his helicopter up a wide, verdant valley on a perfect summer’s day,” Toronto Star travel editor Jim Byers describes. “He climbs up and up and clears a…
Discussing Democracies
New Zealand and the United States are open and democratic societies with British colonial origins, a frontier legacy, a history of mass immigration and widely remarked-upon senses of optimism, but New Zealanders, by contrast,…
Buying Up the Grammar Zone
The campus of Auckland Grammar School, designed in the Spanish style of the California missions, is one of New Zealand’s largest, oldest and most prestigious schools for boys, established in 1868. By…
Homes Bring Hope in Cambodia
Palmerston North City Council civil engineer Kelvin Au (left), 25, is putting his skills to good use in Cambodia as part of a Habitat for Humanity one-year placement, organized via Engineering Without Borders, building…
Wonders of Waiheke
“ is famed for its hippies and nudist beaches, its boutique art galleries and cafe culture, and for its stunning wineries, the production of which, although small by commercial standards, regularly match up…
CarboNZero Skateventure
Auckland trio Alan Carnaby, Troy Bilbrough and Guy Parsons spent five weeks from November to January skateboarding 1600km from Arequipa, Peru to La Serena, Chile to raise awareness about sustainable travel. They wound through…
Rings Of Change
“At The Kauri Museum in Matakohe biologist Dr Jonathan Palmer explains a novel approach to assessing global climate change — by analysing the rings of ancient kauri trees,” Chris Kilham writes for Fox News….
Sky is the Limit
Since December, New Zealand-based SkyCity has been in talks with the South Australian government on the redevelopment and expansion of their Adelaide casino. SkyCity, which also has casinos in Auckland, Hamilton, Queenstown and Darwin,…
Lifestyle Comes At A Price
Auckland and Wellington have risen in their rankings of the most expensive cities to live in, with Auckland jumping nine places to rank 15 and Wellington rising 16 places to rank 17th with London….
Chinese Tourism Numbers Climb
Chinese tourists in New Zealand outspent American visitors last year for the first time on record. Spending by Chinese tourists gained 26 per cent to $457 million last year, the Ministry of Economic Development…
Land Sale Stopped In Court
High Court Judge Forrest Miller has halted the first ever sale of dairy farms to Chinese investors, Shanghai Pengxin, the latest twist in a saga that’s dividing a country reliant on agriculture for much…
More Tintin Adventures
Peter Jackson will direct the second film in the planned Tintin trilogy, following the success of the first film in the series, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Director Steven Spielberg said…
Celebrating Women Top Chefs
New Zealander Anna Hansen, 42, chef-owner of the highly lauded Clerkenwell restaurant The Modern Pantry, is a participant in next month’s inaugural Girls’ Night Out — three evenings in London designed to celebrate…
Getting Back to Basics
The Topp Twins, who are touring the UK in February, say the secret to their longevity and success is because of their strength and independence, and that because they are “old-fashioned” entertainers they appeal…
Highlight Of Career
Taupo-born triathlete Bevan Docherty, 34, has beaten seven-time Tour de France winner American Lance Armstrong to take the Panama half ironman title. Olympic silver-medalist Docherty beat Armstrong by 31 seconds after overtaking him on…
New Zealand Farewells A Leader
Lloyd Morrison, Wellington businessman, founder of infrastructure investment company Infratil, philanthropist and patron of the arts, has died in Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, aged 54. Speaking from Seattle, his brother…
Onward To The Future
“In the big picture is bigger than the destruction,” SF Gate reporter Spud Hilton writes. “I had come to Christchurch to better understand how a series of quakes can turn a metropolis upside…
Talented Teen Enchants
Director Pietra Brettkelly’s documentary Maori Boy Genius, which premiered at this month’s Berlinale, tracks 16-year-old Tuhoe prodigy Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti as he attends summer school at Yale and applies to study there full-time. “Ngaa carries…
Taking The Phibian For A Spin
Gibbs Technologies, a company founded in 1996 by New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, has demonstrated its newest amphibian vehicle model on land and in the waters of the Potomac River in Arlington,…
Sustainability Success Inspires
Along with its other exports, New Zealand has given us a template for sustainability success according to Huffington Post writer Craig Comstock. “New Zealand, apart from supplying the setting for The Lord of the Rings, is a…
Glue And Poetry In NY
For two years, owner of Christchurch-based Phantom Billstickers, Jim Wilson travelled throughout the United States putting poem posters by New Zealand poets on bollards, walls and in cafes and stores. As a result of…
Killer Instinct KO’s American
All Black and heavyweight boxer Sonny Bill Williams, 26, scored a first round knockout over American Clarence Tillman III at Claudelands Events Centre in Hamilton earning him the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association championship…
Invaluable Coaching Insights
World Cup-winning All Black coach Graham Henry, 65, has signed a part-time contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to help develop New Zealand’s coaching talent. Henry had been interested in working for…
Anxiety Android App Out
Ahead of the March release of her second album Anxiety, Masterton-born musician Ladyhawke has an app out in advance to promote it available on Android and iPhones. Guardian weekly apps review column writes: “Besides news, tweets and…
All In A Day’s Work
Hahei diver Rhys Cochrane, 20, rescued an orca he found entangled in a fisherman’s rope attached to a crayfish trap several hundred metres off the coast of Coromandel Peninsula. Cochrane said the whale did…
Gibbs Farm Unprecedented
“On a recent trip to New Zealand I was forced to meditate on the term ‘A Big Fish in a Small Sea,’” award-winning Sydney-based architect and designer Jon King writes. “For one I caught…
Test Of Willpower
In a “remarkable” long-term study undertaken over 32 years in New Zealand, a team of international researchers tracked 1000 people in 1972 or 1973 from the age of three, rating their observed and reported…
Tasmanian timber investment
New Zealand-born businessman Richard Chandler will inject $194 million into Tasmanian-based timber company Gunns. The investment is likely to wipe out a significant portion of the company’s debt, positioning it to build the $2.3…
Netting A Place In Black Caps
It was a “rare distinction” for Tharun Nethula, a 28-year-old leg-spinner originally from Hyderabad, India, to be picked to represent New Zealand for the one-day series against Zimbabwe. From St. John’s Coaching Foundation in…
Magical Getaway With Birds
Lochmara Lodge in Queen Charlotte Sound captured the magic of New Zealand for Penn Live blogger Ann Witmer. “One-time paua diver Shayne Olsen started the lodge to house backpackers tramping the 71km Queen…
Thinking About The Moment
New Zealand sound recordist Rob Mayes who divides his time between Christchurch and Tokyo, recently worked on the Ridley Scott-produced Don’t Think, a Chemical Brothers feature film shot at the Fuji Rock Festival,…
On Track For Tenth Crown
New Zealand has won the fourth leg of the IRB Sevens World Series beating arch-rivals Fiji 24-7 in Wellington. The withering burst of 24 unanswered points in five minutes gave New Zealand a victory…
Why We’re Mad On Knitwear
Six movers and shakers from the booming New Zealand fashion industry, including communications director at Post Adam Bryce, share their knitwear passions. “When it comes to dressing for weather that can include snow, sun…
Ruminating On A Skirmish
While stand-up paddling above a grey stingray languishing in the tidal shallows of Golden Bay, Gadling’s Kyle Ellison ruminates on the violent history of the waters and its former name. “An expedition from the…
Innovative From Back To Back
New Zealand band The Renderers’ new record A Rocket into Nothing is reviewed on music site Pop Matters. “Even among the angular, bizarre likes of the Clean and the 3Ds, the Renderers have always been outliers….
Memories Of Travel To The Sea
Auckland-born DJ and BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe describes his life in travel with the Independent. Lowe’s first holiday memory is driving to the Bay of Islands. “I remember being packed into my dad’s…
Dubai Strut For Top Model
New Zealand’s Next Top Model’s newest winner Brigette Thomas made an appearance at Dubai Fashion’s Longest Catwalk on 3 February. The event featured 100 models walking a ramp at The Dubai Mall showcasing the…
Trench Living Makes Big
A ‘supergiant’ crustacean measuring 34cm has been found 7km deep in the Kermadec Trench north off the coast of New Zealand. Seven specimens, of which usually measure between 2-3cm, were caught in a trap…
Piece Of Hollywood In Wairarapa
Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron has spent $20 million buying more than 1000ha of farmland in South Wairarapa. According to application documents, Cameron and his family “intend to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and are acquiring the…
Monster Trout Down South
New Zealand trout dwarf their Californian relatives writes American fisherman Alistair Bland for the Marin Independent Journal. “Indeed, to raise a New Zealander’s eyebrows one must catch an eight- or 10-pounder,” Bland says. “Suffice…
Fortunately For Paul
In his spare time, when not drumming for Canadian singer Feist, New Zealand-born musician Lucky Paul “makes densely hypnotic, drum-heavy dream-pop for label somethinksounds.” “Elephant Island, the follow-up to last year’s well-received The Slow…
Hot Premiere Signing
New Zealander Ryan Nelsen, 34, who led the All Whites at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, has signed with Tottenham Hotspur. Ryan was released by Blackburn after the club agreed to…
Miramar’s Awakening
“Until Sir Peter Jackson and his producer Jamie Selkirk made films in Miramar in the 1990s, the Wellington suburb was sleepy,” David Burton writes for Monocle. “‘There was tumbleweed, rolling down the street,’ jokes…
Reflecting Life Of The Beach
Piha’s Butler Beach House designed by Herbst Architects is the company’s “most ambitious project to date,” according to Monocle. “Herbst Architects is renowned in New Zealand for its signature remodeling of the classic Kiwi bach….
Seattle Rowing Appointment
New Zealand rowing coach Richard Parr, 49, has been hired by the Vashon Island Rowing Club (VIRC) in Seattle. He comes to Vashon from the University of Otago, where he spent the past 15…
Record Exports Into UAE
New Zealand Natural premium ice cream chain is one of a number of local businesses fuelling a record volume of exports from the country into United Arab Emirates (UAE). Last year, the value of…
Believe In Oyster Bay
“Hawke’s Bay is producing some of the world’s greatest red wines at the moment,” according to the Leader-Post’s James Romanow. “Enormously fine, well structured wines that will go the distance, they are tremendous in every sense…
Celebrating Deco Heritage
On the third weekend of every February, Napier celebrates its unique Art Deco heritage with age-old fashions, wine, dance and song. The official programme of events has grown so much over the years that…
Engines Off For Clean Hulls
Scientists at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and Auckland University have found a possible answer to a multi-million-dollar problem for shipping companies around the world. Switching off a vessel’s generator…
