Elegant and with Punch
“A track-only racing car built without the restraints of racing regulations, the 12C Can-Am is based on the 12C GT3 racer – but it goes well beyond what the FIA…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Valerie Achieves Olympic Goal
Valerie Adams has had her silver Olympic medal upgraded to gold after rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus had failed a drug test. Ostapchuk’s disqualification means Adams is now the holder of back-to-back Olympic golds…
Real Presence in NY
“ is one of the sharpest writers and arrangers in his field, and while the music is airy by design – because that’s what indie-pop is – Milne’s arrangements have…
Looking at the Cold Hard Facts
In a tour de force of glacial geology, Columbia University’s Dr Aaron Putnam and his collaborators have been reconstructing much of the Holocene history of a group of mountain glaciers in New Zealand. Their…
Full Paddle Ahead for Medal
Full paddle ahead for medalNew Zealander Lisa Carrington, 23, stormed to victory in the inaugural K1 200 on Dorney Lake at the London Olympics to give her country its first women’s Olympic gold medal…
Visiting the Fabulous
“Middle-earth may be mythical, but so too is New Zealand,” Mark Johanson writes for International Business Traveler. “The only difference is you can visit the latter. It’s a place where glaciers carve paths through…
Serene Sailing Wins Gold
New Zealand sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie fulfilled a pledge to go one better than the men by winning gold in sailing’s 470 class at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Aleh and Powrie…
Floating Pumice Raft Intrigues
A mass of golf-ball-size pumice rocks almost the size of Belgium has been discovered floating 1000km off the northeast coast of Auckland. The 26,000 square kilometre- stretch of pumice was first spotted by an…
It’s the Cat’s Whiskers
Auckland’s private Kristin School recently secured the rights to the world renowned musical CATS, spending $85,000 on its annual stage production. Executive principal and show producer Peter Clague said the big-budget show would rival…
Olympic BMX Dream Comes True
BMX rider Sarah Walker, 24, has won an Olympic silver medal for New Zealand. Walker, who is from Kawerau, finished fourth over the three-race semi-final to win her place in the final. She barely…
Olympians Visit UK Marae
The New Zealand Olympic team paid a visit to the Hinemihi marae in Surrey, England. Hinemihi was brought to Surrey by Lord Onslow, the former Governor of New Zealand, as a souvenir of his…
Choir Founder Profiled
Dunedin-born Marie Courtis Greathouse, who helped found the San Antonio Choral Society in 1965, is profiled by the San Antonio Express-News website mySanAntonio.com. Greathouse moved to England in her early 20s, where for a time…
Voyage of Discovery
Wellington science historian and writer Rebecca Priestley is blogging about her trip to the Kermadec Islands on the HNZMS Canterbury for the Scientific American. “We’re sailing north along a chain of underwater…
Appealing to the Crowds
New Zealand-born screenwriter Mark Staufer has hit his $75k target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a project called The Numinous Place, which will be released as an ebook and app for iPhone,…
Backcountry Kicks
“Imagine a contest where a helicopter lifts you to the highest peaks in Mount Aspiring National Park, and for two days, you get to ski powder, cliffs, and backcountry kickers,” Megan Michelson writes for…
Wartime Pianist Remembered
The New Zealand-born pianist Colin Horsley, who was among the last links to the era of British music-making dominated by Sir Henry Wood, has died on the Isle of Man. He was 92. “From…
Sleeping Giant Awakens
Mount Tongariro, dormant for more than a century, roared into life on 6 August erupting boulders and spreading an ash cloud over the centre of the country. The spew of rocks, fine particles and…
Better Slopes Over Here
New Zealanders and Australians share a “friendly” rivalry until it comes to the snow, writes Rachael Oakes-Ash for The Age in an article comparing the two country’s ski fields. “More than one-third of the…
With the Push of a Button
New Zealand’s first-ever controlled building implosion executed in Christchurch brought down the earthquake damaged Radio Network House in seconds. American demolition experts detonated 130 pounds of explosives to blow up the 14-story building, which…
Lapping Up the Medals
New Zealand supporters in London have been enjoying the unusual experience of being ahead in Olympic medals over Australia. At Kiwi House Jessica Middleton, 24, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the colours of the…
Induction into Hall of Fame
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Opunake-born Peter Snell will be among the 24 inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) Hall of Fame. Snell won the 800m at the 1960 Olympics and…
Boutique More Popular
The New Zealand Brewers Guild says there has been an “explosion” of beer flavours offered by the country’s 68 breweries, with the number of small craft breweries increasing by 50 per cent. New Zealand…
British Make the Move
The latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show that in June almost 40,000 New Zealanders left for Australia, the same amount as April 2012 and the highest ever recorded. But helping to stem this…
Tasting of the Future
British wine expert Robert Joseph describes his first adventure to Marlborough’s Brancott Estate in the Telegraph, charting the vineyard’s journey from the beginning to the present day. “By 2011, when Brancott Estate had become…
Golden Attitude Prevails
New Zealand’s rowing heroes Dunedin-born Hamish Bond, 26, and Hastings-born Eric Murray, 30, maintained their three-year unbeaten run by winning gold in the men’s pair at the Olympic rowing regatta. Bond and Murray, one…
Medals in Boats and on Horses
New Zealanders Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan have won an Olympic gold medal in the London 2012 men’s double rowing. Double sculls pair Cohen and Sullivan had the eyes of the nation on them…
Small Business Expansion
New Zealand business software company Greentree featured in the Guardian’s ‘Small Business Network’ section. “Greentree is special,” CEO Peter Dickinson says. “What makes it special is the wonderful community of…
Google Buys New Zealander’s Social Media Company
Google has purchased social media marketing company Wildfire Interactive for a reported US$250M. Wildfire Interactive was created by New Zealander Victoria Ransom and Alain Chuard four years ago and has gone on to become…
Pint-sized Nude on Plaid
“A weirder, more diffuse sense of humour animates an assemblage by New Zealand-born, London-based Francis Upritchard,” the Los Angeles Times ‘Culture Monster’ describes in a review of the three-artist show ‘Bush of…
Room for Manoeuvre
Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu is calling for youngsters to make a statement and secure a spot for the international season at the start of the team’s four-year cycle. Taumaunu, 49, has acknowledged inexperience…
Settling the Score
“Jane locked me in a hotel room with a piano and said she wouldn’t let me out until I’d finished,” British composer Michael Nyman, explains to the Guardian about his task to complete…
Modern Christchurch Planned
Plans for a new-look downtown Christchurch have been unveiled, with a convention centre, sports stadium and performing arts complex among the big projects. The blueprint for the city replaces office towers with green spaces,…
New Zealand a Place of Healing
West of Memphis, produced by Peter Jackson and directed by American filmmaker Amy Berg, has had its premiere in Wellington as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival. The…
Win Over Rivals in London
The Black Sticks have beaten Australia at the London Olympics 1-0 in the opening game of the women’s hockey tournament, a first win over their rivals in Games history. The Black Sticks rode on…
Locking with the Lopez Crew
Twenty-year-old New Zealand hip-hop dancer Parris Goebel has been hired by chart-topper Jennifer Lopez to choreograph moves for her upcoming world tour. Goebel has also appeared with her ReQuest dance crew mates on the…
Scripted Insanity
Wellington-born actress Kerry Fox, 46, best known for her early films, including Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table, Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo, is in rehearsals for the…
Fabled Shirt Replicated for Welsh Club
“There are thought to be only eight rugby jerseys still in existence from the fabled 1905 New Zealand world tour,” Alex Smith writes for the Carmarthen Journal. “Carmarthenshire’s Tycroes RFC owned one of…
Fish For a New Middle Class
More New Zealand seafood is headed to Thailand as consumer appetite grows. The South Pacific nation is poised to capitalise on Thai consumers now having more baht in their pockets and their increased appreciation…
Netball Days Continue in US
New Zealander Shallyn Reeves captained the first American national netball team at the World University Netball Championships in South Africa this month. When Reeves finished high school in New Zealand and decided to continue…
Pounui Cameron’s New Pandora
“It was ultimately New Zealand’s contemporary film culture that persuaded James Cameron to shift his work life, in stages, toward the Southern Hemisphere,” Pete Nikolaison writes for The New York Times. “New…
Magically Marvellous Mahy
“Margaret Mahy, an award-winning children’s author who tested the limits of her readers’ whimsy and courage with fantastical tales of witches, hauntings, infinite fog, and robbers brought to account by peppery grown-ups wielding chocolate…
Watch Out on Dorney Lake
New Zealand rowing pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are not fully satisfied heading into the London Olympics. Murray says they’ve produced some fast races “but I don’t think we have showed how fast…
Ten Bands You Should Know
“If your knowledge of New Zealand’s music scene doesn’t extend beyond Flying Nun Records and Flight of the Conchords, then rejoice — there’s a shitload of excellent local music just waiting to be discovered,”…
Surfing Strength Studied
A new study led by Oliver Farley from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and published in the August issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research looks at professional surfers to analyze the…
Mansfield Stories Uncovered
Four previously unknown stories written more than a century ago by Katherine Mansfield have been discovered by Chris Mourant, 23, a PhD student at King’s College London. Any new material by Mansfield, who had…
Illegal Downloads Halved
Internet piracy rates in New Zealand have halved since the introduction of the controversial “three strikes” rule, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (Rianz) says. The rule allows fines of up to $15,000…
Triumphant in Sydney Debut
Eighteen-year-old Pukekohe jockey Alysha Collett took on the big boys of the Sydney racing scene at Rosehill and emerged triumphant riding the Australian-trained Matiya’s Pride. Collett was invited to Australia by Sydney’s premier trainer…
More Halal Burgers for UAE
New Zealand fastfood chain BurgerFuel has opened its fifth flagship outlet in the Mall of the Emirates. BurgerFuel Worldwide CEO international markets Chris Mason said: “Mall of the Emirates attracts over 30 million visitors…
Hopes for Gold at Olympic Stadium
Like many of the more than 40 Olympians with Michigan ties who’ll compete during the next few weeks at the London Games, New Zealander Nick Willis — who represented the University of Michigan in…
Safety First with Al Bundy
New Plymouth-born actress Melanie Lynskey, 35, appears in cartoon alongside Married with Children and Modern Family star Ed O’Neill in the latest Air New Zealand airline safety video. Melanie seems a little … disappointed…
Dreamscapes Helps Children
Auckland visual artist and art educator Vivien Masters is collaborating with New York’s Brookdale Hospital in July as part of her international non-profit art classes for seriously ill children, the
Reuniting Families with Sons
Bronte artist Darryl Robertson has dedicated the past few years to helping the Dutch town of Markelo track down the families of three RAF airmen who were killed when their bomber, one of three…
Fresh Look for Blackcaps
Mike Hesson has been appointed head coach of the Blackcaps until the end of the 2015 World Cup. Hesson replaces John Wright. Hesson coached New Zealand A sides from 2008-11 and was head coach…
Raising the Frame Rate
“Peter Jackson raised the bar for fantasy popularity 11 years ago with the first of three Lord of the Rings films,” Brian Truitt reports for USA Today. “With his latest J.R.R Tolkien adaptation, he…
Modern Medieval Creatures
Fans of the peculiar will be intrigued by New Zealander Francis Upritchard’s exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary which sees mythical creatures take over the gallery, This is Nottingham writes. Almost life-size figures by…
What Better Role Model
Corporal Willie Apiata, 40, the only living New Zealander to hold the country’s top award for battlefield gallantry, the Victoria Cross, is quitting the military to work with vulnerable youth at Papakura’s High Wire…
