July 2013 Archives

Winter Games NZ 2013 trailer

Winter Games NZ 2013 trailer

Watch the trailer for the snow sports competition of the year, the Winter Games NZ 2013. Set against the spectacular backdrop of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, the Games…

Lighting Up the Longlist with Her Second Novel

Lighting Up the Longlist with Her Second Novel

New Zealand author Eleanor Catton, 27, has made the Man Booker Prize longlist for her novel, The Luminaries, which will be released in New Zealand on 1 August and in the US in October….

Archaeologist Made Extraordinary Contributions to Field

Archaeologist Made Extraordinary Contributions to Field

New Zealand-born archaeologist Mike Morwood, who was best known for discovering Homo floresiensis, has died in Darwin, aged 82. In 2003, Morwood led a joint Australian-Indonesian team of archaeologists, which uncovered what appeared to…

Jackson Live-Blogs The Hobbit’s Final Day

Jackson Live-Blogs The Hobbit’s Final Day

After more than two years, Peter Jackson has finished filming the final installment of The Hobbit trilogy. With the final scenes shot on 26 July, the award-winning director wrote on his Facebook…

AJ Hackett – Adventure Park: Sochi, Russia

AJ Hackett – Adventure Park: Sochi, Russia

New Zealand adrenaline pioneer AJ Hackett is just months from completing AJ Hackett Sochi – a Russian adventure park that will include a multitude of activities including the world’s…

Looking at the Top Figures

Looking at the Top Figures

New Zealand’s rich are getting richer, with the total worth of those who made it onto National Business Review’s 2013 rich list up $3.5 billion on last year, reports The Australian. Graeme Hart once…

Long-Haul Visitor Numbers on the Up

Long-Haul Visitor Numbers on the Up

There has been a significant growth in the number of international visitors to New Zealand this year, with a 10 per cent rise in arrivals during the first half of 2013, compared to the…

Thinking Even Bigger from Google in Silicon Valley

Thinking Even Bigger from Google in Silicon Valley

Scotts Ferry, Harvard University, Wall Street, the White House – Victoria Ransom’s journey from rural Rangitikei to an executive’s chair at the Googleplex is one of New Zealand’s most stunning success stories, The New…

Whittaker’s L&P Chocolate: The Accident NZ’s Been Waiting For!

Whittaker’s L&P Chocolate: The Accident NZ’s Been Waiting For!

Whittaker’s L&P chocolate Witness the accident that New Zealand has been waiting for. Whittaker’s L&P chocolate. Posted by Whittaker's Chocolate Lovers on Sunday, July 14, 2013 Watch the advert…

Sunday Business, RadioLIVE

Sunday Business, RadioLIVE

Brian Sweeney speaks to RadioLIVE’s Sunday Business host Andrew Patterson about New Zealand’s branding and story. (17 minutes)

Auric Qualities in Vivid Colour

Auric Qualities in Vivid Colour

Wellington-born Carlo Van de Roer doesn’t just capture a person when he takes their photograph, he captures the colour of their soul, writes the Daily Mail. In his psychedelic collection of images, New York-based…

New Singapore Role for Former Silver Ferns Coach

New Singapore Role for Former Silver Ferns Coach

Ruth Aitken is taking up the role of Netball Singapore’s new technical director and national coach. Mastering the pronunciation of her new charges’ names may be tricky for the New Zealander, but she has…

Air NZ’s Hobbit Plane Lands in Middle Earth

Air NZ’s Hobbit Plane Lands in Middle Earth

Take a look at what happens when Air New Zealand’s brand new Hobbit 777-300 stops in Wellington for a visit ahead of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey premiere. The…

Ammann Testament to General Motor’s New Culture

Ammann Testament to General Motor’s New Culture

General Motors chief financial officer, New Zealander Daniel Ammann, talks with The Detroit News editorial board about how the automaker’s goal is consistent profitability in a cyclical industry. After a historic bailout and Washington-managed…

Timtimfed Makes Web Films on His Own Terms

Timtimfed Makes Web Films on His Own Terms

Originally from Christchurch, Michael Shanks, 22, otherwise known by his pseudonym “Timtimfed”, is creating some of the best gaming parodies on the web. Shanks was one of the hosts of a recent PAX Australia…

AJ Hackett’s Ambitious Project in Russia Nears Completion

AJ Hackett’s Ambitious Project in Russia Nears Completion

New Zealand adrenaline pioneer AJ Hackett is months from completing what might be his most ambitious project to date – AJ Hackett Sochi, a Russian adventure park that will include the world’s highest swing…

Wellington CBD Closes Following Magnitude 6.5 Quake

Wellington CBD Closes Following Magnitude 6.5 Quake

Much of Wellington’s CBD was closed on Monday as engineers assessed building for structural damage following a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck on Sunday evening. While the New Zealand Parliament building and Beehive did sustain…

One News: Kiwi Accent

One News: Kiwi Accent

According to an Auckland University of Technology study the New Zealand accent has changed noticeably over the past 30 years. One News took to the streets to find out…

Gibbs Amphibians Expands Across US

Gibbs Amphibians Expands Across US

New Zealand-founded Gibbs Amphibians is on track to build 1000 Quadski amphibious all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in 2013 and expects to have more than 100 major powersports dealers authorised to sell and service…

Skills Drain Reversal with More Work Options

Skills Drain Reversal with More Work Options

New Zealand is currently experiencing its strongest immigration flows in four years, with returning citizens vying with foreign nationals for work, in a “nation whose economy is outperforming many of its developed peers”, writes…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 1

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 1

Watch Peter Jackson’s first behind the scenes video blog in the early stages of the filming of The Hobbit. In this 2011 video Peter…

Channelling Tricksters in Plexiglas for Vancouver Show

Channelling Tricksters in Plexiglas for Vancouver Show

New Zealand sculptor George Nuku’s work is part of an exhibition called, Paradise Lost? Contemporary Works from the Pacific, on through 29 September at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The Vancouver…

Music Man Keeping the Harmonies in Check

Music Man Keeping the Harmonies in Check

Timaru-born emeritus professor William “Bill” Hawker is in Port Macquarie for six weeks as the guest conductor of Hastings Choristers. The academic and musician lives in Akolele on the south coast of NSW. He…

Get Ready for the Vintage of a Lifetime

Get Ready for the Vintage of a Lifetime

New Zealand wines look like they’re about to get even better, according to Forbes.com contributor Larry Olmsted. “Much better. You probably already know Kim Crawford, New Zealand’s famous producer of sauvignon blanc, but now…

Full Moon Silhouettes

Full Moon Silhouettes

Take a look at this beautiful real time video of the moon rising over Mount Victoria in Wellington, New Zealand. People gathered at the Mount Victoria lookout on 28…

Committing to Biculturalism in Education

Committing to Biculturalism in Education

Newton Central School in Grey Lynn, Auckland, is the subject of a story about how New Zealand, and Newton Central in particular, is making biculturalism in education work. Special advisor on education…

Wild Cards Still Making Music on the Outer Limits

Wild Cards Still Making Music on the Outer Limits

New Zealand underground rock trio The Dead C have been making music at the outer limits for 25 years, using geographic isolation to develop one of the most original strains of underground rock of…

Invitation to Jump the Ditch and Get Hitched

Invitation to Jump the Ditch and Get Hitched

New Zealand fashion designer Annah Stretton is celebrating the fact that same-sex marriage in New Zealand is to be legalised from 19 August by launching ‘Come on Oz, Say “I do”’. The

Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

Phoenix Foundation: Buffalo

Check out the music video for Kiwi band The Phoenix Foundation’s December 2010 single, Buffalo, from their studio album of the same name. The video was filmed at various…

Top of the Lake Receives Eight Emmy Nods

Top of the Lake Receives Eight Emmy Nods

New Zealand director Jane Campion mini-series Top of the Lake has received eight Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Miniseries of Movie, Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries and Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries. The New Zealand-shot…

Clonakilty Women Have Their Say in New Book

Clonakilty Women Have Their Say in New Book

New Zealand-born author Alison Wickham, a resident of Clonakilty in Cork, Ireland, launches a self-published book this week called Women Speak, which tells the stories of 14 very different women, now aged from their…

Ada Would Not Have Surfaced Says Campion

Ada Would Not Have Surfaced Says Campion

Jane Campion has revealed she wanted a bleaker ending for The Piano, with the character of mute Ada McGrath, played by Holly Hunter, drowning with her beloved instrument. It is one of the most…

New Zealand Pledges to Continue Fight for Ross Sea

New Zealand Pledges to Continue Fight for Ross Sea

A New Zealand-led proposal for a marine protected area in the Ross Sea has been stymied due to the inability of the 26-member Comission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to…

SkyWalk – Flash Mob Haka

SkyWalk – Flash Mob Haka

A flash mob group performs a haka high above Auckland City at the top of the Sky Tower to show support for the All Blacks during the 2011 Rugby…

Multi-talented McLaren Transformed Racing

Multi-talented McLaren Transformed Racing

In his all-too-brief life, New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who died in 1970 at the age of 32, managed an impressive list of successes, writes Jason Stein for Wheelbase Media. “His European driving career began…

Gamers Promote Powerful Women Leads

Gamers Promote Powerful Women Leads

Game developer New Zealander Lucy Morris, who lives in Düsseldorf, this week participated in a 48-hour game jam – or a fleeting arcade of game developers planning and creating a game over a short…

Kiwi Kids are Weet-Bix Kids 1990

Kiwi Kids are Weet-Bix Kids 1990

Take a nostalgic trip back to the ‘90s and watch Weet-Bix’s catchy commercial, Kiwi Kids are Weet-Bix Kids.

Dean of New Oxford Business School Reflects on a Year

Dean of New Oxford Business School Reflects on a Year

The New Zealand-born dean of Oxford University’s new Blavatnik School of Government, Ngaire Woods describes the first year as “terrific. Fun. Challenging. Great,” without pause. “It has been a whirlwind.” It might…

Cooking Up Raspberry Pi with the Internet of Things

Cooking Up Raspberry Pi with the Internet of Things

New Zealand developer Nathan Broadbent was inspired to hack into his microwave after reading a post on Reddit about using matrix barcodes to instruct microwave ovens. Broadbent then cooked a raspberry pie using the…

Madrid Festival Awards for Murder Mystery

Madrid Festival Awards for Murder Mystery

New Zealand filmmaker Alex Galvin’s feature film Eternity has won two awards at the Madrid International Film Festival. Eternity won best editing, alongside Nick Swinglehurst and best supporting actor for Wellington actor…

New Zealand’s Answer to The Killing

New Zealand’s Answer to The Killing

Jane Campion’s television series Top of the Lake, “set in the staggeringly beautiful landscape of the South Island”, has been called New Zealand’s answer to The Killing. Obstreperous and tunnel-visioned, detective Robin Griffin has…

Magasiva, Moon and Paquin Make the Crush Cake List

Magasiva, Moon and Paquin Make the Crush Cake List

New Zealand, “more like Babeland”, according to blogger Laura Vincent who writes about who she fancies for Vice magazine’s regular column, “Crush Cakes”. “Though my crushing is as vast as the majestic Lake Taupo,…

Fit Runs in the Family

Fit Runs in the Family

Originally from Opotiki, Grant Goes, 32, Dubai’s 2012 Fittest Man, has just completed the gruelling Give Me 3000 challenge, in which he completed 300 repetitions of 10 key exercises in under five hours. The…

Another Win for IndyCar Racer Dixon in Canada

Another Win for IndyCar Racer Dixon in Canada

New Zealander Scott Dixon has won the 31st IndyCar race of his career with victory in the first of two street races in Toronto. The Honda Indy Toronto win has moved Dixon into a…

Who Invented This Country?

Who Invented This Country?

New Zealand does not seem of this earth according to Outside Magazine contributing editor Peter Heller, who writes that it’s “like a kid asked a genie to make a world full of everything fun…

Push for Australian Immigrant Law Changes

Push for Australian Immigrant Law Changes

Gold Coast-based New Zealanders are calling for an immigrant law change arguing tough restrictions prevent long-term residents from having the same rights as Australians. The Oz Kiwi movement is gaining momentum among…

Successful Planting of Our Natives in UK Gardens

Successful Planting of Our Natives in UK Gardens

A selection of New Zealand plants ideal for UK gardens feature in a Guardian picture gallery this week. “If you squint a bit, parts of the New Zealand landscape can look familiar to the…

Lawless Set to Razzle Dazzle in Chicago

Lawless Set to Razzle Dazzle in Chicago

Television star Lucy Lawless, 45, will join True Blood’s Stephen Moyer and Les Misérables’ Samantha Barks for a special three-night performance of the Broadway smash Chicago, which will run from 26 July to 28…

Toasted Opens in South London

Toasted Opens in South London

New Zealand-born chef Michael Hazlewood, together with manager Alex Thorp, has opened Toasted in London’s East Dulwich, where “wine at the heart of a meal in an especially alluring manner”, according…

That’s Showbiz for Wootton Who Takes Up Tabloid Role

That’s Showbiz for Wootton Who Takes Up Tabloid Role

Former News of the World showbiz editor Lower Hutt-born journalist Dan Wootton, 30, is joining British tabloid, Sun on Sunday, where he will write a double-page showbiz column as part of moves…

Swiss Army Should Check out This Hybrid Design

Swiss Army Should Check out This Hybrid Design

Victoria University industrial design student Joe Levy, 20, has “managed to cram in functionality” with his SpoolStool, which serves as everything from a chair, to a foot rest, to a table, to a place…

Historical Mill Still Grinding for a Modern World

Historical Mill Still Grinding for a Modern World

New Zealander Michael Shaw is a miller operating one of Scotland’s last surviving fully operational commercial watermills. Golspie Mill in Sutherland grinds peasemeal, rye, bread and plain flour. The original mill was opened…

Hopes for Victory at the Helm of a 72-footer

Hopes for Victory at the Helm of a 72-footer

“Dean Barker has been the helmsman for Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup,” Christopher Clarey begins in a New York Times article a few days out from the first round-robin race of the…

The World Loses a Great Philosopher

The World Loses a Great Philosopher

New Zealand-born political theorist Kenneth Minogue, a leading figure in Britain’s conservative intellectual life, has died aged 82. Minogue was Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics from 1984 to 1995,…

Tiptoe Through the Caves Amidst Light Fantastic

Tiptoe Through the Caves Amidst Light Fantastic

Waitomo’s wondrous underground labyrinth of caves has been forming over the last 30 million years. “In one of these caverns is a very special animal – one that has evolved to thrive in wind-free…

Robbie Deans Steps Down as Coach of Wallabies

Robbie Deans Steps Down as Coach of Wallabies

New Zealander Robbie Deans has stepped down as couch of the Wallabies, following the 41-16 series-deciding loss to the British and Irish Lions. The former All Black broke new ground when he was appointed…