November 2013 Archives

Tales From Te Papa – Carved in Skin

Tales From Te Papa – Carved in Skin

What does the moko represent and does it mean? Mark Kopua explains the significance of facial moko and provides a bit of history about the Maori tradition. Tales from…

How do NZ Teams Get out of Jail?

How do NZ Teams Get out of Jail?

The last seconds, last-gasp victories by the Kiwis and All Blacks at the weekend have prompted English writers to wax philosophical about fine lines and the nature of success. Make no mistake, both the…

New Zealand wins ‘Best Country’ at the 2013 Telegraph Travel Awards

New Zealand wins ‘Best Country’ at the 2013 Telegraph Travel Awards

At the Telegraph Travel Awards in London earlier this week, New Zealand won the coveted ‘Best Country’ category. More than 75,000 people voted on 15 different categories, making it one of the most authoritative and…

Wairarapa Pinot Noirs Outdoing the Best

Wairarapa Pinot Noirs Outdoing the Best

Martinborough has perfect growing conditions for producing award-winning Pinot Noir, with soil and climate closely resembling those in Burgandy, France. The Telegraph’s Cameron Wilson signs up for some tastings with Wairarapa local Sue McLeary…

Lorde Live at NZ Music Awards

Lorde Live at NZ Music Awards

Watch Lorde live performing “Royals” at New Zealand Music Awards 2013. Lorde ruled the night, taking away four awards: Vodafone Single of The Year, Breakthrough Artist of…

White Island’s Bubbling Features Ever-Changing

White Island’s Bubbling Features Ever-Changing

The most memorable sighting of New Zealand geothermal activity for the National Post’s Maryam Siddiqi was on a trip to White Island, “an active volcano that contains all of those belching, bubbling features, and…

Catton Reflects on Books That Have Shaped Hers

Catton Reflects on Books That Have Shaped Hers

Award-winning author New Zealander Eleanor Catton, 28, whose novel The Luminaries won this year’s Man Booker Prize and this month, Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award, reflects on the influences that have shaped her as…

One of the World’s Top 99 Greatest Investors

One of the World’s Top 99 Greatest Investors

Sir Ron Brierley has been included in Swedish hedge fund manager Magnus Angenfelt’s book, The World’s 99 Greatest Investors, which will be released in Australia later this year. The New Zealander is named alongside many…

Discover Coromandel

Discover Coromandel

Plan your next trip to the beautiful Coromandel in New Zealand and discover hundreds of natural hideaways, making it an ideal place to slow down and relax. Dig…

Ice Telescope to Reveal Secrets of the Universe

Ice Telescope to Reveal Secrets of the Universe

27 November 2013 – University of Canterbury scientists are using a telescope pointed at the earth’s interior over 2000m below the surface of ice in Antarctica to study tiny particles in the hope of…

Wales a Team Invigorated Thanks to Gatland

Wales a Team Invigorated Thanks to Gatland

Under the coaching direction of New Zealander Warren Gatland, the Welsh rugby team has “changed beyond all recognition”, according to Wales forward Ryan Jones. Gatland was at the helm of his 100th career Test…

All Blacks’ Haka Adidas Ad

All Blacks’ Haka Adidas Ad

Take a look at this beautifully created black and white Adidas commercial that was broadcasted in the UK in 1999. The All Blacks send shivers down your spine with…

Exciting Caramel Flavours Cooked Up in Tokyo

Exciting Caramel Flavours Cooked Up in Tokyo

“A defining sense of optimism and curiosity took Mockasin and his then band, The Mockasins, to London in 2006, where, despite running out of money very quickly, their initial style of…

Lorde: Tennis Court

Lorde: Tennis Court

Check out the music video “Tennis Court” from Lorde’s 2013 debut album, Pure Heroine. The electronica-tinged art pop song, was co-written by Lorde and Joel Little.

Alone It Still Stands

Alone It Still Stands

The All Blacks are like a vampire – “you have to stick two stakes through the heart at the crossroads to make sure they are dead and buried,” says John Breen. The proud Irish…

She’s a Huge Fan of Her Mother Jane Campion

She’s a Huge Fan of Her Mother Jane Campion

Alice Englert, the actor and daughter of New Zealand screenwriter, producer and director Jane Campion, talks choosing passion over cash and whether her mum makes sexy films with the Guardian’s Alex Godfrey. She’s only 19…

New Zealand Stun England in League Semi

New Zealand Stun England in League Semi

The Rugby League World Cup 2013 semi-final, which saw New Zealand defeat England 20-18, portrayed the game “at its finest”, according to the Telegraph’s Paul Hayward, who was witness to England’s “devastating defeat” in…

World Rally Car Driver Hayden Paddon Has Sights Set on next Year’s Races

World Rally Car Driver Hayden Paddon Has Sights Set on next Year’s Races

26-year-old New Zealander Hayden Paddon drove a modern generation world rally car at the Rally de Espana in Spain last month, making him the first New Zealander to do so. The car Paddon was driving…

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 12

The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 12

Take a peek at Peter Jackson’s second video blog of 2013 for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In this entry, Peter Jackson shows lots of behind the scene…

New Zealand Continues to Beat Australia with Smarts

New Zealand Continues to Beat Australia with Smarts

25 November 2013 – Auckland is the only New Zealand city, and the first of four cities from Australia and New Zealand, to make Fast Company’s list of ‘The 10 Smartest Asia/Pacific Cities’. To decide…

Skjellerup to Make a Stand For Equality

Skjellerup to Make a Stand For Equality

New Zealand speed skater, Blake Skjellerup, intends to throw the spotlight on Russia’s anti-gay propaganda laws if he is selected to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympic in Sochi, which would also make him…

Sportswear in the new Hunger Games film designed by a New Zealander

Sportswear in the new Hunger Games film designed by a New Zealander

New Zealand-raised Anjhe Mules is the designer responsible for the sportswear worn in the new film from the critically acclaimed Hunger Games trilogy. Mules’ London-based clothing line, Lucas Hugh, was discovered by the film franchise’s…

Just another day in Middle-earth…

Just another day in Middle-earth…

“Middle-earth is closer than you think”. Air New Zealand creates another fantastic ad revealing that New Zealand has all sorts of surprises, and before you know it, everything can…

Air New Zealand Brings Passengers to Middle-earth

Air New Zealand Brings Passengers to Middle-earth

Air New Zealand’s latest short-film sees the airline embrace the magic and whimsy that comes with Middle-earth, with airline crew and airport ground staff sporting features that might only be found in Tolkien’s fanciful…

Vogue Spies Twenty Seven Names

Vogue Spies Twenty Seven Names

Street fashion blogger and Vogue Australia style blog contributor, Xssat, took a visit to Wellington-based label twenty seven names, to take a look at the brands 2014 autumn/winter collection and to find out a…

The Queen in New Zealand 1954

The Queen in New Zealand 1954

Watch a clip of a documentary Queen Elizabeth II, by William Shawcross, about Queen Elizabeth’s first commonwealth tour to New Zealand in 1953. During the tour, New Zealanders came…

New Zealanders Stand Up to Rape Culture

New Zealanders Stand Up to Rape Culture

Over the past weekend, thousands of people in New Zealand took to the streets to protest a culture that doesn’t take rape seriously. The public backlash has intensified over the past few weeks since…

How US Soccer is Helping the NZ Game

How US Soccer is Helping the NZ Game

In the US, football is called soccer and the major tournament is Major League Soccer (MLS), which has its own website. In a recent fascinating feature-length post, the website highlights how the “MLS fingerprints…

NZ Army Band Haka

NZ Army Band Haka

The New Zealand Army brass band performs the haka during the Basel Tattoo Parade in Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. Basel Tattoo is one of the biggest and most successful open-air shows…

By the Pricking of my Bubbles …

By the Pricking of my Bubbles …

The Reserve Bank’s new loan value ratios restricting bank mortgage lending has, it’s fair to say, got a mixed press back home. But internationally, the policy initiative is generating excited commentary about the correct…

‘NZ Story’ Toolkit Unveiled

‘NZ Story’ Toolkit Unveiled

Hobbits, yacht design and international celebrity chef Peter Gordon join the obligatory mountain peaks and coastal visas in a new toolkit of material designed to allow New Zealand businesses to tell a consistent story…

Welsh to Kiwi: Protect us from the Tongans

Welsh to Kiwi: Protect us from the Tongans

The old canard about dangerous and illegal play by Polynesians is getting another airing in the British press ahead of Wales’s match against Tonga at the weekend. Assistant coach Shaun Edwards, who as a…

World’s Best Team?

World’s Best Team?

Ahead of the All Blacks-England test, Independent rugby correspondent Chris Hewett proposed that “Richie McCaw and his team are beginning to look like something more than merely the best rugby union team…

Kennedy’s Last Seconds Captured by NZer

Kennedy’s Last Seconds Captured by NZer

A Kiwi’s photographs capturing the last second before the assassination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas have been discovered in storage in New Zealand – and are now gracing the front cover of…

Joel Little on Lorde and Opening Doors

Joel Little on Lorde and Opening Doors

Starting his music career as a member of pop-punk band Goodnight Nurse in the early 2000s, kiwi Joel Little is now becoming one of the most in-demand producers on the planet after producing Lorde’s…

Mark Wigley’s Experimental Genius

Mark Wigley’s Experimental Genius

Mark Wigley, dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), has announced that he would step down from his position at the end of the academic year, in June 2014. Wigley,…

Richie McCaw on Pressure

Richie McCaw on Pressure

Adidas interviews Richie McCaw’s on his thoughts about managing the pressure and how it might be just the motivator you need perform at your best.

Kiwi Duo Grabs Attention of Billboard

Kiwi Duo Grabs Attention of Billboard

Hot on the heels of Lorde’s success, Auckland pop-synth duo Broods are making a positive international impressions of their own. The brother-sister duo, made up of Caleb and Georgina Nott, have worked closely with…

All Blacks Victorious over England

All Blacks Victorious over England

The All Blacks had an eight point victory over England on the weekend, keeping their perfect season intact. The New York Times’ Huw Richards wrote of the match that the…

New Zealand to Phase in Shark Fin Ban

New Zealand to Phase in Shark Fin Ban

The New Zealand government has agreed to a full ban on shark finning, though fill implementation of the ban won’t happen for another three years. The Wall Street Journal reports that it is already illegal…

Driving the Kiwi Economy

Driving the Kiwi Economy

Many strange things are used to measure economic growth and decline: the lipstick economy, the horse-trading economy, the Playboy economy (curves in recession, skinny in boom times) and even underwear, as Fed chairman Alan Greenspan…

NZ Farewells World Cup Dream

NZ Farewells World Cup Dream

New Zealand football fans have a black sense of humour honed by decades of disappointment and only leavened by occasional World Cup success. So, the joke doing the rounds – “Want to hear something…

#164: Promoting Prosperity – Kiwi Chutzpah & The Art Of The Sale

#164: Promoting Prosperity – Kiwi Chutzpah & The Art Of The Sale

The Global Life of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM |…

The Hobbit Fan Event

The Hobbit Fan Event

To get fans ready for the next installment of The Hobbit , a live worldwide Fan Event was held on 4 November 2013. For those who have missed out,…

Tua’s Klitschko Goal for Ustinov Fight

Tua’s Klitschko Goal for Ustinov Fight

A shot at one of the world heavyweight champion Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladmir, is the tantalising goal for David Tua, as he prepares for Saturday’s fight against giant Ukrainian, Alexander Ustinov. The Klitschko’s…

New Zealand a Great Place to Start-Up

New Zealand a Great Place to Start-Up

New Zealand is sitting amongst the top ten most prosperous nations globally, according to the Legatum Institute’s 2013 Prosperity Index rankings. Placing fifth, on a list otherwise heavily populated by Scandinavians countries, New Zealand sits…

Vogue Writer WOWed by New Zealand

Vogue Writer WOWed by New Zealand

Vogue Italy contributor, Stefan Siegel, made the most of his recent visit to New Zealand for the World of Wearable Arts, deciding to use the time to get know the country’s landscapes, towns, and…

WOW Supreme Winner 2013

WOW Supreme Winner 2013

The Winner of the 2013 World of WearableArt Supreme Award – “The Exchange” by Tatyanna Meharry & Natasha Meharry from New Zealand, talk about how they feel about winning…

Prime Minister Gives Low-Down on Queenstown

Prime Minister Gives Low-Down on Queenstown

Prime Minister John Key provided The Telegraph with a guide to New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown recently, describing the town as not only picturesque, but offer a full range of options for visitors. Key described…

Cometh the Hour…

Cometh the Hour…

Nathan McCullum’s job when he got on strike in the final over against Sri Lanka was dauntingly simple: smite 17 runs from the final four balls delivered by Rangana Herath. That’s a boundary a…

Lorde and Lydia Ko Named Time’s Most Influential Teens

Lorde and Lydia Ko Named Time’s Most Influential Teens

Kate Sheppard would be proud. 120 years after New Zealand women gained the right to vote before any other country, two young New Zealand women have become the top two most influential youths in…

TVNZ National Anthem

TVNZ National Anthem

Before 24-hour TV, TVNZ woke the nation every morning with this broadcast of the National Anthem.

Cold, Hard Cash Works Better than Welfare

Cold, Hard Cash Works Better than Welfare

Giving money directly to the poor is one of the best ways to raise education levels and lift people out of poverty, a study by the University of Otago shows. Development economist Dr Sarah…

Portrait of a Leader

Portrait of a Leader

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples features in a photographic exhibition featuring portraits of Tangata whenua, including Sharples.  Sharples was stunningly captured on film by British photographer Jimmy Nelson, who was touring the world recording…

1987 Air New Zealand Ad

1987 Air New Zealand Ad

Take a step back in time and revisit Air New Zealand’s 1987 commercial advertising their Pacific Class. Promoting their priority check-in, exclusive lounges and world class service.

Responsible for the Rights of Children in Indonesia

Responsible for the Rights of Children in Indonesia

UNICEF representative in Indonesia, New Zealander Angela Kearney is responsible for leading a staff of 150 to carry out the duty of realizing the rights of every child in the country. Besides Jakarta, UNICEF also…