March 2014 Archives

Xena Warrior Princess TV Opening

Xena Warrior Princess TV Opening

Take a nostalgic trip back in time and re-watch one of your all-time favourite television programme, Xena Warrior Princess. Filmed in New Zealand from 1995 and starring our very…

New Guernsey Energy Role for New Zealander

New Guernsey Energy Role for New Zealander

Guernsey-based New Zealander Paul Wright, who has lived on the island for the past 17 years, has been hired as finance director of Guernsey Gas, Jersey Gas and Manx Gas and will be involved…

Music Man Reunites with the Muppets

Music Man Reunites with the Muppets

Having worked on the 2011 film The Muppets (winning an Oscar for his soul-searching power ballad Man or Muppet), 37-year-old New Zealander Bret McKenzie was signed up for the follow-up, a crime caper called…

Talking to an Angel for Start-Up Investment Tips

Talking to an Angel for Start-Up Investment Tips

Award-winning angel investor, New Zealand-born technology entrepreneur Dale Murray talks to British publication Director magazine about the best path to take in order to secure start-up investment or to fund the crucial…

Diligent Coach Instills Winning Culture in Ireland

Diligent Coach Instills Winning Culture in Ireland

For those who have played under New Zealander Joe Schmidt, it was no surprise that his first campaign in charge of Ireland’s national team ended on such a high. Schmidt led the Irish to…

On the Hippie Trail with Lonely Planet’s Founders

On the Hippie Trail with Lonely Planet’s Founders

The journey that spawned publishing empire, Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler’s trek from London to Australia via the hippy trail in 1972, has taken the first step on a new odyssey –…

Flight Of The Conchords – Jenny

Flight Of The Conchords – Jenny

Flight of the Conchords perform in America singing another comical story about a girl name Jenny meeting a man in the park. Guaranteed, you will be on the floor…

Setting up Practice in a Nice Part of the World

Setting up Practice in a Nice Part of the World

New Zealand veterinarian Allan Rapley, 63, moved to North London’s Highgate Village in 2012 to transform an antiquarian bookshop into his own live-in practice “in a nice part of the world”. The father-of-five and his…

Knittable Sensor Could Revolutionise Bandages

Knittable Sensor Could Revolutionise Bandages

Simon McMaster, a New Zealand-born inventor and chemist, has developed a new knittable, wearable sensor, which could lead to the creation of bandages that measure their own tightness. The sensor will be demonstrated for…

Public Response to Climate Engineering Tested

Public Response to Climate Engineering Tested

Averting mass economic and social upheaval from looming climate change will likely require forms of climate engineering to supplement existing energy efficiency and emissions control programs. Climate engineering is the…

Downhill MTB in NZ with Brook MacDonald – Part 1

Downhill MTB in NZ with Brook MacDonald – Part 1

Take a look at part 1 of 3 videos about Brook Macdonald and his amazing downhill mountain biking experience in New Zealand. Brook MacDonald is one of New Zealand’s…

What the Royals Are Taking in on Their NZ Tour

What the Royals Are Taking in on Their NZ Tour

As Prince William, Kate Middleton – and Prince George – head to New Zealand on an official tour, the Telegraph looks at all the places they are visiting asking their own experts, as well…

Our Three Greatest Male Triathletes of All Time

Our Three Greatest Male Triathletes of All Time

A trio of New Zealanders are named in an elite “25 Greatest Male Triathletes of All Time” list, with Auckland-born Hamish Carter (pictured), 42, taking the No 10 spot on Triathlete Europe’s lineup which,…

Kiwi Bacon

Kiwi Bacon

Watch this hilarious commercial about the irresistibility of New Zealand’s Kiwi Bacon. Kiwi Bacon: “You can’t help but help yourself”

Teen Environmental Animation Premiers at US Festival

Teen Environmental Animation Premiers at US Festival

A short film by 16-year-old Nastasha Bishop has had its US premier at the prestigious Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC at the weekend. As the Washington Post notes, the festival is misnamed. These…

Fabric Store from NZ a Natural Fit in LA

Fabric Store from NZ a Natural Fit in LA

The Los Angeles location for The Fabric Store, a New Zealand-based business that also has four retail stores in its native country and three in Australia, offers “a more edgy, fashiony focus…

Ceroc Flash Mob Wedding Proposal, Christchurch

Ceroc Flash Mob Wedding Proposal, Christchurch

Ceroc helps Ken propose to his partner in a very special way. So on Saturday 15th February 2014 in Northlands mall, Christchurch, he did just that. Edited and produced…

The Female Punchline: Don’t Ask that Question

The Female Punchline: Don’t Ask that Question

A little bit of comedian Michele A’Court dies when she is asked this question: Are women funny? A’Court is asked this question so often that deep inside her, nestled somewhere near her heart, is…

Another Win for Smith Ahead of London Marathon

Another Win for Smith Ahead of London Marathon

New Zealander Kim Smith, 32, has won the 37th New Bedford Half Marathon, her third victory in as many tries. Smith won the same race in 2011 and 2010. Smith, the three-time winner of what…

Interest Mounting in Abandoning Playground Rules

Interest Mounting in Abandoning Playground Rules

Swanson School principal Bruce McLachlan’s unconventional approach to playground rules is making waves around the world with school administrators and parents as far away as the United States and the United Kingdom asking how…

Guess What Al Pitcher Saw on the Way to His Show

Guess What Al Pitcher Saw on the Way to His Show

New Zealand comedian Al Pitcher performs his improvised stand-up slide show, the Al Pitcher Picture Show, as part of the Format Photographic Festival on 29 March in Derby. Now based in Stockholm,

Kiwi Sceptics: Hipster

Kiwi Sceptics: Hipster

New Zealand the perfect holiday spot, but that’s not what everyone thinks. Some people would never cross the ditch in a million years, we call them: The Kiwi Sceptics….

Tinkerbell Now Brain-Eating Med Student in Zombie Series

Tinkerbell Now Brain-Eating Med Student in Zombie Series

24 March 2014 – Star of American series Once Upon A Time New Zealander Rose McIver, who played Tinkerbell in the show, has been cast in the lead role of medical student Liv in…

Pulp a Handsome Cinematic Homage to Unique Band

Pulp a Handsome Cinematic Homage to Unique Band

A documentary about Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker directed by New Zealander Florian Habicht (pictured) is a “witty, warmhearted, imaginative documentary about the British farewell hometown show”, says a review in the Hollywood Reporter. “Though…

Getting Away from It All on the Coromandel

Getting Away from It All on the Coromandel

The New Zealand way of life, our “fondness for corrugated iron” and how we hang our laundry out to dry, are some Antipodean oddities which charmed a visiting American who was shown around Bill…

Kiwi Royalty Thrills Chicago

Kiwi Royalty Thrills Chicago

21 March 2014 – The long and the short of it is if you’re a Kiwi in America you support one another. New Zealand’s two most famous US exports – basketball prodigy Steven Adams…

Yumi Zouma Instantly Poignant and Placeless

Yumi Zouma Instantly Poignant and Placeless

“Assembled via email, at night, from far-flung corners of the globe is the debut EP from these ex-pat New Zealanders,” Guardian reviewer Paul Lester writes, including Yumi Zouma in the publication’s “Band of the…

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen – A Cappella Multi-track by Matt Mulholland

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen – A Cappella Multi-track by Matt Mulholland

Take a look at this amazing rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody by one amazing New Zealand born Comedian, Musician, Videographer and Writer, Matt Mullhound. Performing and creating his whole life,…

Canyon Road Unbelievably Scary as It Is Beautiful

Canyon Road Unbelievably Scary as It Is Beautiful

The Skippers Canyon road, 25 minutes north of Queenstown, has been deemed one of the world’s 22 most dangerous roads by British firm Driving Experiences, who gave the road an “overall road fear factor”…

China Ties with NZ Get Closer

China Ties with NZ Get Closer

China has announced that for the first time it will allow direct trade between the renminbi and the New Zealand dollar, only the fourth currency permitted to do so. The move further strengthens the…

NZ National Anthem – Maisey Rika & Ria Hall

NZ National Anthem – Maisey Rika & Ria Hall

Listen to the beautifully sung New Zealand National Anthem performed at the 2011 Maori Sports Awards by Maisey Rika & Ria Hall. Accompanied by TKKM a Rohe o Mangere.

Fusion Finds at Bobby Chinn in Hanoi

Fusion Finds at Bobby Chinn in Hanoi

Famed Hanoi chef Bobby Chinn, who was born in Auckland, serves a fusion of his influences – French, Californian, Middle Eastern – with Vietnamese dishes. Restaurant Bobby Chinn is recommended in a Forbes feature…

MAC Makeup Range in Lorde’s Name

MAC Makeup Range in Lorde’s Name

Lorde’s signature dark purple lipstick and sweeping eyeliner has landed the Grammy award-winning singer, 17, her own MAC range, following in the footsteps of Rihanna, Ru Paul and Lil’ Kim. Lorde said: “I have loved…

Surprise Advance and BBC Film Deal for NZ Author

Surprise Advance and BBC Film Deal for NZ Author

Author Deborah McKinlay, formerly of Auckland, has received a seven-figure advance and a lucrative film deal for her new book, That Part Was True. McKinlay, who had been making a living as a jobbing non-fiction…

New Zealand Wins Slalom Silver at Sochi

New Zealand Wins Slalom Silver at Sochi

New Plymouth skier Corey Peters, 30, has won silver in the giant slalom at the Sochi Paralympics. A former Taranaki age group rugby representative, Peters was paralysed at a motocross event in 2009. He says all…

Waiheke Island a Paradise for Art Lovers

Waiheke Island a Paradise for Art Lovers

“Waiheke Island is upscale Auckland’s offshore beach resort of choice – but its thriving creative community means it’s also a paradise for art lovers of all types,” according to Time Out Dubai. In an…

Out of Character with Jemaine Clement

Out of Character with Jemaine Clement

HBO presents an ‘Out of Character ’ interview with Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement. Find out how Jemaine first became an actor, his most embarrassing moment, what he…

Not Since 1974: Kiwi Dollar to Hit Parity with Aussie

Not Since 1974: Kiwi Dollar to Hit Parity with Aussie

The last time it happened Dick Taylor won gold at the 10,000m Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Hone Tuwhare was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship for poetry and Bunny Walters topped the charts with his…

Sun City Poms Ageing Gracefully in Vivid Colour

Sun City Poms Ageing Gracefully in Vivid Colour

When New Zealand-born advertising and fine art photographer Todd Antony was shooting landscapes in the southwestern United States in 2009 he came upon Sun City, Arizona, a desert retirement community of approximately…

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Production Blog Part 14

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Production Blog Part 14

Take a peek at Peter Jackson’s fourth video blog for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In this entry, it’s all about the amazing development of the new music…

McGeechan picks England to beat All Blacks

McGeechan picks England to beat All Blacks

If it was anyone else saying it – a froth-filled Stephen Jones broadside, perhaps – Kiwis would ignore it. But Sir Ian McGeechan, the decorated Scotsman, respected Lions player and venerated coach, is a…

Eating Mince Pies off the Subway in New York

Eating Mince Pies off the Subway in New York

New York’s DUB Pies, run by New Zealander Gareth Hughes, “might be a tiny shop, but so is its specialty – the flaky-crusted savoury hand-made pies that are as popular as both bagels and…

It happened in NZ first: Oceanic Apocalypse

It happened in NZ first: Oceanic Apocalypse

At first it was dismissed as a freak event. In 1998, a mass of jellyfish carried by the tide into Big Glory Bay, Stewart Island, became pinned against the netting of salmon farm pens:…

Against The Wind: One of the Greatest Comebacks in Sports History

Against The Wind: One of the Greatest Comebacks in Sports History

A major Wall Street Journal feature reported by Stu Woo maps the extraordinary comeback by Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA against Team New Zealand to win the 2013 America’s Cup on San Francisco…

Kiwis in New York

Kiwis in New York

Ever wonder what Americans think of New Zealand? Kiwis in New York ask simple questions to some friendly people like “Where is New Zealand?” or “What do you know…

Perceptive Debut Novel Immediately Engrossing

Perceptive Debut Novel Immediately Engrossing

Twenty-one-year-old Sebastian Hampson, an art history and literature student at Victoria University, writes with an assurance that belies his years, according to the Australian, and his debut novel The Train to Paris, inspired by…

Ngai Tahu Investments Pay off

Ngai Tahu Investments Pay off

For generations, the Ngai Tahu tribe resembled many other indigenous people around the world: impoverished, virtually landless and experiencing a steady erosion of its language and culture. However, Ngai Tahu have now turned their situation…

Echo Park Band Gets It Right in Los Angeles

Echo Park Band Gets It Right in Los Angeles

New Zealand singer-songwriter, Bradley Hanan Carter (pictured second from left), 33, is founder of Los Angeles sextet, NO which is celebrating the launch of its debut album El Prado with a tour at legendary…

Swiss Helicopter Wingsuit Flight Caught on Film

Swiss Helicopter Wingsuit Flight Caught on Film

Daredevil New Zealand BASEjumper and professional skydiver Dan Vicary was recently filmed leaping from a helicopter over the Silberhorn Mountain in Switzerland, supported only by a nylon wingsuit. The astonishing footage was taken by American…

‘Housebound’ Debuts at SXSW

‘Housebound’ Debuts at SXSW

Is the New Zealand horror-comedy back? At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s vampire mock doc ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ was one of the strongest in…

Crane Brothers One of Australia’s Top Suiters

Crane Brothers One of Australia’s Top Suiters

Sydney clothing store, the New Zealand-owned Crane Brothers, founded by former Zambesi menswear designer Murray Crane, is included in a Sydney Morning Herald feature on the best places in Australia to buy a suit. “No…

Australian Rules Convert like a Duck to Water

Australian Rules Convert like a Duck to Water

Auckland-born Falcons West Perth recruit Tamati Young, 22, had never picked up an Australian Rules (AFL) football until seven years ago. Young’s Maori heritage also meant when he finally had a crack at Australia’s indigenous…

KiwiRail Scenic Journeys – Take A Break. Take A Train.

KiwiRail Scenic Journeys – Take A Break. Take A Train.

Watch the TranzAlpine train as it crosses the South Island, beginning on the East coast in Christchurch and ending on the West Coast in Greymouth, traversing the spectacular Southern…

New Zealand Stays 4th in the Women in Work Index

New Zealand Stays 4th in the Women in Work Index

13 March 2014 – New Zealand has held on to fourth place in this year’s PwC Women in Work index; ranking higher than Australia (9th) and far higher than America (16th) and the UK…

Twilight Star Dons Dul’s Eco-Tux for Oscars

Twilight Star Dons Dul’s Eco-Tux for Oscars

New Zealand was once again represented on the red carpet at the Oscars with Twilight star Kellan Lutz wearing the Academy Awards first sustainable tuxedo created by Jomnarn Dul, 23, lead designer at iconic…

Tracing Maori Ancestry for Worldwide Family Tree

Tracing Maori Ancestry for Worldwide Family Tree

Over the past year, Gisborne’s Ngai Tamanuhiri has been participating in the National Geographic’s Genographic Project working closely with Oceania’s genographic principal investigator Lisa Matisoo-Smith who is helping the iwi learn more about their…