July 2016 Archives

Trek New Zealand’s Routeburn Trail

Trek New Zealand’s Routeburn Trail

“Apart from showcasing glorious ‘100% pure New Zealand’ scenery, New Zealand’s Great Walks are equipped with huts which have bunk beds, gas kitchens, flush toilets, solar-powered lighting and clean water supply – and even…

Off-the-Beaten-Track Places in NZ

Off-the-Beaten-Track Places in NZ

New Zealand offers such incredible beauty — from snow-capped mountains and lush-green rainforests to glorious white-sand beaches and towering volcanoes, “and has buckets of culture and charm,” writes Nicole Barnard for The…

NZ Retirement Home Residents Shake It Off

NZ Retirement Home Residents Shake It Off

A group of 50 New Zealand retirees have “done their own take on Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off video, adding only the occasional local, and age-appropriate, touches such as frenetic cupcake dusting,”…

Nine Wonders of New Zealand

Nine Wonders of New Zealand

“With natural splendours that include stunning marine wildlife and geothermal springs, to culinary adventures taking in cutting-edge restaurants and tours of award-winning vineyards, New Zealand is a country that knows how to amaze the…

Ladyhawke’s Favourite Top Five Albums

Ladyhawke’s Favourite Top Five Albums

Despite Ladyhawke’s busy schedule, the New Zealand musician talked to ELLE.com about the albums that have changed her life and turned her into the synth-pop maestro she is today. Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown, has already…

How to Dad – What You Need to Teach Your Baby

How to Dad – What You Need to Teach Your Baby

How to Dad is back with a new funny clip on how to be a New Zealand Dad. This time he covers what you need to teach your baby…

Team USA Trainer Craig McFarlane Talks Tough

Team USA Trainer Craig McFarlane Talks Tough

The “beasts” of the Oracle Team USA America’s Cup crew are among the world’s toughest athletes – people for whom some of the most gruelling training imaginable is all part of the routine, and the…

Designer Rebecca Taylor Offers up Some Holiday Tips

Designer Rebecca Taylor Offers up Some Holiday Tips

New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor is constantly looking to her world travels for inspiration. She lets W magazine in on the best outfits for the plane and what makes for the perfect travel shoe….

The Dead C’s Latest Trouble Strangely Beautiful

The Dead C’s Latest Trouble Strangely Beautiful

New Zealand band The Dead C’s latest album Trouble, which is out on 12 August, is reviewed by Mike Barnes for The Wire magazine, who describes the trio’s new work as “strangely beautiful and…

John Danaher On His Leg Lock System

John Danaher On His Leg Lock System

“In recent years a new school of Jiu-Jitsu players have started to perfect the leg lock game,” as reported in an article in BJJ Eastern Europe. John Danaher, New Zealand born BJJ…

Baldwin Street a Photogenic Optical Illusion

Baldwin Street a Photogenic Optical Illusion

Dunedin’s Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world, has become an unlikely tourist attraction, with people sharing photos on social media of a bizarre optical illusion, the Daily Mail reports. When photos of houses…

Steve Hansen Re-Signs with All Blacks

Steve Hansen Re-Signs with All Blacks

World Cup winning coach Steve Hansen has re-signed with the All Blacks through until 2019, as reported on Fox Sports. “New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said the board unanimously voted to…

#225: Conchords in NYC, Wild South, Tickled, Karen Walker + NZ Kakapo and more ++

#225: Conchords in NYC, Wild South, Tickled, Karen Walker + NZ Kakapo and more ++

Heart Kids: Saving Babies’ Lives

Heart Kids: Saving Babies’ Lives

(Sponsored Content) “Heart Kids, the only charity supporting children suffering from congenital heart defects, is teaming up with dairy company Yashili to help the lives of many of the 12 babies born each week…

Real Women on Film for Karen Walker’s New Campaign

Real Women on Film for Karen Walker’s New Campaign

New Zealander Karen Walker’s latest campaign celebrates the art of film photography and women of all ages, with the designer and her 8-year-old daughter Valentina in front of the camera for the SS16/17’s Magnetic…

Huffman’s Wins at World Hot Sauce Awards

Huffman’s Wins at World Hot Sauce Awards

Wellington-based Huffman’s Hot Sauce has been named World Champion in the Pepper Blend category at a ceremony held in Louisiana. Auckland’s Culley’s and Kaikohe’s Fire Dragon Chillies were also named world champions in the…

Card Ninja Performs in UK at Bedfringe

Card Ninja Performs in UK at Bedfringe

New Zealander Javier Jarquin is the Card Ninja, a PG-rated, one-man show with up-beat humour, impressive stunts and smooth audience interaction. Jarquin will demonstrate his “remarkable skills” in the UK at the Bedford Fringe…

Richard Lewer Wins Basil Sellers Art Prize

Richard Lewer Wins Basil Sellers Art Prize

Hamilton-born Richard Lewer has been announced the winner of this year’s A$100,000 Basil Sellers Art Prize for his work “The Theatre of Sports (2016),” beating 240 other entries. The Basil Sellers Art Prize is a…

Yeongrak Online in Search of Scuzzy Beats

Yeongrak Online in Search of Scuzzy Beats

With the Christchurch earthquake wiping out all of Yeongrak’s previous hangouts, he took refuge in his bedroom, where he withdrew from regular socialising and immersed himself into the dark, distant corners of the internet….

International Fashion Award Goes to Mayako Kano

International Fashion Award Goes to Mayako Kano

New Zealander Mayako Kano, 32, has been named winner of the International Talent Support (ITS) Fashion Award claiming a 10,000 Euro prize with “one of the more elegant provocations” of the competition, according to…

Jess Johnson’s New Language of Virtual Reality

Jess Johnson’s New Language of Virtual Reality

Jess Johnson, a Tauranga-born, New York-based artist, whose work includes drawing, animation, video, installation and recently, virtual reality (VR), offers some fascinating insights into how altered perceptions change how we communicate and the forms…

Deep South: A Wild Coastal Drive

Deep South: A Wild Coastal Drive

“New Zealand is perfect for long, meandering road trips, especially in its scenic South Island. If driving on windswept coastal roads is your idea of a good time, then there’s no better region to…

NZ Kakapo’s Successful Breeding Season

NZ Kakapo’s Successful Breeding Season

The critically endangered kakapo – one of the world’s rarest birds – “saw its numbers boom by 28%” with 34 new chicks this year. That brings its population up to 157, as reported in…

Tickled: “Compelling, Enthralling and Very Entertaining”

Tickled: “Compelling, Enthralling and Very Entertaining”

A lot of people think of documentaries as “ultra somber, serious cinema exercises”, writes Jim Batts in a WeAreMovieGeeks review.  Tickled is different. It’s “entertaining, just as funny as many…

Play Lady of the Manor at Otahuna Lodge

Play Lady of the Manor at Otahuna Lodge

“New Zealand’s luxury lodges each have their unique selling point,” Cleo Glyde writes for news.com.au, “and as you wend your way along the freshly raked gravel driveway of an 1895 mansion set in the…

Flight of the Conchords Aimless and That’s Okay

Flight of the Conchords Aimless and That’s Okay

There was a time, about 10 years ago, when this unassuming pair seemed to have it all figured out in their own quiet way. The Flight of the Conchords had a well-received HBO series…

Rhys Darby and Anna Faris in Air New Zealand’s Latest Safety Video

Rhys Darby and Anna Faris in Air New Zealand’s Latest Safety Video

Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby has teamed up with Hollywood actress Anna Faris to play a multitude of ridiculous characters in Air New Zealand’s latest safety video, Safety in Hollywood as reported in

Three Golfers Selected to Represent NZ at Rio

Three Golfers Selected to Represent NZ at Rio

Lydia Ko, Danny Lee and Ryan Fox have been chosen to represent New Zealand in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, as reported in the Fiji Times. “This is a truly proud moment for…

Star Trek’s Karl Urban Meets Hero Harrison Ford

Star Trek’s Karl Urban Meets Hero Harrison Ford

A perk of working for producer J.J. Abrams on Star Trek Beyond was the chance for Wellington-born actor Karl Urban, 44, to visit his boss’ other set. And for Urban, a lifelong Harrison Ford…

Celebrating French Legion Hero James Waddell

Celebrating French Legion Hero James Waddell

A new exhibition marking the Somme Centenary called “Médaillé Extraordinaire” aims to raise awareness of James Waddell, a much decorated New Zealander who served in the French Foreign Legion during the First World War. Lieutenant-Colonel…

#224: Andy Bearpark, Te Urewera, Ross McEwan, Australians to Wellington, Nelson Street Cycleway, NZ’s Knack for P, + Conservation Dogs and more ++

#224: Andy Bearpark, Te Urewera, Ross McEwan, Australians to Wellington, Nelson Street Cycleway, NZ’s Knack for P, + Conservation Dogs and more ++

Dancer Kexin Li Reviving an Ancient Art Form

Dancer Kexin Li Reviving an Ancient Art Form

Before Kexin Li, a Chinese New Zealander, came to New York in 2008 to receive systematic training in classical Chinese dance, she cared little for performing arts or even physical exercise. It was after Li,…

Conservation Dogs on the Pest Warpath

Conservation Dogs on the Pest Warpath

One of New Zealand’s greatest conservation accomplishments, our so-called 100 “island sanctuaries”, are entirely pest- and predator-free, allowing endangered animals to thrive without threat. Conservation dogs like Piri the terrier ratter, a specially trained…

New BBC Doco Explores Our Mythical Islands

New BBC Doco Explores Our Mythical Islands

“In New Zealand, you’ll be interested to learn, there are more species of penguin than anywhere else in the world,” the Independent’s deputy managing editor Sean O’Grady writes in a preview of BBC Two…

RBS CEO Ross McEwan Still Optimistic Despite Brexit

RBS CEO Ross McEwan Still Optimistic Despite Brexit

While the Royal Bank of Scotland share price did sink to levels reminiscent of the 2008 crisis, when the bank ran out of cash and only survived because of a £45bn taxpayer bailout, New…

Judith Hereford Pens Book Focusing on Elderly Care

Judith Hereford Pens Book Focusing on Elderly Care

New Zealand-born Judith Hereford, who lives in Herefordshire in the UK, may be over the age of 70, but that isn’t stopping her from taking on the publishing world with her first self-penned book,…

Québec Music Fans Enjoy Neil Finn’s Summer Set

Québec Music Fans Enjoy Neil Finn’s Summer Set

Neil Finn performed at the recent Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) playing a mixture of Split Enz and Crowded House favourites, as well as some of his own tracks, “in smooth style” according to…

Personhood Designation Granted to Te Urewera

Personhood Designation Granted to Te Urewera

Former national park Te Urewera has been granted personhood with Whanganui River expected to receive the same status soon, the New York Times reports in a feature about the “undoubtedly legally revolutionary” decision. The unusual…

Rose McIver on Her Early Acting Days

Rose McIver on Her Early Acting Days

Kiwi actress Rose McIver, who plays lead character Liv Moore in the iZombie series, recently said she wasn’t satisfied with her early acting performance. When the actress, who is required to take on an American…

A New Zealand Winter

A New Zealand Winter

“You could go to Europe this summer, overpay for plane tickets and stand in line for three hours waiting to get into the Louvre so you can see the Mona Lisa.” Or you could…

Andy Bearpark Re-emerges As Yogi in New Zealand

Andy Bearpark Re-emerges As Yogi in New Zealand

Andy Bearpark, who was once known as Margaret Thatcher’s closest ally, “has re-emerged in the unlikeliest of places and in the unlikeliest of roles,” writes Jack Barlow for The Guardian. “Bearpark, one…

James Cameron Stars in Tourism NZ Campaign

James Cameron Stars in Tourism NZ Campaign

Avatar director James Cameron is starring in the latest Tourism New Zealand campaign – a series of videos filmed over four days in the South Island, which explore the filmmaker’s fascination with…

How New Zealand’s Knack for ‘P’ Turned into a Homebaked Disaster

How New Zealand’s Knack for ‘P’ Turned into a Homebaked Disaster

“New Zealand is 10,000km (6,00o miles) from Bangkok, 18,000km from Amsterdam and surrounded by sea. Hard drugs rarely make it into the country – and when they do prices are high and quality is…

Getting to Know Thomston

Getting to Know Thomston

Auckland-based musician Thomas Stoneman, aka Thomston, 20, is gearing up to release his highly anticipated debut album, which is “shaping up to be a really interesting, emotive release”, according to Australian entertainment site Howls…

New Zealand Blazing Trail on Global Cocktail Path

New Zealand Blazing Trail on Global Cocktail Path

“With its bordello-meets-street-art décor, Napier’s Monica Loves bar has all the trappings of a modern speakeasy, the kind you’d find down a London alley or behind an unmarked door in the East…

Maimoatia

Maimoatia

Listen to ‘Maimoatia’, a song sung entirely in Te Reo Maori that has shot straight to the #1 of the New Zealand iTunes charts. The song was released as…

Wellington: It’s a Wee Bit Different

Wellington: It’s a Wee Bit Different

“Not everyone wants to dream big. Sometimes, people who dream small can be just as inspiring,’ writes The Australian’s Necia Wilden. She is referring to Graham Joe, owner of little store Gelissimo gelato on…

Australians Are Flocking in Droves to Wellington

Australians Are Flocking in Droves to Wellington

In the three years to 2015, the number of Australians moving to Wellington has spiked by 86 per cent, and the flow of expatriates last year reversed direction for the first time in more…

How Flight of the Conchords Outlasted the Hipster

How Flight of the Conchords Outlasted the Hipster

“Despite breaking out at a specific cultural moment – an era during which America, at any rate, was seething with ironic hauteur and fetishised authenticity – penchant for loving…

Revived Team McLaren Returns to Grand Prix

Revived Team McLaren Returns to Grand Prix

Team McLaren, founded in 1963 by owner-driver New Zealander Bruce McLaren and the second-most successful team in series history, returns this weekend to its home Grand Prix, celebrating 50 years in Formula One –…

#223: Te Reo Hit, Anthony Wilding, Awaroa Beach, NZ Super Rugby, Waiheke + Richie McCaw and more ++

#223: Te Reo Hit, Anthony Wilding, Awaroa Beach, NZ Super Rugby, Waiheke + Richie McCaw and more ++

Tipperary Store Keeps Homesick Hungry Stocked Up

Tipperary Store Keeps Homesick Hungry Stocked Up

Dean Hand is founder of kiwis.ie which brings a taste of home to other New Zealanders around Ireland through the website and a village shop in Clerihan, County Tipperary. “We’re a one-stop-shop for…

Nelson St Cycleway Shortlisted for World Architecture Awards

Nelson St Cycleway Shortlisted for World Architecture Awards

Auckland’s pink Nelson Street Cycleway, designed by Monk Mackenzie architects and landscape architecture firm LandLab, has just been shortlisted for the World Architecture Awards. “The 0.37-mile offramp turned bike path cuts through the…

Rare Whales Seen off Dunedin Coast

Rare Whales Seen off Dunedin Coast

For the first time in New Zealand waters an extremely rare grouping of Shepherd’s Beaked Whales, one of the least known cetaceans in the world, has been spotted from a University of Otago research…

James Cameron – 100% Pure New Zealand

James Cameron – 100% Pure New Zealand

Watch Tourism New Zealand’s new clip starring Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis Cameron. The campaign includes a series of videos filmed over four…

Wimbledon’s Anthony Wilding a Superstar of his Day

Wimbledon’s Anthony Wilding a Superstar of his Day

Long before the PR driven age of image rights and social media, before Borg, Laver and even Perry, Wimbledon had its own matinee idol – New Zealand-born Anthony Wilding. Yet despite him being a…