September 2016 Archives

Japan’s Brave Blossoms Welcome Coach Jamie Joseph

Japan’s Brave Blossoms Welcome Coach Jamie Joseph

In his first press conference since taking charge of Japan national rugby team the Brave Blossoms, New Zealander Jamie Joseph warned fans to expect pain before pleasure as he builds toward the 2019 World…

Dave Verheul Chef of the Year  Finalist

Dave Verheul Chef of the Year Finalist

New Zealand-born Dave Verheul, who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants with Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsay in London, plus a stage at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, and at Sydney’s hatted The Bentley Restaurant and…

Raewyn Hill Making Dance Accessible to All

Raewyn Hill Making Dance Accessible to All

Chances are if you visited the Art Gallery of Western Australia recently you would have seen New Zealand-born Raewyn Hill and the Co3 dancers rehearsing for The Cry. The contemporary performance, that sees each…

Warren Gatland Looks to Dethrone the ABs

Warren Gatland Looks to Dethrone the ABs

Warren Gatland, 52, landed in New Zealand last week only two days after being given the job of overthrowing what may be the country’s most cherished institution: the All Blacks rugby team. Gatland has…

Ben Shewry is Gourmet Traveller’s Chef of the Year

Ben Shewry is Gourmet Traveller’s Chef of the Year

New Zealander Ben Shewry, owner of Melbourne’s Attica, has been peer-voted Chef of the Year in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards. “Eleven years after answering a newspaper ad for a head chef position the…

Matariki Festival 2016 Highlights

Matariki Festival 2016 Highlights

Watch the highlights of this year’s Matariki Festival at Te Papa and hear about what makes Matariki a special time for those who helped celebrate at Te Papa.

Scott Dixon Wins at Watkins Glen

Scott Dixon Wins at Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen International is a special place for New Zealander Scott Dixon. He showed why again winning the IndyCar Grand Prix at the historic New York race track. Fastest in every practice and fastest in qualifying, Dixon,…

Queenstown – More Than Adventure

Queenstown – More Than Adventure

“Immortalised by Peter Jackson in Lord Of The Rings, tourists now flock to Queenstown’s frosty lakes and rolling hills every year in search of the same magic created by the films,” writes Jennifer Smith…

New Zealand’s Most Exciting Young Poet

New Zealand’s Most Exciting Young Poet

Hera Lindsay Bird, who “has become a cult favourite for her explicit, cutting and often funny writing” was “catapulted from respected but anonymous graduate writer to semi-cult status” after publishing her first book of…

Wine and Dine Your Way Through NZ

Wine and Dine Your Way Through NZ

“From freshly caught seafood to lamb, meat, everything, the delicious yet frequently underrated cuisine New Zealand offers should top your foodie-travel bucket list,” writes A. Van Houten for Paste Magazine in an…

NZ’s Must-See Photography Locations

NZ’s Must-See Photography Locations

New Zealand boasts “some of the finest natural landscapes on Earth” and is a “paradise for photographers and nature lovers alike”, writes William Patino on his photography blog. In his blog post he…

Dayna Grant on Life As A Stuntwoman

Dayna Grant on Life As A Stuntwoman

Kiwi stuntwoman Dayna Grant has “worked as a double for A-list actors including Charlize Theron and Tilda Swinton during her thrilling 20-year career, but to the easy-going Kiwi, it’s all in a day’s work,”…

NZ Story – Energy and Resources

NZ Story – Energy and Resources

Watch this clip by NZ story, which sheds light on the unique characteristics of New Zealand’s energy and resources industry.

Anouska Hempel Gives London Hotel a Sleek New Makeover

Anouska Hempel Gives London Hotel a Sleek New Makeover

“As one of the first classic boutique townhouse hotels in London, The Franklin has recently experienced an extraordinarily stylish revamp—and designed by none other than the Bond-Girl-turned hotelier/interior designer Anouska Hempel,” writes Hana Hong…

Wellington Unveils National Virtual Reality Complex

Wellington Unveils National Virtual Reality Complex

Work on New Zealand’s first national virtual reality complex has begun in Wellington, writes David Swan in an article for the Australian. The centre will be “used to developed and test world-first…

Producer Joel Little Teams up with Ruth B in LA

Producer Joel Little Teams up with Ruth B in LA

Lorde’s former producer, Grammy-award winning New Zealander Joel Little, 33, is now working with Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth B on her first LP, Vine. Little became intrigued with Ruth when a friend sent a demo of…

Wildlife and Wilderness Galore in the South Island

Wildlife and Wilderness Galore in the South Island

“As a chilly dusk fell on famous for wildlife and Jurassic-era fossilised trees, a white-coated figure waddled gingerly across tide-slicked rocks – me, trying to get out of sight to…

Mel Dodge Gets Her Brontë on in Canberra

Mel Dodge Gets Her Brontë on in Canberra

New Zealand playwright and actor Mel Dodge depicts the personal passions of Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë in Miss Brontë, on at Canberra’s Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. Despite living most of her life in an…

Nicholas Clark Caters to China’s Craft Beer Lovers

Nicholas Clark Caters to China’s Craft Beer Lovers

New Zealander Nicholas Clark is one of a number of foreigners who have invested in China’s new enthusiasm for craft beer. Clark opened Craft Head Nano Tap House in 2014 in a former convenience…

Behind the Scenes – NZ Opera

Behind the Scenes – NZ Opera

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of the NZ Opera? Watch this clip and find out what happens before the season starts and audiences get…

How NZ’s Glaciers Shaped the Origin of the Kiwi Bird

How NZ’s Glaciers Shaped the Origin of the Kiwi Bird

When the kiwi arrived in New Zealand several million years ago “it found few threats and plenty of opportunities.” “In the absence of mammals, its descendants gradually lost the ability to fly, as island…

#231: NZ Scores in Expat Report, Robert Redford, NZ Housing, Witi Ihimaera, Simon Denny, Alan Gibbs +  Len Lye and more ++

#231: NZ Scores in Expat Report, Robert Redford, NZ Housing, Witi Ihimaera, Simon Denny, Alan Gibbs + Len Lye and more ++

Witi Ihimaera on Writers and the Conscience

Witi Ihimaera on Writers and the Conscience

Gisborne-born author Witi Ihimaera, 72, feels the real role of a writer is to become the conscience of the nation and that Indian writers have set a “fantastic example” by using literature to address…

Simon Denny Explains Blockchain with Pokémon

Simon Denny Explains Blockchain with Pokémon

New Zealand-born artist Simon Denny’s forthcoming exhibition – Blockchain Future States – opens on 8 September at Petzel Gallery in New York City. The exhibition tells the story of blockchain visionaries, bitcoin and the…

Len Lye Centre Offers a Place of Reflection

Len Lye Centre Offers a Place of Reflection

“‘Art,’ wrote the -born artist Len Lye, ‘is the most valuable and least useful of all things ever made.’ Bearing that in mind, how might you make a museum dedicated to the artist?” Financial Times’…

Collector Alan Gibbs Combining Passion and Purpose

Collector Alan Gibbs Combining Passion and Purpose

The art world has opened up to welcome new collectors and dealers defined by their zeal, Monocle reports in a profile story, which includes New Zealand-born Alan Gibbs, entrepreneur and founder of Gibbs Farm…

NZ the Way US Used to Be Says Robert Redford

NZ the Way US Used to Be Says Robert Redford

Hollywood film star Robert Redford, 80, came to New Zealand to expand his Oscar-winning résumé with children’s film Pete’s Dragon, but what he found was an idyllic paradise reminiscent of his own childhood. Redford says he felt…

What’s your why? Malakai Fekitoa

What’s your why? Malakai Fekitoa

Watch this clip by Rebel Sport and hear what fuelled Malakai Fekitoa to go after his dream of becoming a professional rugby player. Today he plays for New Zealand’s national team…

Pietra Brettkelly’s A Flickering Truth Opens in NZ

Pietra Brettkelly’s A Flickering Truth Opens in NZ

When New Zealand-born director Pietra Brettkelly visited Afghanistan in 2012 she heard tell of a secret film archive, constructed during Taliban rule to protect the country’s old films from being destroyed by the regime….

Cruise Industry Growing in New Zealand

Cruise Industry Growing in New Zealand

New Zealand’s cruise industry is experiencing an increase in cruise passengers. More than 254,000 passengers and 92,000 crew members visited the country during the August 2015 to June 2016 cruise season, as reported in…

How Oamaru Became Steampunk Capital of the World

How Oamaru Became Steampunk Capital of the World

Oamaru “used to be known for its population of blue penguins and having the best-preserved collection of Victorian architecture in the country”, writes Eleanor Ainge Roy for The Guardian. In 2010 the…

This Is the Castle That Dot Smith Built

This Is the Castle That Dot Smith Built

As a child New Zealander Dot Smith dreamed of living in a castle. Growing up on an isolated farm in the 1960s entertainment was scarce – so Dot read, and planned her escape. Five…

Karen Walker’s Jewels Shine on Magical Hands

Karen Walker’s Jewels Shine on Magical Hands

Designer Karen Walker has once again turned to older women for her campaigns, hiring models, Phyllis Sues, 93, and Roberta Haze, 78 for her latest jewellery collection, Magic Hands. For New Zealander Walker, aged hands…

US Brands Head to NZ for All-Wool Footwear

US Brands Head to NZ for All-Wool Footwear

As demand for all-wool shoes grows, a number of US footwear brands are heading directly to the source: the sheep pastures of New Zealand. San Francisco-based Allbirds, established by former New Zealand soccer player…

New Zealand Scores High in Expat Report

New Zealand Scores High in Expat Report

New Zealand has been ranked the fifth best country for expats in a ranking by “InterNations, which recently produced the Expat Insider 2016 report — one of the largest expat surveys in…

Disney’s Moana Trailer 2

Disney’s Moana Trailer 2

Watch this full Moana trailer – the official Olympics TV spot. In Moana, once-mighty demigod Maui, played by Dwayne Johnson and Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) embark on an adventure across the…

Julliard’s Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson to Graduate

Julliard’s Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson to Graduate

Christchurch dancer Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, who is understood to be the first New Zealander to be accepted by the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, according to the Press, will graduate in May 2017. Guillemot-Rodgerson…

NZ Tops IMF’s Housing Unaffordability List

NZ Tops IMF’s Housing Unaffordability List

New Zealand has topped the International Monetary Fund’s list for housing unaffordability and has outpaced 31 other countries in the house prices to income ratio category. It hit nearly 130 points on…

Niki Caro Directing Anne of Green Gables Series

Niki Caro Directing Anne of Green Gables Series

Wellington-born filmmaker Niki Caro will direct the latest adaptation of the classic children’s novel Anne of Green Gables with production beginning in Canada this month. The series, Anne, may prove to be an edgier incarnation…

Girls Stars Front Unretouched Lonely Lingerie Ad

Girls Stars Front Unretouched Lonely Lingerie Ad

Creator and star of hit American television show Girls, Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke are championing the unretouched precedent for Lonely Girls, a journal featuring inspiring women modelling underwear from the New Zealand-based Lonely…

#230: David Farrier, What To Do in NZ, South Island Top Beach Hotels, Akaroa, Maria Lewis, Anna Paquin + Rhys Darby and more ++

#230: David Farrier, What To Do in NZ, South Island Top Beach Hotels, Akaroa, Maria Lewis, Anna Paquin + Rhys Darby and more ++

Tonic for Brits Seeking to Cure Brexit Blues

Tonic for Brits Seeking to Cure Brexit Blues

It boasts spectacular scenery, a temperate climate and a labour shortage in key areas, but New Zealand’s most appealing attribute, according to the New Zealand Herald, may be that it is “18,000km from Boris…