McCaw Magic Seals All Blacks Win at Ellis Park
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw grabbed a late winning try to lift the All Blacks to a dramatic 27-20 win over South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The home side led for most of…
Blog Archives
Seb Chan Is Digitally Revitilising Museums
New Zealand-born Seb Chan, lauded for his leading role in transforming the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York with a human-centred digital renewal, has been appointed chief eXperience officer (CXO) at the…
Warren Gatland Steers Wales into World Cup Ready
With a near perfect World Cup training trip to Switzerland in the bank, Wales coach Warren Gatland has steered his squad into a very good place, according to Wales Online rugby editor Delme Parfitt. “If…
Cutthroat role for Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Sweeney
Operatic baritone New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes has the lead role as the infamous barber in Victorian Opera’s take on Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s bloodiest musical. Rhodes, playing Sweeney for the first time, hasn’t watched…
Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist
New Zealand street artist Owen Dippie is making a name for himself in Brooklyn, New York with “show-stopping” murals. It takes a true intuitive sense and careful execution to produce a mashup or remix, and…
Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”
Ohura is a tiny town with a population of just 120 people where there is next to no power, internet, or jobs – where time almost stands still. Photographer Tony Carter spent one year…
Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa
New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery joined forces with the Royal Samoa Police Band, who were in Sydney playing outside the Pacific Islands for the first time, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end…
Flight of the Conchords Role Models for Success
Flight of the Conchords stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are California-born stand-up comedian Arj Barker’s role models, he tells the Guardian. Barker, who is best known for his role as pawnshop owner Dave in…
Lujo’s Free-Standing Hammock a Visual Masterpiece
A free-standing hammock designed by New Zealand-based company Lujo features in the Dallas Morning News Home & Gardening section. Lujo, which designs and manufactures top-of-the-line lounge furniture, describes its free-standing hammock as “a functional sculpture…
New Zealand Biker Jed Mildon Lands World First BMX Quadruple Backflip
New Zealand professional BMX biker Jed Mildon, 28, has landed the world’s first quadruple backflip after four years of planning for the incredible feat. Riding a 20-foot box jump, Mildon scored his second world first…
All Blacks Dominate Argentina in Christchurch
Captain Richie McCaw scored a try and stand-off Dan Carter kicked 14 points in their last home Test at AMI Stadium in Christchurch as the All Blacks beat Argentina 39-18 in the opening match…
Diplomatic Businessman Sir John Buchanan
Sir John Buchanan, who has died aged 72, was an Auckland-born scientist who rose to be finance director at BP before taking on prominent non-executive board roles in sectors ranging from mining, most recently…
Annette Tanner on a Unique Broadway Mission
New Zealander Annette Tanner, executive director of Atlanta-based non-profit organisation Broadway Dreams Foundation, is one of a “handful of remarkable women who are making their mark on educational theatre” in the United States, the…
Massey University Professor Chris Galloway committed to telling stories of Palestinians
“I feel personal commitment to tell the stories of Palestinians in the West Bank where I taught voluntarily a few times,” Chris Galloway, a professor from Massey University, told the Tehran Times on the…
Tree Church by Barry Cox a Backyard Sanctuary
Barry Cox’s Waikato Tree Church is a “heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a three-acre landscaped garden … walls are made of living trees planted around an iron frame”, Slate magazine reports. “In 2011, Cox,…
People Age at Wildly Different Rates Study Shows
Tests done in Dunedin on physiological markers in nearly 1000 38-year-olds has found that some had biological ages many years older than their birthdates would suggest. The research confirms that people grow old at…
Bologna-Based Guy Lydster Installs Headscapes
A new public art installation in Bologna sculpted by acclaimed Auckland-born artist Guy Lydster, has added an ecological dimension to the red-stoned city. A two-metre tall “headscape” base relief sculpted from Veronese marble showcases…
Beer and Burgers at Wellington on a Plate
New Zealand’s annual Wellington on a Plate culinary festival, which runs from 14-30 August, features in a Daily Telegraph travel feature. The newspaper takes a tour of the city’s breweries and seeks out the…
All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen Now a Samoan Chief
Three-times World Rugby Coach of the Year New Zealander Steve Hansen, 56, has been named an honorary high chief, or matai, of Vaiala village in Samoa, a day after his All Blacks team beat…
Tim Finn Loves Writing Songs More than Ever
Forty years in the music business, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, Tim Finn, 63, recently performed his new collaboration, White Cloud at the Galway International Arts festival. White Cloud may be derived from…
Twenty-Six Reasons NZ is the World’s Best To Visit
Once again, New Zealand has topped the Telegraph Travel awards as the world’s best place to visit; the publication offers up 26 reasons why. “First and most importantly, it looks amazing. Douglas Adams, the author…
Mitch Evans Is Formula One’s next Big Thing
The brightest star in the Formula One (F1) feeder series GP2 is Aucklander Mitch Evans who has amassed an impressive list of accolades despite being just 21 years old. He also has an attribute…
Weta Smithy Peter Lyon in the Mix at Comic-Con
Amongst the colourful characters who flood the San Diego Convention Center Comic-Con was New Zealand smithy Peter Lyon, who has worked the past 16 years for Weta Workshop. “When I started at Weta…
Comedian Rhys Darby Joins X-Files Cast
Actor Rhys Darby, who played werewolf Anton in What We Do in the Shadows, will join the cast of The X-Files “event series” as a man suspected by Fox Mulder to be the perpetrator…
How Elk Farmer Thom Van Eeghen Became Canadian
Ottawa elk farmer Thom Van Eeghen, “a landed immigrant from New Zealand”, explains how he became a Canadian, and what he thinks Canada should do to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday in 2017. “I came…
JK Russ Major Player in US Art Scene
New Zealand-born artist JK Russ is included in a Los Angeles Confidential feature “spotlight and celebrating the freshest, boldest artistic talent” from each of the 11 American cities in which the magazine publishes. “From Aspen…
Andrew Niccol Gets Green Light for Monopoly Script
Writer of The Truman Show, New Zealand-born Andrew Niccol has been hired to script the Monopoly movie, which will be a co-production between the game manufacturer Hasbro and Lionsgate. The companies called it “a film…
Joseph Michael Capturing Moments of Magic
Joseph Michael, New Zealand photographer, spent hours capturing the light from glowworms in limestone caves, a photographic feat for the low light and freezing temperatures. Because the glowworms are found above water, Michael stood hours in…
Rocket Lab to Launch from Kaitorete Spit
New Zealand company Rocket Lab says it plans to build its own launch site – the world’s first commercial orbital launch range – on Kaitorete Spit in Canterbury by the end of the year. The…
Dean Hall Tackles New Game Post DayZ Success
Dean Hall was on stage at Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year to unveil a name and a teaser for his studio RocketWerkz’s brand new game, Ion. But despite his role in helping Microsoft…
Raiders Punisher Josh Papalii Back in Form
Auckland-born Raiders enforcer, the “revitalised” Josh Papalii, 23, credits some tough love from coach Ricky Stuart as the key to turning his fortunes around. After a sluggish start to the NRL season when he questioned…
Swiss-Belhotel Chief Gavin Faull Ever the Traveller
New Zealander Gavin Faull, 63, has been living out of a suitcase ever since he decided to join a consulting firm in Hong Kong back in 1973. Now, as chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel…
North Island a Feast of Exhilarating Activities
Ahipara, on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand’s northernmost region, is a fantastic place to begin a tour of the North Island, the National Post’s Kat Tancock suggests. “It’s late afternoon on a hot…
Picturesque Doesn’t Begin to Describe Minaret
Matt Wallis is one of four brothers who own Minaret Station, a working farm at Lake Wanaka with a luxurious alpine lodge for tourists and accessible only by helicopter, Katarina Kroslakova writes for the…
Marlon Williams’ Voice Skips Decades and Genres
Marlon Williams’ recent gig at Sydney’s Basement was “terrific”, according to music writer Bernard Zuel. “Williams is tall and good looking and charming and winning. That will get you far. He can write a…
NZ-Designed Waterslide Relocating to US Ski Trail
The World’s Longest Waterslide, designed by New Zealander Jimi Hunt, is to be rebuilt in the United States on the slopes of Mountain Creek in Vernon, New Jersey. After learning from Travel Channel producers about…
Jereme Aubertin Makes Surf Photo Comp Semifinals
New Zealander Jereme Aubertin has been named one of 10 semifinalists competing for the 2015 Follow The Light Photography grant, the most prestigious competition in surf photography. Aubertin, who took the picture above in the…
Zane Lowe Helping Apple Reinvent Live Radio
For the last 12 years, New Zealand radio DJ Zane Lowe has been a top tastemaker on the BBC’s Radio 1 by championing brand-new music, landing interviews with stars like Kanye West and running…
South Island Skies Illuminated by Aurora Australis
Local photographers Stephen Voss and Blair Pattinson braved freezing temperatures in the South Island to capture images of the Aurora Australis, a natural light display in the sky. A solar storm meant that the Aurora…
On Tiree at the Beach with Chef Margot Henderson
Chef owners of London’s Rochelle Canteen and St John New Zealander Margot Henderson and her husband Fergus talk with the Observer about their beach holidays on Hebridean island Tiree, a place for “recharging the…
Lemi Ponifasio Directs Epic Canadian Theatre Piece
Canada’s most ambitious musical theatre piece had a recent curtain call 35 years after its premiere, as part of Toronto’s 2015 Luminato Festival. New Zealand-based choreographer Lemi Ponifasio was called in to revive…
Artist Kristina Webb Prospering in Insta-Economy
Kristina Webb, a 19-year old New Zealander, has built a full-time job on Instagram with colourful, Disney-like pictures, which are appealing to a huge teenage base of viewers. “It is sort of my perfect job…
Hard as Nails Keven Mealamu Has an Arty Side
The second most-capped All Black of all time tells the Independent how illustrating children’s books helps keep him grounded before big games, like the forthcoming defence of the World Cup. Mealamu, 36, one of the…
Keisha Castle-Hughes Thinks Big for Warrior Role
Not much more than a year ago, New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, 25, was a Game Of Thrones fan scouring Hollywood Boulevard for a long blonde wig to wear to an informal dress-up event…
California Playwright Inspired by Life of Nancy Wake
Wellington-born wartime heroine Nancy Wake’s story unfolds in Code Name: Brass Rose, a California-produced play by Rachel Bublitz on as part of San Francisco’s Loud and Unladylike reading festival. Wake was a British…
Benjamin Hadfield the Man Behind Hong Kong’s Junk Parties
New Zealander Benjamin Hadfield is co-founder of a Hong Kong-based start-up company, which serves as an online marketplace where anyone can easily book a junk for the day. Junks.hk aims to bring the city’s…
Rowland Perry Transforming Skateboards into Kitchen Tools
As a child growing up in rural New Zealand, Rowland Perry always had the need for a blade. Now, the Sydney-based skater and designer is making his own, refashioning old skateboards into bespoke kitchen…
New Zealand a Prosperity Index Success Story
While Greece, Spain and Portugal face a bleak scenario as they struggle on their road to recovery New Zealand, Canada, America and Britain emerge from the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index as success stories, Newsweek…
Alan Larsen Is the Duke of Wellington at Re-enactment
The most important man in the Allied camp at the re-enactment of Napolean’s defeat at Waterloo was 55-year-old New Zealander Alan Larsen, known as the Duke of Wellington. Larsen, a historical events coordinator, can be…
Our Best Wild Lodges Stun Condé Nast Traveller
New Zealand’s 18 best wild lodges feature in the June issue of Condé Nast Traveller and include Akaroa’s Scrubby Bay, Minaret Station in Wanaka, Russell’s Eagle’s Nest and Acacia Cliffs Lodge in…
Back of the Bus Show Hits the Streets of East Lancashire
New Zealand-based Java Dance Company heads to East Lancashire with a show that wowed audiences at the Edinburgh Festival. Their physical comedy show Back of the Bus takes place on an hour-long circular ride…
Callum Millward Wins Colorado Ironman
Professional triathlete New Zealander Callum Millward has won the Ironman 70.3 Boulder in 3:46:47, a race he last won in 2012. His competition included three-time British Olympian Tim Don and Colorado’s Ben Hoffman, who placed…
Trinity Hill’s Warren Gibson Making Wine with Sense of Place
Winemaker at Trinity Hill Warren Gibson called 2013 the vintage of the century. That year was incredibly dry. Considering he was just as excited about 2014 and 2015, now is the ideal time to…
Guide James Blick Preserving Spain’s Culinary Authenticity
New Zealand travel writer James Blick and American Lauren Aloise run Devour Tours in Barcelona, as well as in Madrid, Seville and Malaga. They both feel strongly about helping to preserve the…
Emilia Wickstead Wins British Fashion Council Prize
New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead, a favourite of Kate Middleton, has been named one of nine winners of the British Fashion Council (BFC) annual trust fund. The financial prizes, which total about £300,000, are…
UMO Ringleader Ruban Nielson Gets Personal
Ruban Nielson’s private life provided the conditions under which Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s latest LP Multi-Love came together. But the album is much more than the sum of its body parts, the Guardian’s Kate Hutchinson…
