Slaying the Cricket Giants
The Black Caps head into the semifinals of the World Cup after beating South Africa by 49 runs at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Man-of-the-match Jacob Oram took two brilliant catches and captured…
Blog Archives
Celebrities Love Taylor
“The fashion event of the week was definitely the celebration of designer Rebecca Taylor’s second boutique in New York’s Meatpacking District,” according to the Examiner’s Shea Peters. “Despite rain, snow, sleet, and slush celebs…
Easy On the Planet
Sisters Andrea and Robin McBride’s eco.love is the first carboNZero Cert™ winery in the world; the pair tell American sustainable business innovator Paul Smith how it can be, coming all the way…
Inviting Gods Into the Theatre
“With a stunning combination of ceremony, ritual, dance and theatre, ,” will have its US premiere this week at the downtown Los Angeles’ Million Dollar Theater. Samoan…
One and only Topp Twins
Lynda Topp, one half of the “one-of-a-kind” Topp Twins, talks to Susan Cole of Now Toronto about the pair’s career and how they rode the wave while keeping their values intact. “It doesn’t matter…
Trading Dairy for Baht
New Zealand’s high quality food and beverage industry is responsible for market growth in Thailand, according to acting New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Thailand Thanadej Trakulyingyong. New Zealand’s food industry, in particular dairy products,…
Focus on Food
The Gascoigne Associates-designed Japanese restaurant Cocoro in Auckland features on the World Interior Design Network site. “The interior décor features large squares of woven charcoal and chocolate carpet that resemble subtle tatami-style matting. All…
Snoop and Rico Salute Sun
Air New Zealand’s mascot Rico has teamed up with US rapper Snoop Dogg to produce a music video for the airline. Rico, whose controversial antics promoted Air New Zealand’s Skycouch, joins Snoop, who dons…
One Courageous Dolphin
Moko the dolphin, who resided at Mahia Beach for two and a half years from 27 to September 29, has been included in a Time magazine Top 1 list of history’s most courageous animals….
Hobbit Production Rolls
Production has now begun on Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Hobbit, set in Middle-earth 6 years before The Lord of the Rings. Not an earthquake, a health scare, a labour conflict, financial concerns…
Just Like Everybody Else
“The world’s best rugby player” Dan Carter talks exclusively to The Telegraph about how he fled for his own safety during last month’s earthquake in Christchurch, and about how he helped the city in…
Opportunities for Growth
Business between New Zealand and India has reached nearly $87 million in the past two years, with India now New Zealand’s 1th largest market. Coal has led the list of trade items with India…
Delicate Design Hangs in Berlin
New Zealand-born designer and ceramicist Jeremy Cole’s porcelain Aloe Blossom suspension lamp hangs in the living room of German writer and producer Peter Schlesselmann’s one-bedroom flat in Berlin’s Tiergarten. The lamp has…
Breakers Beat the Kings
Star shooter Kirk Penney netted 26 points for the New Zealand Breakers against the Sydney Kings in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), with the New Zealand team winning 91-86 in Auckland. Both sides…
Children Rule On Big Screen
Children’s television series, The Tribe, which was first produced in New Zealand, is being developed into a film in the United States. According to Variety, “Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop has already agreed to tackle…
Century-Old Tradition To Go On
The All Blacks may continue to perform the haka at international matches after coming to an agreement with the tribe that created it, Ngati Toa Rangatira. There had been fears their chanting days were…
Royal Visit Lifts City’s Spirits
The scale of damage caused to Christchurch by last month’s earthquake is “unbelievable” said Prince William when he visited the city at the start of a tour of New Zealand. The prince walked through…
Tighthead Replacement for Ulster
Auckland-born tighthead John Afoa has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract which will see him join Ulster in the autumn as soon the World Cup ends. Afoa is a direct replacement for 31-year-old Springbok BJ Botha…
Taiwan Looks to Closer Relations
The number of Taiwanese visiting New Zealand has increased by 4 per cent since Wellington granted Republic of China passport holders visa-free privileges last year, Taiwanese representative to New Zealand Elliot Charng said. New…
Volunteers Abroad in Pacific
New Zealand’s Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is expanding its programme in the Pacific re-establishing relationships with Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati, taking the number of Pacific countries it works in to seven. VSA chief executive…
Great Voice of Stories
New Zealand scriptwriter Graeme Tetley, whose body of work included films Vigil, Ruby & Rata, Bread and Roses and the Aramoana depiction Out of the Blue, has died in Wellington, aged 69. A script…
Erakovic Wins Title in Mexico
New Zealand tennis No. 2 Marina Erakovic won her 1th ITF singles title in the final of the US$25, ($NZ34,) Irapuato Challenger tournament in Mexico on March 14. The 23-year-old, ranked 287 in the…
Good Place To Be a Girl
New Zealand is the best place in the Commonwealth to be born a girl, according to a study undertaken by Plan International and the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS). New Zealand took the top spot…
Motivated to New Heights
New Zealand-born Dylan Hartley has received a lot of stick in the Six Nations but, instead of snapping back, England’s hooker tells The Independent’s Chris Hewett how he’s been motivated to hit new heights….
One-of-a-kind Parrot
The kakapo, Strigops habroptilus, also known as the owl parrot, is the Guardian’s “Mystery Bird” this week. “This stunning but rare species is so unusual that it is the only member of its genus…
Fabled Serenity Endures
Despite the tragedy of February’s catastrophic earthquake, New Zealand still delivers sublime travel experiences, writes Chris Leadbeater for The Independent. “Since 1884 has played a role as a lone token of man’s…
Cracking quake sites
Seismic hazard expert at Lower Hutt’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Dr Mark Stirling is part of a scientific research team using sonar to scan layers underneath the sea floor where past earthquakes…
Keeping it Bright and Light
New Zealander Kirsten Cameron and Canadian partner Manuelle Langlois’ Montreal apartment features in The Vancouver Sun’s weekly series ‘Shelter’. The “self-confessed mess-makers” take reporter Laurel Baker on a tour. “I like to have the…
Taking Priscilla to Broadway
New Zealand-born Simon Phillips is the director of the new Broadway version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert which opens in New York on March 2. Phillips said that his North American producers —…
Wizardry with Melody
“What Peter Jackson did for New Zealand tourism with the most expensive ad campaign ever — The Lord of the Rings — singer/songwriter Maisey Rika could possibly do for New Zealand music,” Honolulu Weekly…
Kind and Gentle Comparisons
“If some folks felt a few years back that Canada was the kinder, gentler nation America wanted to be, I felt New Zealand was the kinder, gentler nation we’d like to think of ourselves…
Downhill Game-Changer
Auckland-based Mike Hodgkinson’s 57kg off-road Mountain Moto is a “game changer” according to motorcycle blog 2Wheel Tuesday, and “takes the best of downhill mountain bikes, paired with a 125cc engine making for an unbelievable…
Learning Curls From the Best
Nelson Ede is the development officer for the only dedicated indoor curling rink in the Southern Hemisphere, which is located in Naseby, Central Otago. Ede is currently in Canada at the 211 Tim Hortons…
Epic Voyage Via Bora Bora
Cunard’s newest ship, the 292-passenger Queen Elizabeth, will sail an epic, 36-day voyage from Los Angeles to New Zealand and back in early 213, the historic line has announced. Cunard says the trip will…
New Governor-General Named
Former Defence Force head Jeremiah (Jerry) Mateparae has been named as New Zealand‘s next Governor-General, succeeding Sir Anand Satyanand on August 31. Mateparae joined the New Zealand Army in 1972 and rose through the…
Critical darlings most promising
Art-pop quintet The Naked and Famous has been named as this year’s “most promising new act” by NME; post-award ceremony the band talks to Mark Savage of BBC 6 about their recent “good fortunes”….
Henderson Aims for Yellow
Professional cyclist Dunedin-born Greg Henderson won the second stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Amilly, France, on March 7, outsprinting Australia’s Matthew Goss and Russia’s Denis Galimzyanov. “It was a very fast sprint…
Me’a Kai Beats Usual Suspects
“You could call it the gastronomic upset of the night,” The Independent said. “New Zealand-born chef Robert Oliver beat out some formidable competition to land the title of best cookbook, which was announced last…
Most Influential Player Ever
Jonah Lomu, “a defender’s worst nightmare” is “rugby’s ‘most influential’ figure the sport has ever seen”, taking the number one spot of Stephen Jones’ Top 2 Countdown in a 12-week series featured in The…
Tempest on Broadway
Auckland-based choreographer Lemi Ponifasio will perform Tempest: Without A Body on Broadway at the historical Million Dollar Theater on April 2-3. Performed by Ponifasio’s company MAU, the production is making its US premiere in…
Maritime Vines
“As land masses go, New Zealand is the youngest country on Earth, having been around for about three million years,” Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson writes for an article in the Winnipeg Free Press. “Averaging around 12km…
Competitive Nature
“He is an All Black legend, regarded as an inspirational skipper within New Zealand’s proud Test rugby union history,” Stathi Paxinos writes for The Age. “And now at the age of 37, Tana Umaga…
Jerry Hall-Inspired
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor, who is celebrating her label’s 15th year, is collaborating with Citizens of Humanity jeans and Porselli shoes on special capsule collections and opening her second New York store in…
Couldn’t Ask For More
New Zealand has clinched their second win at the Cricket World Cup beating Zimbabwe by 1-wickets at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmadabad. Opener Brendan Taylor top-scored with 44 for Zimbabwe but when he…
Man in the Running
Wellington author Craig Cliff’s debut short story collection, A Man Melting is in contention for this year’s Commonwealth £5, best first book award. Cliff is up against South African writer Cynthia Jele’s Happiness is…
Talking Clinical Ethics
Associate professor and chair of the department of philosophy at the University of Auckland Tim Dare recently delivered the keynote talk, entitled “Challenges to Clinical Ethics Committees”, at Washington and Lee University’s Medical Ethics…
One Hundred Days Without Fail
New Zealander Geoff Vuleta runs New York’s Fahrenheit 212, an innovation consultancy firm that helps Fortune 1 companies build products and bring them to market. “This business structure leads to greater opportunities, as we’re…
Dynamic Energy
Aucklander Bob Storey, a former army officer and rugby player, was one of 13 rookies racing at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska, held over the weekend of March 5-6. Storey…
Revolutionary Gel
University of Otago scientists have developed a ground-breaking gel for healing wounds after sinus injury derived from a polymer named chitosan extracted from crab-shell and squid. According to researchers, the new gel has the…
Legendary Friendly
“We here in the ‘west island’ like to cling to that old cliché of New Zealanders being slightly simple sheep-botherers, so it’s a bit of a shock when you get there and realise how…
Everest of Fishing
“New Zealand’s South Island is a trout hunter’s dream,” Cathy and Barry Beck write for the magazine Fly Rod and Reel magazine. “In this land of big fish and gin-clear water, guides tell you…
Spiritual Path in Pictures
Auckland-born artist Max Gimblett’s new versions of the Buddhist ‘Oxherding’ series — ten drawings which represent a parable about the conduct of Buddhist practice, most commonly attributed to a 12th-century Chinese Zen master –…
