NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

All Features Great and Small

Debate over the effects of big budget US films such as King Kong and the Narnia series being filmed in NZ continues, with most in favour of the Hollywood blockbusters. “The blockbusters have been…

Edge establishment Batch Espresso is cutting it in Melbourne’s razor-like café scene, with more stellar reviews in the city’s leading newspapers. Herald Sun: ” works the coffee machine and the room, making…

Top Ten Showing

New Zealand was listed in the top ten in Forbes‘ recent ranking of the world’s most foreign investment friendly economies. NZ scored 88.5/100 taking tenth place in the list of 135 countries. The Top places went to…

JK on Growing the Game

The Observer talks to All Black legend John Kirwan about his globetrotting ways and aspirations to coach in the UK. “Kirwan was a travelling rugby player long before it became the fashion it is today ……

Karate vs. Kea

Organisers of a vintage car rally near Mt Cook took an unusual defensive stance against marauding local kea, which are notorious for damaging cars in alpine areas. The car club hired 40 karate practitioners to protect…

Spotlight on Niki Caro

North Country director Niki Caro was interviewed before a live studio audience by the Guardian’s Sandra Hebron, alongside the star of her film (and new best mate) Charlize Theron. ” was a script…

Pacific Gateway Ia Orana!

Air Tahiti Nui is now offering stopovers in Auckland and Tahiti for any direct flights between New York or LA and Sydney. Billed as the first-ever non-stop service between New York and the South Pacific,…

To Err is Human, to Forgive Divine

NZ-raised canon emeritus of Coventry Cathedral and Quaker chaplain to the University of Sussex, Paul Oestreicher, writes about guilt and forgiveness in the Guardian, using both WW2 and the modern day ‘War on Terror’…

Whale Rider to North Country

Whale Rider director Niki Caro has officially earned her Hollywood stripes with the release of Warner Brothers’ North Country. Starring Charlize Theron, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand and Sean Bean, North Country is a…

Crowe to fly the coop

With Australia Day been and gone the Aussies wonder when NZ born Russell Crowe will officially become one of their own. According to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, “the country’s most celebrated Kiwi” was confirmed for…

World to Come to Waikato?

NZ has officially placed its bid to host the 2010 world rowing championships at Lake Karapiro in Waikato. “It’s our turn,” says RNZ chief executive Craig Ross. “NZ rowing has never been…

Post Praise NZ Wine

Washington Post writer notes the timely rise of NZ wine, which is strong in today’s most in-demand varietals. ” is the emerging star for wines that live on delicacy and finesse, most notably, pinot noir and…

Environmental No.1

NZ leads the world in environmental performance according to the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities measured how close 133 countries came…

Model of multi-tasking

RH is the host of new US reality TV show Style Me. In an interview with Media Village, she describes the show as “offering real honest and interesting insight into the world of…

Year of Tibet

2006 is officially the Year of Tibet in NZ and Australia. The Dalai Lama launched the year-long festivities at the Woodford Festival in Queensland on January 1. “On behalf of Tibetans, both in and…

International Hot Spot

Rotorua’s Polynesian Spa was listed on the Guardian’s top 50 Best Spas. “The hot springs at Rotorua are said to cure arthritis in three months. We can’t vouch for that, but after lazing in the hot…

Edge Connection for Leading Scientist

Pioneering archaeologist Lady Aileen Fox has died aged 98. Born and educated in England, Lady Fox held a visiting lectureship at Auckland University from 1972 to 1983. She conducted excavations at Tiromoana Pa (where…

End of One Era, Beginning of Another

All Black captain Tana Umaga has officially retired from the game aged 34, with a stellar career behind him. “Already he has been admitted by his countrymen into the exclusive band of great NZ captains, along…

NewZealand.com the Business

Business Week hails Tourism NZ’s Webby Award winning website, NewZealand.com, as “a vibrant blend of heritage and enterprise” – media savvy, innovative and easy to use. ” is clearly establishing itself as a prime mover with…

NZ has the Edge Online

NewZealand.com, Tourism NZ’s award-winning website, earned further raves in a feature article by Brand Channel. “A ninth annual Webby Award winner, the homepage of NewZealand.com is a vibrant blend of heritage and enterprise, with both tourism and…

Heading the Catalogue of Life

Dr David Penman has been elected chair of the governing board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an international organization working to develop the world’s first free mega-database of all living organisms. The internet resource, which will help…

For Love and Money

British male accountants are being lured to NZ with promises of work and women. According to top UK agency, Think Global Recruitment, the shortage of men in NZ has reached its highest level in…

Black Caps Start as They Mean to Go On

The Black Caps made a fine start to their 2006 season, cruising to victory in the five-match ODI home series against Sri Lanka. NZ won the deciding third match at Jade Stadium by five wickets. Nathan…

Conference Finds Common Language

Hamilton hosted the World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education in late November, an event which drew more than 3,000 attendees from all over the world. The delegation from North America’s Kodiak Island is keen…

Revved Up for ’06

2005 was an incredibly successful year for NZ motorsport, as TMC reports in its annual review. Two of the top three places in the world MX1 motocross championship were filled by New Zealanders, with…

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

London’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen – the brainchild of three Kiwi entrepreneurs – is credited with starting the trend for fast food for the organic generation” in a lengthy Guardian piece. Now boasting 8 restaurants,…

NZ in a Nutshell

A travel guide to NZ written for a Tennessee paper offers a brief overview of the country, focussing on geographical features and native flora and fauna. Cultural insight is offered by Travel NZ’s Bruce Lahood, who…

Aoraki Off Limits?

Mt Cook (Aoraki) has provided yet another example of the effects of global warming, with local guides warning that visitors may no longer be able to climb its famed heights. “We had a very lean winter…

Juggling juggernauts with local stories

NY Times piece entitled ‘Spunky NZ film Industry Takes on the Hollywood Juggernaut’ ponders the pros and cons of NZ’s bold new presence in the international film community. Interviewees such as director Vincent Ward…

Celluloid Fantasy Becomes a Reality

The number of Indian tourists travelling to NZ is on a definite increase according to an Express India article. 17,286 Indians visited Aotearoa in the year ending November 2005 – 11.5% more than the…

Billiards Hall of Famer

NZ billiard legend Rocky Lane has made the sport’s Internet Hall of Fame thanks to his undefeated world record in jump shooting. In October 2005 Lane cleared all 15 balls off the table in 14.16…

The many facets of King Kong

Peter Jackson’s King Kong graced the cover of the January issue of Cinefex, America’s premiere cinema effects magazine. Inside is a 45-page in depth look at the incredibly detailed digital, physical and emotional…

Metapsychology

Massey University PhD and Wairarapa philosopher Derek Mesler has been published by the MIT Press. The Act of Thinking is “the work of a mature, sophisticated and profound thinker who may just have written…

A Year for Remembrance

2006 has been designated “Year of the Veteran” by the NZ government,with an official launch planned for February. According to Veteran Affairs Minister, Rick Barker, the government will provide funds for community events to…

Spoiled for choice

Kiwi chef Rex Morgan takes Guardian food writer Jonathan Ray on a culinary tour of Queenstown. The eating extravaganza takes place at Morgan’s recently opened boutique hotel, The Spire (competitors will be “hard-pressed to…

Designs on Hyde

Palmerston North sculptor Paul Dibble is the winner of an NZ government sponsored competition to design a $3 million war memorial in London’s Hyde Park. Dibble’s design – developed in association with Athfield Architects of Wellington…

Brits Back Fat Freddy

Incessant European touring appear to have paid off for Wellington band Fat Freddy’s Drop. The dub/reggae/roots collective won worldwide album of the year at the annual BBC Radio 1 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Music Awards for their…

Keeping it Local

One of NZ’s most successful producers Tim White returned to work on Toa Fraser’s debut feature No.2. An Ilam graduate, White’s producing credits include Ned Kelly, Map of the Human Heart, Two Hands, Oscar…

A thing of wonder

Released in December, Peter Jackson’s King Kong has received near unanimous praise from critics and movie-goers around the world. “This new King Kong is a folie de grandeur with real grandeur; in its power,…

Pinot Lovers Unite

Wellington is to host its third Pinot Noir festival from January 31 to February 3 2007. 500 of the world’s leading Pinot Noir experts, producers and enthusiasts have been invited to the prestigious tri-annual event, which was…

Going All the Way

John Hood continues to shake the cloisters at Oxford University in his attempts, as Vice Chancellor, to secure the venerable institution’s status as an academic powerhouse for the 21st century. A former CEO with Fletcher Challenge…

A Glass a Day Won’t Keep the Doctor Away

NZ researchers have put a dampener on previous claims that drinking in moderation is good for the heart. According to Auckland University’s Dr Rod Jackson, the studies conducted in the 1970s and 80s were flawed and…

Chinese Opportunity

Fonterra has made the biggest ever investment in the Chinese dairy industry by a foreign company by purchasing a 43% stake in the Shijiazhuang San Lu Group for US$107 million. The San Lu Group produces powdered…

2005: Year of the All Black

The All Blacks’ decisive win over Scotland on December 2 made them the first NZ side since 1978 and the first team since Australia in 1984, to complete a “grand slam” of the UK and Irish…

Slipping Into Paradise

Auckland resident and former Californian, Jeffrey Masson, a psychoanalyst and ex-projects director of the Sigmund Freud archives, publishes in August his account of emigrating to New Zealand. Slipping Into Paradise, Why I Live in New Zealand encourages…