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

Sporty

The Guardian profiles Rachel Hunter, host of new reality TV show Make Me a Supermodel. “In the 1980s, the age of the supermodel, she was as ubiquitous as Linda, Christy, Naomi and Cindy -…

Independent travel writer indulges mind, body and soul in NZ’s up and coming wine and tourism centre, the Wairarapa. After experiencing chocolate therapy at Greytown’s Schoc, sampling the region’s famed Pinot Noir at Tirohana Estate, trout fishing…

Cutting Edge Electronics

NZ GPS innovators, Navman, showed off their latest creations at Germany’s prestigious CeBit electronics trade fair. These included the PIN 57, a Windows-based PDA, and the X300, which uses GPS to tell joggers, skiers and cyclists how…

Right Royal Stand-off

The Guardian ran an overview of NZ media coverage of Prince Charles’ recent tour of the country. Commentary ranged from the Christchurch Press dismissing the Prince as “a faintly comic participant in a toffee-nosed soap opera” to…

Modesty Blaize

Magazine editor, Auckland native and former Craccum muse, Louise Chunn, interviewed in the Guardian. Since leaving NZ in the early 1980s, Chunn has worked on such esteemed titles as Fashion Weekly, Just 17, Elle,…

Academic Superstar

The Guardian celebrated NZ-based academic weblog Arts & Letters Daily‘s 100 millionth hit by profiling its founder, Canterbury University’s Denis Dutton. Quoted is Robert Fulford, a columnist with Canada’s National Post: “The idea of Christchurch, NZ, as the…

Christopher Luxon by Degrees

Canterbury MCom grad and nz-edger Christopher Luxon is now based in Chicago via Australia and Europe, where he leads Unilever’s North American Deodorants & Grooming business. Presently he is jump-starting Degree for Men antiperspirant, advertising the brand…

Simple is Best

The British government is officially considering modeling its pension system on NZ’s current superannuation scheme, which is described in the Guardian as “a model of elegant simplicity compared with Britain’s multi-layered mixture of private and state provision, means…

Moko Shocker

US pro cyclist David Clinger has joined the list of international celebrities sporting “moko inspired” tattoos, which includes Mike Tyson and Robbie Williams. Clinger’s version covers the upper half of his face and most…

“Shining a Light on the Edge of the World”

Oyster takes a behind-the-scenes look at the “Invisible Heroes” of NZ fashion. Featured are Benny Castles and Lou Davies (Assistant Designer for WORLD Man and Woman respectively), Jenny Cook (Karen Walker), Gregory Brooks (Nom*D),…

Great Expectations

America’s premiere gay and lesbian travel magazine, Passport, ran an extensive travel feature on NZ in its March issue. “My boyfriend wanted to explore NZ because he’d heard that it was the most untouched, pristine land in the…

From Wilderness to Café Culture

NZ features in a Lonely Planet dream itinerary compiled exclusively for the Observer. “NZ’s wild side is wonderful, especially the South Island’s rugged west coast, but it’s great to return to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch where cafe…

Russell Crowe – The Hard-Ass

GQ’s feature on the ten greatest actors of our generation leads with Wellington-born Russell Crowe and his passion for connecting emotionally with an audience. Does this peg him as a dinosaur? “In those respects-credibility,…

A Toast to Martinborough

Toast Martinborough features in a Guardian overview of the world’s greatest wine festivals. “Martinborough is one of the few ‘old world’ wine villages in the southern hemisphere and home to much- lauded pinot noir and sauvignon blanc….

Perky paradise

A Kiwi oasis in the midst of Melbourne is winning the hearts of critics and customers alike. Batch Espresso, owned and operated by ex-Wellingtonian Jason Chan, earned a rave write-up in Melbourne food bible Cheap…

All Aboard

Independent travel writer takes a stunning tour of NZ by train. ” you want to experience your visual thrills in comfort and without the threat of sea-sickness, you can simply let the NZ’s trains take the strain…

Pinot Noir’s Paradox

“No other wine conjures up poetic descriptions like pinot noir; no other wine forges as direct a path to the soul. If a wine could make a person cry, it would have to be a pinot…

Grammy for Fran Walsh

From playing bass in 80s Wellington band Naked Spots Dance via a film or two, Wellington muse Fran Walsh wins a Grammy for Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:…

Rann – Global Warming “Frightening”

Mike Rann, the Auckland University-educated and former NZBC journalist and now, Labor Premier of South Australia, writes in The Australian that “the world should make no mistake: in 2005, global warming is a real…

Christopher Shaw leads motor neuron research

Professor Christopher Shaw, Professor of Neurology at Kings College London and Otago University graduate in Medicine (1984), is to co-lead a team to clone embryos to study motor neuron disease, in particular those patients whose condition cannot…

Miles Makes Leap to Big Pond

Managing Director of Vodafone NZ, Tim Miles, is to head the $12 billion UK branch from April 2005. According to the NZ Herald, Vodafone went from 1.8 million mobile subscribers in late 2001 to…

Home Turf Heroics

NZ went to the top of the IRB Rugby Sevens table after their third straight victory in the Wellington tournament. The Kiwis beat Argentina 31-7, giving them 52 points in total, ahead of traditional rivals Fiji…

Taylor-made in New York

Empire waists, lace trim, pinafores and velvet jackets featured in Rebecca Taylor’s www.rebeccataylor.com collection in her runway show at New York Fashion Week. The New York-based Wellingtonian has also added the Bush…

My Favourite Ape

Compared with his work as an Oscar-winning director and the filmmaker behind the most popular trilogy in movie history, Peter Jackson’s first attempt to remake King Kong was by any measure amateurish. Jackson painted…

SurfAid International Races Aid to Tsunami Areas

SurfAid International a non-profit organization founded by New Zealander Dr Dave Jenkins dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering through community-based health programs, has secured $500,000 worth of medical supplies and equipment, including 10,000 mosquito nets,…

Reaching New Lows

A NZ ship has set a new world record for the southern-most point attained by water. The Spirit of Enderby, a polar research ship exploring NZ and Australia’s sub-Antarctic islands, reached a latitude of 78deg 40min and…

Science’s Conscience

John Ziman, NZ-born scientist and humanist, has died aged 79. “After a brilliant youthful career in physics research he turned increasingly to reflection on the values and societal entanglements of the scientific endeavour as a whole ……

Biotech Baby Steps

NZ’s recently altered stance on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is the subject of an in-depth Technology Reviewfeature. “NZ, of all places, may have found a solution , proving once again that…

Top Five Twice-over

In a Lonely Planet poll conducted in early December, NZ was voted fourth most popular future destination and fourth favourite place already visited. The exhaustive survey drew nearly 20,000 respondents from 167 different countries.

Wild about Buddha

Anna Wilding’s feature length documentary Buddha Wild sold out its sneak preview sessions at Rialto Cinemas as well as in Thailand, with all proceeds going to the tsunami appeal. Expect big things on the…

Kiwis on Both Sides of the Camera

Fresh on the heels of her international success with Whale Rider, Niki Caro is to direct an as yet untitled feature for Warner Bros. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek and Sean Bean,…

Angler’s Paradise

NYT writer travels to NZ to experience the “trout-fishing paradise” of Rotorua first hand. “Visitors fish in streams so clear that the fish can see you. Crouching behind a bush, out of a target’s line of…

Godley’s Own Country

Godley Lake, NZ, features amongst the Observer‘s crème de la crème of international ski touring routes. “Described as a ‘Symphony on Skis’, this tour involves a traverse of the Southern Alps from east to west via some…

National Symbol Under Question

NZ’s growing movement in support of a new national flag featured in the Daily Telegraph. Wellington businessman Lloyd Morrison officially launched the campaign in January, with the support of numerous high profile sporting, political, and entertainment industry…

From the Ashes

Air NZ was announced the winner of Air Transport World magazine’s annual Phoenix Award in January. The award is given to an airline which “achieves a commercial rebirth through a life-changing transformation.” After its “near-death experience”…

The Taste of Success

42 Below Manuka Honey Vodka is the main ingredient in star bartender Loren “Lola” Dunsworth’s current favourite cocktail – The Taste of Honey – which gets an impressive plug, complete with recipe, in the…

Google Gets Goodger

Google has hired one of the top programmers who worked on the Firefox project, fueling new speculation that the search giant may enter the browser business. The Mountain View, California-based search company hired 24 year old Auckland…

Make No Bones About It

NZ has again opened a new path in medicine, this time in the field of bone reconstruction. Dr George Dias of Otago University’s anatomy and structural biology department struck on the idea of using a material based…

Long-haul Rivalry

Australian-born Guardian columnist, Andrew Mueller, can’t understand the ongoing attraction of NZ to British holidaymakers. “Australia is worth spending 30 hours in a plane for,” he says. “NZ is Wales with more sheep.”

Location Long-drop

A new archaeology site has been opened in Wellington, on the site of the proposed city bypass. A group of 30 of NZ’s leading archaeologists, led by Rick McGovern Wilson, are examining the remains…

Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens are to develop the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones as their next film after King Kong. Though “The Lovely Bones” is not on the order of…

New Zealand Riviera

To entice buyers to a resort development, Pip Cheshire and Terry Hunziker designed a rustic guest lodge Bay of Islands, a remote spot about 150 miles northeast of Auckland. Located in a part of…

Waiheke Out-Bordeauxs Bordeaux

The Turkish Weekly featured NZ’s premiere boutique wine event, the Waiheke Wine Festival. Waiheke reds have become increasingly popular internationally in recent years, with viticultural studies hailing the region’s weather as “more like Bordeaux than Bordeaux.” …