Polo-playing Indian MP, Navin Jindal, recommends NZ as a destination for players and holiday makers alike. For obvious reasons, Clevedon in South Auckland (NZ’s polo centre) is given particular attention. “Although it hasn’t to date been a destination…
Wairarapa’s Wharekauhau Country Estate is given a rapturous write-up in the IHT. “A temple to order and calm, the Estate is located on the southern tip of the North Island of NZ, where the prevailing winds…
Laird Blackwell, Chair of Humanities at Sierra Nevada College (US), his wife Melinda, and a small group from the institution are the first ever non-Waitaha students to be invited to study at the sacred Whare Wananga O…
Janet Frame featured in the New York Times as one of many international art world notables to die in 2004, together with Marlon Brando, Ray Charles, Richard Avedon, Julia Child and more. Frame died of cancer on…
The American space agency NASA has given Maori names to rocks on Mars, thanks to the influence of the film Whale Rider. The Mars robotic rover Opportunity is exploring near a cliff named after the late…
Te Vaka is the critic’s pick of the bunch in a review of new international music compilation, South Pacific Islands (Putumayo World Music). “The best tracks come from Te Vaka (which means canoe), a…
Billy Connolly’s World Tour of New Zealand screened in Scotland over December, to widespread appreciation. “Driving his three-wheeled motorbike through some of the world’s most dramatic scenery with the sun blazing overhead, Connolly looks…
The US debut of Black Grace was one of the New York Times’ dance highlights of 2004. Says reviewer Jennifer Dunning; “The audience was filled with Berkshires vacationers of all ages and degrees of…
The NZ and Austrian governments have formally agreed to cooperate on the implementation of emission reduction projects, in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. “NZ’s pro-active, pro-business approach to climate change is good news for the economy and…
Douglas Creek Ltd (Bay of Plenty) has spent the last five years developing Cervelt, a groundbreaking luxury fibre made from the down of NZ deer. Cervelt is a strong light-weight textile with a fibre diameter of…
Not only has Natasha Bedingfield gone double platinum in the UK, been voted Hot New Talent of 2004 by Smash Hits, and secured a million pound recording contract in the US, she also managed…
A Malaysian Star story on the NZ wine industry takes as its focus the award winning Villa Maria winery. According to the writer, NZ “has developed a unique niche on the world wine stage, with wines characterised…
World record holding British swimmer Zoe Baker has switched allegiance to NZ, where she has lived and held citizenship since 1999. “I’m hoping to swim for NZ at the Berlin leg of the World Cup in January,”…
The Guardian pays tribute to Duncan Forrest, NZ born surgeon and renowned anti-torture campaigner. An “outstanding and innovative paediatric surgeon,” Forrest spent his career at the vanguard of surgical developments in spina bifida, hydrocephalus and cleft palate….
Legendary NZ trainer Snow Lupton has died aged 84. Lupton will be best remembered for saddling Kiwi to victory in the 1983 Melbourne Cup. ” an outstanding figure in NZ racing,” said Thoroughbred…
David Norton, associate professor at Wellington’s Victoria University, recently completed the decade-long task of re-editing the English speaking world’s most important religious text: the King James Bible. The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is accompanied…
The Malaysian Star interviews NZ born Wendy Hutton, an intrepid food and travel writer who is “practically a household name in South-East Asia.” Hutton has published numerous cook books, including Singapore Food and A…
Arthur Lydiard, perhaps history’s premier distance-running coach and one of the first to promote fitness through jogging, has died aged 87, of a heart attack. He had been in the United States for a…
“If you ever wanted to make a feature film about the advertising industry, the adland equivalent of Broadcast News, there would be no contest on who should get the starring role.” Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi CEO…
Neil Dawson’s Fanfare sculpture provided the focal point for Sydney’s famous New Year celebrations. The 20m steel sphere, studded with more than 300 light reflective pinwheels, was suspended from the Harbour Bridge in the…
All Black captain Tana Umaga received the Pierre Coubertin Trophy from theInternational Committee of Fair Play on December 9. Previous awardees include Martina Navratilova and Nelson Mandela. The trophy recognised his good sportsmanship in helping Welsh…
NZ has joined Ireland and Norway in banning the smoking of tobacco in bars, casinos and restaurants. “The 75% of NZers who do not smoke have the right to a smokefree environment, and we congratulate the…
The art of moko features in Ancient Marks, a new book by National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier. “We live in a spectrum of possibilities, and I think it’s an exciting time to document ancient cultures dealing with…
If Peter Jackson ever decides (and has the time) to make a film version of The Hobbit, he has the backing and blessing of his LotR cast. “People want it so much,” says actor…
Peter Jackson unveiled some of his models and sketches for King Kong at the CineAsia movie convention in Bangkok. “It’s not a love story; it’s a story about love,” he told the convention audience,…
The passing of the Civil Union Bill, giving gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in NZ, made headlines around the world. “It is just a fantastic day for us,” said Christians for Civil Union member Margaret Mayman…
The Kids’ Lit Quiz, founded in NZ by educationalist Wayne Mills, is growing increasingly popular in the UK, where it is now in its third year. The 2004 event was won by an all female team…
Sir Richard Hadlee had his audience in stitches at the launch of the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in Melbourne. Among other quips, he noted that the event was called the Hadlee-Chappell Trophy back home. The Black Caps…
NZ filmmaker Christine Rogers helped a group of Broadmeadows Secondary School (Melbourne) students make the short film By the Light of the Moon. The film tells the stories of two refugees who have settled…
Since September 2004, NZ troops have been stationed in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley to oversee the reconstruction of the area following the US-led war against the Taliban. As well as helping rebuild Bamiyan University, the NZ Army is…
Whale Rider‘s US paperback release garnered further praise for author Witi Ihimaera. “Some writers create such beautiful prose that it might be poetry or music. Witi Ihimaera … is one such writer.”
NZ’s recently remodelled academic examination system (NCEA) is being touted by education reformers in the UK. The NCEA system is almost identical to one proposed by Britain’s former chief schools inspector, Mark Tomlinson, in October last year….
The Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts describes Napier as “one of the purest Art Deco cities in the world.” An IHT article gives a detailed tour of Napier’s architectural…
Hip Aussie fashion magazine, Yen, named Zambesi the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week’s best overall show. “Zambesi: the coolest of everything – the clothes, the casting, the hair and makeup, the understated theatricality and the…
The All Blacks resumed their world No.1 ranking after a compelling 45-6 victory over European champions France. “I felt powerless,” said French coach Bernard Laporte. “I had the feeling that we could play for hours and…
Sir Edmund Hillary has spoken out against a US-led project to build an “ice highway” in Antarctica, which would allow hundreds of tons of scientific equipment to be transported to the Amundsen-Scott Base. ” spent weeks…
Researchers at the Canterbury District Health Board are developing an alertness monitor for drivers, in the hope of preventing fatigue-related accidents. With the help of Canterbury University’s Canterprise Ltd, the group hopes to have the device ready…
Dunedin based production company, National History New Zealand, won two major awards at this year’s Beijing International Science Film Festival. The World’s Biggest Baddest Bugs and Spider Power took gold and silver respectively in the Nature and Environment…
State of the art fruit packaging from NZ, ripeSense, has been named one of 36 Coolest Inventions of 2004 by Time magazine. Co -created by Hort Research and the Jenkins Group, the ripeSense label detects aroma compounds…
“Strapping Kiwi dancer,” Brendan Cole, has found UK tabloid immortality as the fiery star of hit BBC1 show Strictly Come Dancing. Cole won the first series with TV presenter partner Natasha Kaplinsky – with…
Sean Fitzpatrick gives a lengthy interview in the Irish Times. The legendary All Black captain is currently based in London as a TV analyst and motivational speaker. He is also a charity ambassador (along with Martina Navratilova,…
MSN writer takes a leaf out of her post-collegiate travelling days and revisits the joy of youth hostels: “I was skeptical, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made.” She recommends…
An Independent obituary for Pat Hanly calls him “the jester of modern NZ art … His images – exuberant, colourful, feisty and humorous – reflected the personality of their maker.” The subjects of Hanly’s…
Cuisine won silver in the Food Magazines category of the inaugural Gourmet Voice Awards in Cannes. The September 2004 Middle Eastern special was recognised alongside such renowned international publications as Delicious (UK), Olive (US),…
Kim Crawford’s ‘Pansy’ Rosé received its official Australian launch at popular Sydney gay bar, Stonewall. Local drag diva Maxi Shield gave the wine “a double thumbs up.” Crawford originally created Pansy for the owners of Auckland’s SPQR…
A joint NZ/Japanese exploration of a deep-sea volcano off the NZ mainland has unearthed a mass of fascinating new life forms. According to a statement by Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd, who headed the venture, the…
Ric Birch, the NZ born maestro behind many of the sporting and cultural worlds’ most spectacular events, has published a tell-all autobiography entitled Master of the Ceremonies. Birch has organised the opening and closing…
Taika Waititi’s Two Cars, One Night won the Grand Jury Prize for best international short at the AFI Los Angeles Film Festival. The story of a relationship which develops between two children in the…
Dr Joan Wiffen of Havelock North received the esteemed Morris Skinner Award from the US-based Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology at its 64th annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. According to the SVP website, the award is “for…
Top Kiwi scientist, Dr Peter Barrett, has warned the world “if we continue our present growth path, we are facing extinction … Not in millions of years, or even millennia, but by the end of this…
Students at NZ’s International Pacific College took part in a live projection teleconference debate with a class at Cerritos College in Long Beach, California. Cerritos teacher, John Haas, wanted to “literally bring the world to his world…
The Telegraph‘s Max Davidson takes a leisurely tour of the North Island’s wine-producing hot spots. The trail begins in “cosmopolitan Wellington,” followed by the Wairarapa, Auckland, and Waiheke Island. Further north, the scenery becomes more and more…
Phil Keoghan’s US profile continues to climb, with a hit TV series and inspirational book – No Opportunity Wasted: Creating a List for Life under his belt. Currently in his…
Tom Peters named Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands (written by Edge co-founder Kevin Roberts) his Business Book of the Half-Decade, calling it “just bloody brilliant.” Lovemarks also made Amazon’s top ten business books of 2004, with…
In November, NZ became one of the last participants of WW1 to create a tomb of the unknown soldier. The soldier’s remains arrived from France to an emotional Maori and military welcome, and were interred at the…
New scientific evidence reveals that humans may not be entirely responsible for the extinction of the moa. According to research undertaken in NZ and the US, there were 3 to 12 million moa roaming the forests…
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