Auckland sees in NY
An NZPA photograph of the New Year firework display over Auckland was included in a Guardian gallery of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. ONE News reported that traffic in the CBD stopped…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Honoured this year
Golfer Bob Charles, 74, has been made a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ), restricted to 2 living New Zealanders, in the New Year Honours. Carterton-born Charles was the first left-hander to…
Displaced in New York
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was amongst those present at the annual Christmas night dinner in the baronial Lincoln Center duplex of Sissy and Max Strauss in New York. Each holiday, more than a hundred…
New migration findings
New research led by Janet Wilmshurst from Landcare Research, and Atholl Anderson, from the Australian National University has found that New Zealand was colonised by humans more recently — and faster — than previously…
New Zealand’s X-Files
New Zealand’s military has released hundreds of files, dating from 1954 to 29, detailing claims of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including New Zealand’s most famous UFO sighting over Kaikoura in 1978. The…
Camel spotting in UAE
New Zealand couple Thomas Carl Akash and Julie William arrived on bicycles at this year’s Al Dhafra Festival, a camel festival held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Akash and William have been travelling…
Looking at the Liberal
Chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council Gerard Vaughan says that because New Zealand is a small country, an issue can get on the public agenda quickly and then become part of public debate,…
Diamond forever
Auckland couple Cameron and Shariyah Morris have won the title of “The World’s Best Couple” and a 22-carat diamond ring worth $1 million, which was presented by US reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian, in…
Compassion from grief
Emma Woods, whose four-year-old son Nayan was killed by a teen driver who careened onto a footpath after losing control of his modified car, has been named New Zealander of the Year by The…
Human Footprints
The effect of early humans on New Zealand forests is being studied by scientists from Montana State University in a project titled “Ecosystem resilience to human impacts: ecological consequences of early human-set fires in…
Speedshear fundraiser
Te Kuiti veteran shearing champion David Fagan will join current World Champion Cam Ferguson, 1994 World Champion Alan MacDonald and 1984 World Champion Tom Wilson amongst others in a Speedshear to …
Lifestyle for sale
A Waimauku three-bedroom cedar home on five acres is advertised for sale in a recent New York Times. Priced between $1.2 and 1.4 million, the main house has a steeply sloped asymmetrical roof and…
Defined by humour
The best way to understand another country is to get to grips with its sense of humour, says Guardian writer Joris Luyendijk. Included in a list of jokes told in various countries — generally…
Memorial for miners
More than 1, people attended a memorial service for the 29 men killed in the Pike River mine disaster, which was held at Greymouth’s Omoto Racecourse on December 2. Each man was remembered with…
Diabetes aware walk
From New Zealand national park to New Zealand national park American Greg Lineham, 5, will walk over a two and a half month period to raise money for juvenile diabetes research. Lineham’s daughter, Halley,…
Hall of Fame
Sir Edmund Hillary is part of an august group of adventurers, entertainers, geniuses, and outlaws in Lapham’s Quarterly’s Celebrity issue “Hall of Fame”. “The Mountaineer” rubs shoulders with Theseus, Confucius, Socrates, Gengkis Khan, Leonardo…
Inquiry for Pike River mine
A Royal Commission of Inquiry to determine the causes of the tragic explosion as well as the safety practices at the Pike River mine has been confirmed. “I think it’s a demonstration to the…
Peterborough-honoured
Papakowhai-based Revd Alison Pitts will be awarded the title of Distinguished officer of Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Council in New Zealand at the RSCM awards to be held at a special service…
U2 pay tribute
The 29 men who perished in the Pike River coal mine tragedy were honoured during the song One Tree Hill at the November 27 U2 concert, with their names listed on a massive stage…
Nation in Mourning
PM John Key declared that New Zealand was a “nation in mourning” after the deaths of 29 miners in explosions in the Pike River coal mine. “New Zealand is a country where we are…
Varvoom goes live
New Zealand’s first lesbian dating and social networking website, Varvoom, is now live. Varvoom.com is a place where lesbians can connect with each other in a relaxed, fun and safe environment. The website…
Beware the shy crook
“It does not pay to be a shy criminal in New Zealand,” Tim Dick writes in an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald. “On this side of the Tasman, if you are invisible…
Pago Pago challenge
Fletcher Construction of New Zealand has been awarded a US$7 million contract for the replacement of 33 homes destroyed in last year’s 8. earthquake and tsunami in American Samoa. Fletcher Construction has done business…
Postulating intrigues
“A private sale under way ‘outside New Zealand,’ according to the sale’s official Web site (and which we first read about on Jalopnik) has the enthusiast community scratching its collective head and postulating…
Mozart deters crims
Since 29, in a downtown Christchurch mall, music by Mozart and other classical composers has been played over speakers to deter would-be criminals. The music has led to a steep fall in petty crime,…
Gud on youse
In an article entitled: ‘Culubrating thu daggiest ick-cent of all’ Clare Barry writes for The Age: “Back in the ‘7s, when John Clarke called himself Fred Dagg and got around in a black singlet…
Holiday hero
Hamilton sergeant Murray Stapp has received a bravery award from the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser, after a July 28 arrest of an armed man who had just dragged a motorist from…
Simply affordable
Earlier this year, director of Auckland-based S3 Architects Limited Stephen Smith won a Department of Building and Housing competition challenging entrants to come up with a design for a cheap, easy-to-build house which complied…
Transparency reigns
New Zealand has tied with Denmark and Singapore for first place as the world’s least corrupt governments and public sectors, according to watchdog group Transparency International (TI). Finland, Sweden, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Switzerland and…
Positive Food Experience
Pupils at East Tamaki Primary, Meadowbank Primary and Peninsula Primary schools are learning to grow and harvest fruit and vegetables with the help of the Garden to Table Trust Programme. Inspired by restaurateur Stephanie…
Te Reo Quandary
Justice Joe Williams who is chairing an inquiry by the Waitangi Tribunal says the Maori language is in “crisis” and only urgent action will halt its decline. As older speakers of Maori die…
Unanimous decision
“New Zealand’s parliament voted unanimously in September to pass the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act (CERRA), which gives government ministers the power to override almost any law in the country’s statute books,” Tom…
Shaky Lessons
In the aftermath of the earthquake that rocked Christchurch on September 4, an Arizona State University (ASU) geotechnical engineer says the US should learn from what New Zealanders did to withstand a recent powerful…
Who is the Typical Kiwi?
An international study on cultural stereotypes, led by the US National Institutes of Health, has concluded that there is no relation between supposed cultural characteristics and the actual traits identified in real…
Complete with diamond
Jeweller Michael Hill is offering a 22-carat princess-cut diamond to the “world’s best couple” in an international competition which will be launched later this month at New York’s Rockefeller Centre. American reality TV performer…
2025 and smoke-free
New Zealand has unveiled an ambitious plan to make the country smoke-free by 225, wiping out smoking in all public places. The only other country with a similar policy is Finland, which plans to…
Safety indoors
The legislative changes introduced in New Zealand de-criminalising adult prostitution have been a model for Canadian judges to do the same, with courts recently ruling Canada’s adult prostitution laws unconstitutional. Justice Susan Himel considered…
Centenary Spread
Marmite is celebrating its 1th year in New Zealand with a competition for New Zealanders living overseas to win one of 1 one-way flights home from anywhere in the world this December. Hayley…
Fletchers rebuild city
Though a regional disaster for most, the 7.1 earthquake which hit Christchurch in September will generate some serious business for New Zealand’s largest construction group Fletchers. While acknowledging the tragedy of the earthquake, investors…
Participant in History
“I am in the midst of a living, pictorial history as it is being etched into our nation’s collective memory and into the core of this unstable but stunning landscape of Canterbury,” Jacqueline Monkman…
On the Ring of Fire
In the early hours of Saturday, September 4, Christchurch was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, the same magnitude as that which hit Haiti in January. The quake was shallow,…
Carbon trading issues
Three years ago, in anticipation of substantial growth in the voluntary and compliance carbon markets, governments and business groups around the Asia-Pacific region were jockeying to establish a regional hub for carbon trading, including…
Shift in Aid Delivery
“In an effort to get more value from taxpayers’ dollars, the government wants better co-ordination between development agencies in the Pacific,” Johnny Blades writes for the Guardian. “The type of aid approach…
We Must Talk About It
New Zealand’s chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean has made “an impassioned plea for people to speak more openly about suicide calling for a re-think of laws and self imposed restrictions on what Coroners can…
In Defence of Milk
New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. is defending products sold to China two years after the 28 milk scandal, in which at least six children died and 3, were sickened from milk…
Record latching on
Hundreds of women throughout New Zealand have taken part in an attempt to set a breastfeeding record as part of the annual Latch On campaign. Former Silver Fern Julie Seymour, 39, and 27 other…
Copper’s collection
The Public Trust Building on Dannevirke’s main street has been transformed by former Hamilton Senior Sergeant Bruce Lyon and wife Maureen from a brothel into The International Police Museum. The Museum also serves as…
Justice argued
Rob Hamill — whose 28-year-old brother Kerry fell into the hands of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime when his yacht was captured in Cambodian waters in 1978 — was in Cambodia for the sentencing…
Changing family units
Couple without children in New Zealand are expected to surpass two-parent families as the most common household formation by next year, according to Statistics New Zealand figures. National Family and Household Projections released on…
More than family
In an article entitled ‘In Praise of Whanau’, the Herald Scotland’s Catriona Stewart writes that “for someone who can count blood relations on her fingers and still have digits to spare, the whanau is…
Mourning Moko
Tauranga’s favourite dolphin Moko has been found dead on an island off the coast of the port city. Department of Conservation area manager Andrew Baucke said Moko’s death was a sad loss. “The way…
Suitcase treasures
New Zealand descendants of a British officer stationed on St Helena, from 1815 to 1821, have sold a number of his collection of Napoleon Bonaparte mementoes at an auction in Auckland, including a lock…
Temple for Story
Prizewinning author Lloyd Jones — whose novel Mister Pip made the Booker shortlist in 27 — has established the Bougainville Library Trust in Arawa, Papua New Guinea, enabling locals to fundraise and build their…
Prison fag ban ahead
New Zealand is to ban smoking in prisons from 1 July 211. Corrections Minister Judith Collins said high levels of smoking were a risk to staff and prisoners. Opponents are concerned that violence in…
Own your own town
Remote Southern Alps township Otira, population 44 is for sale. Selling for $1 million, the deal includes a hotel, fire station, town hall and 18 houses. The Otira Hotel, which started life as a…
Wwow What a Wwoof
From their wwoofing holiday in Northland, Californian couple Jacob and Kendall Madden describe their time spent working on five organic farms in the region in a guide about what it means to be a…
