News of New Zealanders via Global Media

For the Sake of Britain James Cook Amended NZ Map

For the Sake of Britain James Cook Amended NZ Map

In an extract from a paper called, “Political Captain Cook” by Australian lawyer Margaret Cameron-Ash, Cook’s decision in 1770 to misrepresent Stuart Island as a peninsula is discussed. “Like every military man, Cook knew that…

Mike Campbell Scores Top Spot in Men’s Health Man Comp

Mike Campbell Scores Top Spot in Men’s Health Man Comp

Sydney-based personal trainer, New Zealander Mike Campbell, 33, has been named in the top six of Australian Men’s Health magazine’s Man competition. The competition calls for blokes who are in top shape and the best…

Meet John Bougen the World’s Best-Travelled Man

Meet John Bougen the World’s Best-Travelled Man

Thirteen years after he began exploring the globe, New Zealander John Bougen expects to be named the world’s best-travelled man by the end of the year. And he knows who to thank. “I had the…

Snowmaker Mark Eldring Skips Summers for Colorado Slopes

Snowmaker Mark Eldring Skips Summers for Colorado Slopes

Snowmaker and groomer Mark Eldring, 32, originally from Mount Maunganui, has experienced one summer in the last nine years opting for winters instead shaping slopes around the world. Eldring is part of a small crew…

Ferryman Alan Brann Working the Waters of the Columbia River

Ferryman Alan Brann Working the Waters of the Columbia River

Alan Brann, known better as Kiwi, ferries passengers and cargo to and from the big ships in the Lower Columbia River at the Port of Astoria in Oregon aboard his boat, Miss Molly. In…

Archibald Milne Hamilton’s Iraqi Road an Engineering Marvel

Archibald Milne Hamilton’s Iraqi Road an Engineering Marvel

Tucked into a remote canyon a two-hour drive north of the Kurdish capital of Irbil, Gali Ali Beg’s waterfall is a beacon for Iraqis who pine for a quiet, safe life after decades of…

Belfast Students Aim to Emulate Burt Munro Record

Belfast Students Aim to Emulate Burt Munro Record

A team of Queen’s University undergraduate engineers will attempt to emulate the 1967 land speed record New Zealander Burt Munro set on his modified Indian Scout motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The…

Graeme Hart’s Luxurious Ulysses Sets Sail

Graeme Hart’s Luxurious Ulysses Sets Sail

New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart has been revealed as the owner of the $77 million 107m super yacht “Ulysses”, just launched from a slip in Ulsteinvik, Norway. The former tow-truck driver and panel beater turned…

Ciaran Forsyth, Rose Escort to Ireland for Some Charming

Ciaran Forsyth, Rose Escort to Ireland for Some Charming

Taranaki man Ciaran Forsyth, 26, has been chosen to escort the New Zealand Rose of Tralee to Ireland in August, the first New Zealander to be selected for the male side of…

Young Pilot Made Australian Aviation History

Young Pilot Made Australian Aviation History

For a brief period in the 1900s, New Zealander JJ Hammond gave a small Australian suburb in Melbourne a significant place in the annals of aviation history. Hammond, a young man with a passion for…

Will Strang’s Efforts Prevail in 21st Century?

Will Strang’s Efforts Prevail in 21st Century?

The man attributed to inventing instant coffee, New Zealander David Strang, is mentioned in a Smithsonian magazine article on the history of the beverage and about the expansion of the instant coffee market into…

Operation Dog on a Log Rescue a Naval Success Story

Operation Dog on a Log Rescue a Naval Success Story

The heartwarming rescue by the Royal New Zealand Navy of a dog on a log has gained international media attention. “This is the astonishing scene that greeted sailors on a New Zealand naval ship –…

Speedway Floor Manager Puts on a Good Show

Speedway Floor Manager Puts on a Good Show

New Zealander Steve Brandon, based in Northampton, is a freelance floor manager, and when thousands of speedway fans flicked on to Sky Sports Two last week, he was one of a small army of…

Model A a Meat-and-Potatoes Car Says Enthusiast

Model A a Meat-and-Potatoes Car Says Enthusiast

New Zealander Mike Breed is secretary of Langley’s Pacific Model A Club in British Columbia, owns six Model As, and is one of the city’s “principal gurus of Model A vehicles”. Breed restores, shows, and…

Nigella Melts the Hearts of Wellington Commuters

Nigella Melts the Hearts of Wellington Commuters

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, 54, was in Wellington filming an advertisement for Porirua-based chocolate manufacturers Whittaker’s. Lawson has been the face of the company since 2012. The cookbook queen looked like she was melting…

Baldwin Street a Real Doozy of an Incline

Baldwin Street a Real Doozy of an Incline

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, “the world’s steepest street” is “like candy to my stunt-driver-trapped-in-a-conservative-car-owner’s body,” says Fleur Bainger in the Sydney Morning Herald. “The entire city is hilly but this particular slope is a doozy…

Vibrancy of Kuala Lumpur Fascinates Former Aucklander

Vibrancy of Kuala Lumpur Fascinates Former Aucklander

Managing director at Kuala Lumpur-based Orchan Consulting, Craig Selby, 40, is fascinated by the changes taking place in Malaysia since he moved there nine years ago. “The places near where I live have become a…

Setting up Practice in a Nice Part of the World

Setting up Practice in a Nice Part of the World

New Zealand veterinarian Allan Rapley, 63, moved to North London’s Highgate Village in 2012 to transform an antiquarian bookshop into his own live-in practice “in a nice part of the world”. The father-of-five and his…

Getting Away from It All on the Coromandel

Getting Away from It All on the Coromandel

The New Zealand way of life, our “fondness for corrugated iron” and how we hang our laundry out to dry, are some Antipodean oddities which charmed a visiting American who was shown around Bill…

Restoring French Colonial Ruins in Southern Cambodia

Restoring French Colonial Ruins in Southern Cambodia

Chris Connop, a 57-year-old New Zealander with a degree in engineering and a background in horticulture and construction, says he stumbled into his current occupation – restoring and rebuilding Kampot architecture in Cambodia –…

Two weeks off the grid

Two weeks off the grid

Newly-former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg and his companion Diana Taylor will spend two weeks holidaying in New Zealand and Hawaii at the commencement of 2014, after 12 years helming the western…

One Small Step for New Plymouth Student

One Small Step for New Plymouth Student

New Plymouth engineering student Hamish Fagg, 21, is preparing to become the first New Zealander in space having won a prize organized by Unilever-owned men’s product LYNX and endorsed by the world’s most famous…

Oamaru-Made Gingerbread Cathedral Pleases Exeter Locals

Oamaru-Made Gingerbread Cathedral Pleases Exeter Locals

Owners of Oamaru’s Pen-y-bryn Lodge, James Glucksman and James Boussy have built a gingerbread Exeter Cathedral to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the lodge next year. Glucksman explains: “In a nutshell we always make a…

Adventurer’s African Queen Back on the Nile

Adventurer’s African Queen Back on the Nile

The boat thought to be the original African Queen used in the film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn has been restored by owner, New Zealander Cam McLeay. There’s no sign of the 2000 cigarettes…

Rare Chinese Carved Rhino Horns Sale Makes Auction Records

Rare Chinese Carved Rhino Horns Sale Makes Auction Records

A pair of very rare 19th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horns has sold for a record $797,300 Auckland-based auction house Webb’s – 454 per cent above the estimate of $125,000 – $150,000. The…

Fifty Thousand Kilometre Journey Peddling for the Heart

Fifty Thousand Kilometre Journey Peddling for the Heart

After two years and 43,000km, New Zealander Jeremy Scott is almost home having been riding his bike from London since 5 October 2011, heading to his final destination, Auckland, by March next year. He made…

Plans for Icy Demonstration Flight South

Plans for Icy Demonstration Flight South

Air New Zealand is planning a demonstration Boeing 767 flight to Antarctica on 5 October, and if all goes well the airline is expected to operate two more chartered flights to “the ice” later…

Weatherman Predicts Year Ahead for Ireland

Weatherman Predicts Year Ahead for Ireland

Auckland-born weatherman Ken Ring has made his latest predictions for the coming Northern winter, forecasting a white December for Ireland. Ring, who predicted the deadly Christchurch earthquake and Ireland’s arctic winter in 2010, also…

Debunking the Fire-Walking Myth in Georgia

Debunking the Fire-Walking Myth in Georgia

Retired physicist John Campbell, formerly of the University of Canterbury, is offering a fire-walking demonstration at the University of Georgia on 19 September. For Campbell, fire-walking is a matter of thermal conductivity, and not…

Morgans Charmed on N Korean Motorbike Trip

Morgans Charmed on N Korean Motorbike Trip

New Zealanders Gareth and Joanne Morgan have become the first people to motorbike across the Korean Peninsula and say they have some real insights to share, especially regarding the terrain, people and…

Mountain Peaks to Be Named in Their Honour

Mountain Peaks to Be Named in Their Honour

Nepal is set to name two Himalayan peaks after New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the men who were the first to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain on…

Through Yellowstone and on to Key West

Through Yellowstone and on to Key West

Alabama is the latest stop for New Zealand engineer Wayne Gatenby, who is biking across America on a journey taking him to Key West. Gatenby turns 40 this year, and his particular bucket list included…

New Zealander Rescued After Being Trapped by Crocodile

New Zealander Rescued After Being Trapped by Crocodile

A New Zealand kayaker spent two weeks stranded on a small island off the coast of Western Australia after a menacing crocodile refused to let him leave. Each time the man tried to kayak away…

Rare Crossing for New Zealand Motorcyclists

Rare Crossing for New Zealand Motorcyclists

Five New Zealand motorcyclists have successfully crossed the world’s most militarised border as part of a ride for peace across the Korean Peninsula. The rare crossing saw the New Zealanders pass through the demilitarised zone…

Cook Responsible for Beauteous Vancouver Garden

Cook Responsible for Beauteous Vancouver Garden

New Zealand-born Alleyne Cook has devoted 23 years of his life to planting and maintaining Vancouver’s Ted and Mary Greig Garden within Stanley Garden which contains an extraordinary botanical inventory of more than 4500…

Tauranga Dog Donates Blood to Save Cat’s Life

Tauranga Dog Donates Blood to Save Cat’s Life

A Tauranga cat has a dog to thank, after a local vet gave it a transfusion of canine blood in a gamble to save the feline’s life. Kim Edwards rushed her cat, Rory, to the…

Waiheke Island’s World’s Oldest Dance Crew Performs at World Championship

Waiheke Island’s World’s Oldest Dance Crew Performs at World Championship

New Zealand hip-hop dance crew, Hip Op-eration, have arrived in Las Vegas and performed as part of the World Hip Hop Championship. The world’s oldest hip-hip dance crew, Hip-Operation members range between the ages…

“Ferocious Gander” deters Norsewood Meter Reader

“Ferocious Gander” deters Norsewood Meter Reader

The small New Zealand town of Norsewood is better known for it’s wool wear and affinity for trolls. But the small town, whose populations barely scrapes above 300, is making international news for reports…

Big Brownie Takes Rod and Wheel World Record

Big Brownie Takes Rod and Wheel World Record

Tauranga angler Otwin Kandolf, 71, has landed an all-tackle world record for the biggest brown trout taken on a rod and reel. Kandolf caught the massive 19kg brownie in March while fishing in Ohau…

Do You Pass the Test?

Do You Pass the Test?

Here are some of the 31 signs you are the child of New Zealand expatriates, according to viral news site, BuzzFeed. The site also recommends not forwarding the information to people with Australian parents….

AJ Hackett’s Ambitious Project in Russia Nears Completion

AJ Hackett’s Ambitious Project in Russia Nears Completion

New Zealand adrenaline pioneer AJ Hackett is months from completing what might be his most ambitious project to date – AJ Hackett Sochi, a Russian adventure park that will include the world’s highest swing…

Gamers Promote Powerful Women Leads

Gamers Promote Powerful Women Leads

Game developer New Zealander Lucy Morris, who lives in Düsseldorf, this week participated in a 48-hour game jam – or a fleeting arcade of game developers planning and creating a game over a short…

Historical Mill Still Grinding for a Modern World

Historical Mill Still Grinding for a Modern World

New Zealander Michael Shaw is a miller operating one of Scotland’s last surviving fully operational commercial watermills. Golspie Mill in Sutherland grinds peasemeal, rye, bread and plain flour. The original mill was opened…

Deciphering Clues from Ancient Bones in Cambodia

Deciphering Clues from Ancient Bones in Cambodia

For the past seven years, New Zealand archaeologist Dr Nancy Beavan has been unravelling the mystery of a graveyard in Cambodia dating back to the Angkor era. At Phnom Pel, more than 100 burial…

Angry Lego on the Rise

Angry Lego on the Rise

A researcher in New Zealand has found that Lego figurines are becoming increasingly angrier. In a study of 3,655 figures produced between 1975 and 2010, Dr Christoph Bartneck, a robot expert at the University…

Tiny Troop of Toddlers Performs the Cutest Haka Ever

Tiny Troop of Toddlers Performs the Cutest Haka Ever

Six Ngati Toa children with an average age of two, from Porirua’s Bronwyn’s Place Daycare, have performed what news outlets are calling “the cutest Haka ever”. “It is one of the most awesome sights…

Minding the Gap at All London’s 270 Stations

Minding the Gap at All London’s 270 Stations

Auckland-born businessman Tim McCready has been to all 270 London Underground stations after spending seven days spread over five months travelling the entire 250 miles of the Tube network. “When I arrived…

NZ Hip-Operation Crew Set to take World Stage

NZ Hip-Operation Crew Set to take World Stage

New Zealand hip-hop crew ‘Hip-Operation’ are set to perform at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in Las Vegas this August. What sets them apart from the competition? About 50 years. The Waiheke Island…

New Zealand’s Lamborghini Connection

New Zealand’s Lamborghini Connection

Bob Wallace, originally from New Zealand, became Lamborghini’s test driver in 1964; he was instrumental in the founding of the Italian car company. For most devoted fans,” The New York Times’ John Lamm writes,…

Devotedly by Her Side

Devotedly by Her Side

A New Zealander, known only as Kate, who cared for the late Lady Margaret Thatcher, would read to the former British prime minister and keep her mind going in her final days, according to…

Scrimp No More

Scrimp No More

New Zealand’s favourite breakfast spread, Marmite has returned to supermarket shelves for the first time in over a year, after shortages caused by the Christchurch earthquake. “You’ve rationed, you’ve scraped, you’ve survived marmageddon – and…

Biblical Proportions

Biblical Proportions

In his column for the UK Sunday Times, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson writes: “If you were God and you were all-powerful, you wouldn’t select Bethlehem as a suitable birthplace for your only child…

Never a Dull Moment

Never a Dull Moment

Four years ago, when Charles Turner was just shy of 91, he and his wife emigrated from London to Wellington. “It has worked,” Turner writes in the Telegraph. “We have a large garden with…

What’s with All the Padding

What’s with All the Padding

Executive creative director at marketing agency RAPP New York, New Zealander Wayne Pick tells Branding Magazine what Super Bowl means to New Zealanders, in an article about how the American game…

Biking Africa for Acumen

Biking Africa for Acumen

Twenty-four-year-old New Zealander Phillip English has been making his way by bicycle from Egypt to Cape Town, travelling for the past 10 months over some 15,000km through Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi,…

Oil Man Bows Out

Oil Man Bows Out

After 36 years of “distinguished” service, New Zealander Leo Lonergan will retire from his position as chief procurement officer at Chevron in London. Executive vice president Jim Blackwell said: “During his tenure as chief…