GirlBoss Founder Wins Facebook Leadership Award
“GirlBoss New Zealand founder Alexia Hilbertidou is the first and only Kiwi to be selected for the social media network’s Community Leaders Program,” writes Brittany Keogh in an article for
Tag Archives: Stuff
Peter Macky Renews Historic German Train Station
Aucklander Peter Macky, a former lawyer, has nearly completed a 10-year restoration of the first Kaiserbahnhof train station in Halbe, Germany. Macky, who lives six months of the year in Germany, says he stumbled upon…
Javelin Thrower Holly Jones off to Special Olympics
Paeroa woman Holly Jones has being selected to represent New Zealand at the Special Olympics World Games, to be held in Abu Dhabi in March. Jones, who has dyspraxia and mild cerebral palsy, will compete…
WWE Rising Star Dakota Kai a Wrestling Trailblazer
Thirty-year-old Aucklander Dakota Kai signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) more than a year ago but every now and then, she still has to pinch herself. It’s easy to see why. Kai is breaking new…
Skateboard Photographer Jake Darwen Takes Off
Skateboard photographer Jake Darwen, 25, who grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and is now based in Los Angeles, shoots for the likes of New Balance and Element, often travelling to offbeat destinations in…
Scientist Harjinder Singh Wins Illustrious US Award
After 30 years of research in the dairy industry, a distinguished service award was well deserved for Massey University professor and food scientist Harjinder Singh, 60, who last month became the first New Zealander…
Young Surfer Ariana Shewry off to California
In October, Oakura surfer Ariana Shewry will fly to Huntington Beach in California to represent New Zealand at the world junior champs. The 15-year-old recently took visual journalists Andy Jackson and Simon O’Connor on…
Dance Prodigy Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson in Houston
The past year has been a whirlwind of events for professional ballet dancer Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, Jonathan Guildford writes for Stuff. The Christchurch-born ballet prodigy has started his first professional job with the Houston Ballet company…
Photographer Derek Henderson Is in Demand
Photographer Derek Henderson rates his career shooting fashion, travel and art photography as mediocre, but a quick look at his credentials and it’s plain to see he’s being coy. Laura Baker interviews the New…
Kim Chambers Swims Like No Other
Kim Chambers, a former ballerina who grew up on a sheep farm in the King Country has done what no other woman has yet achieved: swum the world’s most difficult ocean swim, from the…
US-Based Radio Exec Andrew Jeffries Loves LA
Private shows by the likes of Ed Sheeran and Coldplay are all in a day’s work for Los Angeles based New Zealander Andrew Jeffries, who is executive vice president for programming across the West…
New Zealand in Time-Lapse
New Zealand’s striking and incredibly diverse landscape has helped it become the setting for many famed film series that include the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, Travel + Leisure magazine reports, and…
Ice Sculptor Tatiana Zimina Competes in China
New Zealander Tatiana Zimina has recently returned from northeast China where she competed in ice and snow sculpting with her partner and two friends in the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. The…
Ollie Dale Aims to Help Solve Earhart Mystery
Auckland filmmaker Ollie Dale is joining former US Navy intelligence officer Guy Noffsinger to investigate how Pan Am flight 229 inexplicably vanished over the Pacific in 1938 – and how the plane’s disappearance may…
Harley Neville’s Wild Shave Gets Him on Ellen Show
Two years ago, Aucklander Harley Neville shaved off half the hair on his body and photographed the result for his followers on social media. The picture sat on the internet, gestating, clicks multiplying like…
Kyle Glogoski Signs with Philadelphia Phillies
Auckland-born pitcher Kyle Glogoski, 18, has signed a contract to play with the Philadelphia Phillies in America’s Major League Baseball (MLB). Glogoski, who currently pitches for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League,…
Chelsea Jade and Boyboy Take Their Chances in LA
Singers Chelsea Jade Metcalf and Sam McCarthy, who goes by the moniker Boyboy, explain why leaving New Zealand and relocating to Los Angeles has made them better songwriters. Metcalf was used to the industry’s eyes…
Courageous Soldier Melanie Childs Awarded
Lieutenant Colonel Melanie Childs, who took charge of soldiers and police to lead refugees to safety through a battle zone in South Sudan, has been named the New Zealand Defence Force Person of the…
New Zealand Women Thrash England in World Cup Semis
England’s women were beaten 52-4 by New Zealand in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup semi-finals at the Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney. Tara-Jane Stanley ran over England’s only try in the 21st minute…
New Zealand Beat India by 40 Runs
Pacer Trent Boult took four wickets to help New Zealand beat India by 40 runs in the second T20 in Rajkot, India. New Zealand levelled the three-match series 1-1 with the comprehensive victory. Chasing 197-run…
Dig This an Invercargill Playground for Adults
“A New Zealand attraction has just opened that will allow you to rip, push and pull to your heart’s content using heavy machinery. Dig This Invercargill is first heavy equipment playground, and while it…
NZ Acting Coach Miranda Harcourt Gets Emmy Shout Out From Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman has thanked Wellington acting coach Miranda Harcourt in her heartfelt acceptance speech after winning an Emmy for her role on the TV series Big Little Lies, as reported…
Sam Neill Nominated for Another Emmy
A few days out from the Emmy Awards, where Sam Neill, 70, has been nominated in the outstanding narrator category for his work on documentary series Wild New Zealand, the actor showed he was…
Timmy Chiew Wins Top International Gaming Prize
Timmy Chiew, 25, from Auckland has taken out the top spot at an international gaming tournament beating 10 of the world’s best Yu-Gi-Oh players, in a New Zealand first. Chiew, who has been playing card…
Photographer Gavin O’Neill Shoots for the Stars
Earlier this year, 46-year-old Gavin O’Neill, who left New Zealand in 1996 to pursue fashion photography, received an email from the personal assistant of Kim Kardashian West. She had found his work on Instagram, the…
How Rugby Helped Jared James In Japan
For a Japanese national, the question of why a person from the West would come to Japan is a fascinating one, so much so that there’s even a TV show about it: You wa…
Kharl WiRepa a Vogue Designer of the Future
Fashion designer Kharl WiRepa is set to have his designs featured in British Vogue’s September issue, his clothing line selected among the magazine’s top 22 ‘Designers of the Future’. WiRepa is the first designer of…
Brown Kiwi Hatches at Zoo in Virginia
A little brown kiwi chick has hatched at The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia, United States. Zoo staff had been monitoring the egg closely the previous week after signs it would…
Wainui Chemist Selected as Finalist for PhD Prize
Victoria University PhD candidate Ryan Schwamm, 26, has become the first New Zealander to be nominated for the prestigious Reaxys PhD Prize in chemistry, which recognises the best work being…
Karaka Kitchen Makes Prestigious London Awards
A Karaka kitchen designed by Shane George is one of just two international entries to make the finals of the SBID International Design Awards in the KBB Design category. Winners…
Shearer Rowland Smith Beats World Record
Thirty-year-old New Zealander Rowland Smith has beaten the world record for the number of sheep sheared in an eight-hour period. Smith, who is from the Hawke’s Bay, sheared 644 sheep from four farms in Devon…
Producer Joel Little Dominates Billboard Charts
Auckland-born writer and producer Joel Little, 34, has his name in the Billboard music charts next to three different albums in the top 15, Stuff reports. Little worked on tracks on Lorde’s Melodrama album, Imagine…
Jane Wynyard’s Change of Pace in East Africa
Just a year ago, 48 year-old Auckland-born Jane Wynyard was a public relations maven in London with a career and lifestyle many of us would envy, Kelly Ana Morey writes for Stuff. She completed…
Whangarei Highland Dancer off to Tattoo
Seventeen-year-old Whangarei student Shannon Vesey will be the only New Zealander to dance as part of the Tattoo Highland Dancers at this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on in August. Vesey will join 49 dancers…
Trap Shooter Natalie Rooney Ranked No 1 in World
Timaru trap shooter Natalie Rooney, 28, has been ranked world No 1 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the first New Zealander, man or woman, to hold the top spot in any of…
Lucky Planet Hunters Discover Super-Earth
NASA is adopting a planet hunting technique created by New Zealand scientists. Called gravitational microlensing, it helped Auckland and Massey University scientists Associate Professor Ian Bond and Dr Nick Rattenbury find a new giant…
Palmerston North Med Student Heading to Yale
Palmerston North-based medical student Josh Smith is heading to American Ivy League institution Yale University to learn a technique that could shape the future of healthcare. Smith is in the final year of his medical…
Wellington Gets the Scarlett Johansson Effect
Ghost in the Shell star Scarlett Johansson, who spent several months in Wellington filming the classic eighties sci-fi remake, says the capital is one of the best cities she has worked in. In a press…
Nathalie Boltt Joins KJ Apa in Riverdale
Wellington-based actress Nathalie Boltt has been missing fish and chips on the beach with her husband and son. The Riverdale star (she plays Penelope Blossom) is originally from South Africa but its her adopted…
Meet The Rock’s Body Double Kelly Mcnaught
Kawerau chef Kelly Mcnaught was serving up food at a Gold Coast café when a customer asked if he could photograph him. “Then I got a Facebook message from an agent asking if I’d…
Kirsten Gilmour Cooks up Café Culture in Cairngorms
Kirsten Gilmour, 38, owner of a multi-award winning restaurant in Aviemore, Scotland, is also the proud author of new cookbook, The Mountain Cafe Cookbook: A Kiwi in the Cairngorms. Gilmour is a great success story…
Chicago-Bound for Mojo Coffee Magnate
Coffee addict Steve Gianoutsos’ latest venture is his biggest punt yet: Shifting his family of five to Chicago, to unleash the Mojo coffee brand on the US market. Opening his first 140-square-metre café there in…
Black Caps Defeat Australia in Hamilton
Australia have relinquished the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and potentially the No 1 ODI ranking, with Mitchell Starc unable to save his batsmen’s blushes in a dramatic 24-run defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton, Pat Cummins…
Trio of Films to Screen at Berlin Film Festival
Three New Zealand films will screen at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Poi E: The Story of Our Song and new-comer, The Inland Road, directed by Jackie van Beek, will both feature in the Generation…
Airbnb Confirms Queenstown on New Trips Platform
Adventure capital Queenstown will be the New Zealand guinea pig for a new wave of tourism – Airbnb Experiences. The global travel company announced the launch of Experiences – allowing people to book “immersive” tours…
Black is Goth Briana Sullivan’s Happy Colour
Auckland University graduate Briana Sullivan, 22, aka Gothic Metal Fairy, is the first New Zealander to be announced 2017 spokesmodel for DarkestGoth, a US-based, online magazine. Originally from New Plymouth, Sullivan says she loves black…
Robin Hammond Trans Image on Cover of Nat Geo
New Zealand-born photojournalist Robin Hammond’s image of transgender girl Avery Jackson, 9, has made the cover of the January 2017 special issue of National Geographic magazine on the shifting landscape of gender. Avery, from Kansas…
Eight NZ restaurants Named on La Liste’s Top 1000
Eight of New Zealand’s finest restaurants have been named among the world’s best, included on La Liste’s 1000 outstanding restaurants for 2017, double the amount from the year before, Stuff reports. La Liste…
Gymnast Charlotte Sullivan Impresses in Iowa
Christchurch gymnast Charlotte Sullivan, 18, who represented New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has certainly landed on her feet during an eye-catching competitive debut for the University of Iowa, Stuff reports. A…
No Obstacle Too Big for Scott Thornton
New Zealander Scott Thornton was one of 1500 athletes to compete in the World’s Toughest Mudder race in Las Vegas this year, an extreme obstacle course which featured an 11m cliff jump, a back-to-back…
NZ the Way US Used to Be Says Robert Redford
Hollywood film star Robert Redford, 80, came to New Zealand to expand his Oscar-winning résumé with children’s film Pete’s Dragon, but what he found was an idyllic paradise reminiscent of his own childhood. Redford says he felt…
Julliard’s Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson to Graduate
Christchurch dancer Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, who is understood to be the first New Zealander to be accepted by the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, according to the Press, will graduate in May 2017. Guillemot-Rodgerson…
Huffman’s Wins at World Hot Sauce Awards
Wellington-based Huffman’s Hot Sauce has been named World Champion in the Pepper Blend category at a ceremony held in Louisiana. Auckland’s Culley’s and Kaikohe’s Fire Dragon Chillies were also named world champions in the…
Report Exposes Human Trafficking Shortfalls
A United States report outlining New Zealand’s shortcomings in tackling human trafficking shows New Zealand is “oblivious and ignorant” about forced labour taking place under our noses, anti-trafficking organisation Stand Against Slavery says. Enforcement agencies like…
South Canterbury Contractors Unearth Moa Bones
Contractors at a site in South Canterbury have made an unexpected find while digging a trench – dozens of bones belonging to the long-extinct moa. Workers spotted the bones during excavations in an area which…
Lisa Carrington World’s Best Paddler
Tauranga kayaker Lisa Carrington, 26, has been named sportswoman of the year at the 2016 World Paddle Awards held in Barcelona. Carrington received the honour as credit for her double win at last year’s…
