Tag Archives: Sydney Morning Herald (The)

The ‘Rapa’s Best Kept Secrets

The ‘Rapa’s Best Kept Secrets

Herald writer, Tim Dick, extols the many virtues of his Wairarapa homeland – which have thus far escaped the notice of Wellingtonian wine tourists. High on his list of recommendations are having a “three-scoop ice-cream from the…

Perfect Strangers

Perfect Strangers

Sam Neill, Rachel Blake (Lantana) and Joel Toebeck star in Gaylene Preston’s genre-bending twisted-tale of a pick up gone wrong on the South Island’s rugged West Coast or, “chick flick – deconstructed … subversion…

Antarctic Archives

Antarctic Archives

NZ’s Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences has received international funding to drill more than a kilometre beneath Antarctica in order to gain access to the “untapped record of climate change” held in its sedimentary layers. Otago…

Tips from the Top

Tips from the Top

Telecom NZ CEO, Theresa Gattung, interviewed in the SMH after figures from the second annual survey by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency show a “miniscule” improvement in the Australian corporate world’s gender imbalance….

42 Below NZSX-y

42 Below NZSX-y

Award-winning NZ vodka label, 42 Below – has enlisted the help of Kiwi supermodel Kylie Bax and San Antonio Spurs basketball player Sean Marks to promote his product in the lucrative US market….

In the frame … again

In the frame … again

Janet Frame was again shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature for a second time, despite making the Swedish Academy’s top five finalists and being picked to win by one of the country’s…

Kapiti Creme Anglaise: Finger Licking Good

Kapiti Creme Anglaise: Finger Licking Good

SMH’s ‘Good Food Guide’ salivates over Kapiti Creme Anglaise: “Talk about the perfect dinner party treat. Heavenly drizzled over cakes and tarts. Or on your finger when you’ve got a hankering for something sweet…

What Will Pinetree Think …

What Will Pinetree Think …

The All Blacks are using Telecom’s most state-of-the-art technology in their bid to win this year’s Rugby World Cup. Coach John Mitchell will be able to view streamed video footage of multiple angles of the game…

Eric “Bueller” Watson

Eric “Bueller” Watson

SMH charts the enviable career of Eric Watson; from butcher’s apprentice to multimillionaire businessman and owner of the NZ Warriors, (who bowed out in the semi-finals of the 2003 NRL to eventual winners Penrith). “See Eric…

Watt’s Up Jackson?

Watt’s Up Jackson?

Peter Jackson has reportedly asked Australian actress Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, The Ring) to play the female lead in King Kong, which begins shooting in Wellington this November.

Robin Williams: “I Realised I Could Fall Out of Jonah’s Nose …”

Robin Williams: “I Realised I Could Fall Out of Jonah’s Nose …”

Jonah Lomu has announced his withdrawal from this year’s NPC competition, and has given up any hope of making the 2003 World Cup squad. The most famed of wingers has experienced foot and calf muscle problems…

He is: Looking Edge-ward for Inspiration

He is: Looking Edge-ward for Inspiration

This year’s recipient of Australia’s $20,000 Dobell Prize for drawing, Aida Tomescu cites a work by Colin McCahon as the inspiration behind her winning piece, Negru III and Negru IV. “It triggered a series…

Natural High

Natural High

Sydney Morning Herald journo-cum-adventurer recommends NZ as the perfect training ground for would-be mountaineers: “It’s close, cheap, the inhabitants speak English, and the mountains are world-class.” Particularly highly regarded is the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s 2-day advanced…

Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064

Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064

International media attention was lavished on The Thames, London, for the launch of NZ-entrepreneur Alan Gibb’s revolutionary Aquada (inspired by inventor Terry Roycroft’s design innovations). The James Bond-style sports vehicle with the amphibian edge can reach up to…

Glass Master #1

Glass Master #1

Wanganui artist David Murray has won Australia’s prestigious Runamok Prize for Contemporary Glass Art for 2003 for his work entitled ‘Gatherer’.  

Wahine Takes Manhattan

Wahine Takes Manhattan

Pania Rose, Australia’s latest supermodel has an Aotearoa genetic advantage: “After securing local campaigns for Country Road and the all-Aussie undies label , the 19-year-old has hit the big time in the US, scoring…

Brake Continues to be Benchmark

Brake Continues to be Benchmark

Australian photojournalist Paul Blackmore is compared to late great NZ photographer, Brian Brake, in a review by the Herald. Blackmore’s Waters images are reminiscent of Brake’s Monsoon series – “one of the most successful…

EasyNZ

EasyNZ

Air NZ has responded to increased and heavily discounted competition by introducing a no-frills Tasman Express service. So far, the cheap fares are proving to be a lucrative addition; by mid-August, Air NZ had tripled its average…

It’s a Black-out

It’s a Black-out

SMH: “they simply cannot beat the All Blacks”. The All Blacks join England as World Cup favourites after winning both the Tri-Nations’ Trophy and and Bledisloe Cup, making it two out of three thus…

Behind Every Great Woman…

Behind Every Great Woman…

NZ-born producer, Linda McDougall, interviewed in the Sunday Times about her Channel 4 documentary, Married to Maggie: Denis Thatcher’s Story. McDougall collated interviews with the former British PM and her late husband – many…

Down Under Cowboy

Down Under Cowboy

NZ-born Keith Urban has been dubbed the new face of country music in the US. With his chiselled good looks, tattoos, and relatively loose jeans, Urban is doing for c&w blokes what Shania Twain…

The Name Game

The Name Game

NZ pop-art exponent, Billy Apple (nee Barry George Bates,) listed alongside Odd Nerdrum, Hercules Fisherman, and Seymour Likely as one of the “unbeatable names in the art world.” Buy Billy Apple in the…

Charting the Edge

Charting the Edge

Sydney’s Morning Herald publishes its 2003 top-10 lists for global rovers with Aotearoa again destination du jour. The chart toppers – Wine: Marlborough (“with its combination of bush, mountains and coastline … Cloudy Bay, Cairnrae and Allan…

Silver Ferns Strike Gold

Silver Ferns Strike Gold

The New Zealand Silver Ferns netball team emphatically shrugged off a decade of being netball’s bridesmaids to beat arch rivals Australia 49 – 47 and win the World Champion title in Jamaica. “Finally,” said relieved Silver Fern’s…

A View from Down Under

A View from Down Under

A forum for ex-pat NZ, Australian, and South African amateur filmmakers living in London – the UpOverDownUnder film festival – is now in its third year. Over that time, the festival has…

The first, second, and third Noel

The first, second, and third Noel

The trio behind Kiwi comedy act The Four Noels – James Pratt, John Forman, and Jesse Griffin – interviewed in SMH. The group formed in 1996, without any strictly comic ambitions. “We just wanted…

Paddo Pleats to Please

Paddo Pleats to Please

Leading Sydney retailer, Belinda Seper, is stocking hand-pleated designs by “New Zealand newcomer” Rachel Pederson at her new store in William Street, Paddington. Pederson’s work will hang alongside that of Michelle Jank, Easton Pearson,…

Brothers in Arms

Brothers in Arms

The Turkish government is seeking World Heritage listing for Anzac Cove – where the WW1 battle of Gallipoli took place. Turkey believes the site to be of lasting moral value, in that it embodies a unique bond…

Glamour Girls

Glamour Girls

A photographic exhibition by NZ artist Fiona Clark is creating a stir at Sydney’s Mori Gallery. Go Girl – a series of portraits of NZ’s transgender and transvestite community – is described in the…

Laga’aia Lionised

Laga’aia Lionised

NZ performers feature strongly in Sydney’s highly anticipated production of The Lion King. Vincent Harde plays the lead role of Simba, with Water Rats star Jay Laga’aia as his on-stage father, Mufasa. The Disney…

Edge Location: Best in Show

Edge Location: Best in Show

A personal navigation system produced by NZ company, Navman, topped the Herald‘s list of best inventions at Sydney’s Consumer Electronics and Entertainment exhibition. The handheld device uses GPS satellite tracking technology to steer tourists around foreign…

Slow burner

Slow burner

Annamarie Jagose’s Slow Water – the tale of a gradual unravelling of English class systems and sexual identities on a voyage to colonial NZ – praised in the SMH. “The book has a wide…

Euphoria Against the Odds

Euphoria Against the Odds

The world premiere of Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table was listed as one of the 50 greatest moments in the Sydney Film Festival’s first 50 years of running in a Sydney Morning…

“Australia’s Castaways Are Happier to Call NZ Home”

“Australia’s Castaways Are Happier to Call NZ Home”

SMH profiles the Afghani “Tampa” refugees, who were taken in by the NZ government after being refused entry to Australia. Pacific minded NZ authorities have granted them the right to reunite with their families,…

Meridian Puts the Wind up Australians

Meridian Puts the Wind up Australians

NZ’s Meridian Energy is poised to spend up to $600 million on developing wind energy facilities in Australia over the next 5 years. The project depends on the federal government’s renewal of its mandated renewable energy…

“Snap, crackle and grace”

“Snap, crackle and grace”

SMH: “Black Grace, New Zealand’s all-male company of Maori and Pacific Island dancers, is the most engaging and entertaining company to visit Sydney for years. Maybe since the last time they were here…

A Man of Wealth and Taste: Harry M. Miller

A Man of Wealth and Taste: Harry M. Miller

“Should the job go to the vulgar New Zealander who had brought the Rolling Stones to Australia?” Sydney icon, edge arts patron and tour promoter, Harry M. Miller is celebrated in a profile that…

Tremain Mines Our Past

Tremain Mines Our Past

The latest offering from award-winning British author, Rose Tremain, finds its inspiration in mid-19th century NZ and thwarted edge expectations: “We will not cling to familiar ways. We will imagine ourselves reborn over there….

Christchurch the New Bondi?

Christchurch the New Bondi?

Kiwis are coming home to roost according to latest Australian immigration statistics that reveal a dramatic brain-drain reversal: NZers are returning home from Australia at a greater rate than they are arriving. The SMH…

Whale Raves: Part 2

Whale Raves: Part 2

Whale Rider‘s Australian release has unleashed a second wave of glowing tributes. The Age: ” sharply observed, warm portrayal of a community … of an indigenous people moving between certainties and uncertainties.” Sydney…

Rats Have Rights Too

Rats Have Rights Too

Native rats (kiore) on Little Barrier Island were saved from a scheduled DOC extermination by local tribe Ngatiwai, who claimed them as taonga. The rats, now almost extinct on mainland NZ, pose a threat to tuatara…

Sylvester a “Singular Sensation”

Sylvester a “Singular Sensation”

Touted as “the black sheep of the fashion flock,” designer Kate Sylvester impressed at Sydney Fashion Week without sacrificing her individual edge. SMH: “Citing New York-based installation artist Vanessa Beecroft as an inspiration, Sylvester…

D’Acclaimed funny-man

D’Acclaimed funny-man

Kiwi comedian Tarun Mohanbhai has taken his acclaimed one-man show – D’Arranged Marriage – across the Tasman, with high-profile stints at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Sydney Opera House. Mohanbhai made his name…

Street Eyes

Street Eyes

Pavement regular, fashion and portrait photographer Derek Henderson, is showing at Sydney’s 2010 gallery. The images in the collection, entitled with sweet melancholy, I Don’t Feel Alone, are described as, “contemporary landscapes and cultural…

Te Maori ki Te Ao – Paratene on Patriarchy

Te Maori ki Te Ao – Paratene on Patriarchy

In an interview with SMH, Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene discusses patriarchy – both within and outside of Maoridom – and the universal appeal behind the heart and award-winning film. “I think Maori stories well told can…

Zambesi Deals in Dark Delights

Zambesi Deals in Dark Delights

NZ fashion house Zambesi lived up to its reputation for thoughtful sewing of the seams with an inspiring show at Sydney Fashion Week, netting a lucrative distribution deal with Canada’s largest department store chain…

Ed MTV: Frontrunning Len Lye Revisited

Ed MTV: Frontrunning Len Lye Revisited

Aussie indie music treasure, ex-punk and co-founder of the Saints, Ed Kuepper, has written music for six short films made by legendary NZ conceptual artist Len Lye over 50 years ago. Lye was setting…

Nearest Neighbours Worlds Apart?

Nearest Neighbours Worlds Apart?

Gerard Henderson makes a pre-ANZAC Day assessment of current Aussie-Kiwi relations. “The Australia-NZ commercial relationship has never been healthier … However, the trans-Tasman economic co-operation has been accompanied by an increasing disagreement on security issues. The NZ…

Napier Goes Ga-ga for Gingko

Napier Goes Ga-ga for Gingko

Ron Massey, of Napier Council, thinks the city’s onto an export winner after its successful growing of high-grade gingko trees. The Chinese herb is currently the trendiest pill to pop, supposedly offering dramatically increased energy and cognitive…

“The Greatest Rock’n’roll Band in the World at That Moment”

“The Greatest Rock’n’roll Band in the World at That Moment”

SMH bows down before “snake-hipped Kiwi axe gods,” The Datsuns. The concert review: “When the lights came up it had been barely 70 minutes since the first note and yet no one felt short-changed….

Let Them Eat Plate

Let Them Eat Plate

NZ company Potatopak, which produces edible fast-food packaging, plans to have its product on Australian shelves by 2004. The eco-friendly invention has been selling through organic shops and catering companies in NZ since 1999, and already…

It’s a Dirty Job, but Someone’s Got to Do It.

It’s a Dirty Job, but Someone’s Got to Do It.

SMH travel writer tours NZ in the lap of luxury, reviewing the likes of Huka Lodge, Okiato, Kauri Cliffs and Whare Kea. The verdict? “Lodges provide some of the country’s finest accommodation … They are…

Octopus’s Garden

Octopus’s Garden

Work by NZ artist Ani O’Neill is currently on show at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art as part of an exhibition exploring artistic interaction with the ocean, Liquid Sea, alongside Doug Aitken, Hiroshi…

Hart Food

Hart Food

Graeme Hart, edge entrepreneur and controlling stakeholder at Burns Philip, has completed his $2 billion takeover of Australian food group Goodman Fielder. Burns Philip is now a certified trans-Tasman superpower, with such iconic Aussie brands as Uncle…

Waking Up the Establishment

Waking Up the Establishment

Nancy Wake, NZ-born heroine of the WW2 resistance movement, interviewed in SMH, recovering after a heart attack in hospital. At 90 Wake has become an honoured permanent resident and “something of a tourist attraction” at the…

Songbird flees her cage

Songbird flees her cage

“I’m moving away from opera performance … I like to make a big occasion of it when I sing. I have performed in exotic and marvellous situations in Turkey and Korea, and in the…