Christmas at Margot Henderson’s Place
In a festive story published by The Observer, Wellington-born chef Margot Henderson describes her Christmas, and the meal to celebrate on the day. “As a child in New Zealand, I found it so exciting to…
Tag Archives: Observer (The)
Catherine Chidgey’s Latest a Sly Thriller
New Zealander Catherine Chidgey’s latest novel, Pet, set in 1980s suburban, Catholic Wellington, moves to a dark denouement powered by lingering uncertainty, Hephzibah Anderson writes in a review of the book for The Observer. “Chidgey’s…
New Zealand Win Women’s Rugby World Cup
“This was the biggest game of women’s rugby ever played and, somehow, it exceeded even that lofty billing. New Zealand are the Rugby World Cup champions but only after a quite stunning contest that…
Country Queen Tami Neilson at Her Imperious Best
“She’s laden with every music award her adopted homeland New Zealand can muster, but the queen of Kiwi country deserves a wider audience,” The Observer’s Neil Spencer writes in a review…
Andrew Dominik’s Latest Nick Cave Doco Transcends
“In his 2016 film One More Time With Feeling, Dominik documented the creative process behind the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Skeleton Tree, a record forged in the wake…
Māori-Influenced Umurangi Generation Compelling
“Umurangi Generation is as much a game of hide-and-seek as of photography: just as much time is spent exploring the warren-like scenes in order to locate the next item in the brief,” The Observer’s…
Martin Gane Converts Victorian Pigsty
For a builder to have a penchant for Grandma’s 1950s dainty, flowery teacups is somewhat peculiar, but for New Zealander Martin Gane, an artisan builder, and his English wife, the interior designer Elle Kemp,…
Sam Neill Locked in the Kitchen
New Zealand actor Sam Neill talks to the UK’s Observer about shunning fame, putting his latest movie on hold, online cooking … and playing Radiohead’s Creep on the ukulele. Neill, star of Jurassic Park, The…
Antipodean Women Deliver Summer of Laughter to UK
This summer, an influx of female antipodean standup comedians, variety acts and sitcom stars are reshaping the way Britain views New Zealand and Australia. Observer arts and media correspondent Vanessa Thorpe reports. Tempting though it…
TV Host Clarke Gayford on Fatherhood
Less than a month away from the birth – which will make Jacinda Ardern the first serving head of government since Benazir Bhutto to have a baby – television host Clarke Gayford, 40, who…
Great Barrier Island Has Star Quality
The off-grid Great Barrier Island, 90km off the coast of Auckland, is a Dark Sky Sanctuary ideal for star gazing – and the views by day are heavenly too. The Observer’s Chris Hall looks…
New Zealand’s Glory From a Train Window
Thirty years after the TranzAlpine was launched, Observer journalist Susan Grossman boards one of the world’s most scenic trains in Christchurch, before completing her trip on the North Island’s Northern Explorer. “Completed in 1908, after…
Jane Campion on Inspiration Behind New TOTL Series
Fans of the critically acclaimed crime drama Top of the Lake will be eagerly awaiting its return at the end of this month – but writer New Zealand-born Jane Campion admits to the Observer…
Alluring Role for Paris Ballet’s Hannah O’Neill
Hannah O’Neill, 24, a New Zealander who joined the Paris Opéra Ballet company in 2011, is “a beguiling” Titania, Paul Jennings writes in an Observer review of the Opéra Bastille performance of A Midsummer…
How Chef Margot Henderson Cooked and Parented
New Zealand-born Margot Henderson is one of five professional cooks featured in the Guardian discussing how having kids changed their lives, in the kitchen and at home. Henderson, 52, co-owns Rochelle Canteen and catering company…
Dan Carter Helps French Club into Cup Final
Dan Carter has rebuilt himself again, helping French club Racing 92 to the Champions Cup final on 14 May and proving the pain of rehab is worth enduring for continued success, the Observer’s Eddie…
Kiwi Chef Matt Lambert’s Restaurant The Musket Room
Kiwi Chef Matt Lambert’s Restaurant The Musket Room – “a hidden gem” in Soho, New York, has been featured in The Observer’s Short List section. Matt Lambert, the founder and chef “has…
Rob Bryers and Beefy Blake on a Sporting Odyssey
Meet Aucklander Rob Bryers (pictured right) and Welshman Kieren “Beefy” Blake, two blokes crossing the globe to see a different sport for every day of the year, revelling in the Olympic Games as much…
Stephanie Liu Masks Pollution Beautifully
New Zealand-born designer Stephanie Liu’s Lumoscura smog mask, recently on show at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Fashion 4wrd exhibition, is combatting pollution “beautifully”, according to the Observer. Liu created the piece…
On Tiree at the Beach with Chef Margot Henderson
Chef owners of London’s Rochelle Canteen and St John New Zealander Margot Henderson and her husband Fergus talk with the Observer about their beach holidays on Hebridean island Tiree, a place for “recharging the…
Margot Henderson Picks Devilled Crabs for Final Meal
Renowned London chef, New Zealand-born Margot Henderson would take her last meal at a Pictish fort in the Inner Hebrides, “sitting on a pile of rocks overlooking the ocean, and surrounded by family, friends…
All Blacks Beat Scotland in Tough Challenge
The All Blacks have managed to continue one of the longer streaks in world sport, as Scotland failed for the 30th time to beat the world champions. But it was only just, in a…
Kiri Te Kanawa Warns Britain Killing Talent
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, one of the world’s greatest opera stars, has made an impassioned plea for Britain to stop blocking the flow of young singers into opera houses so that the top quality…
St. John Regular Sam Neill Bemoans the French Wine List
Actor Sam Neill has been frequenting London’s St. John restaurant for nearly 20 years, and while he’s obsessed with the place his greatest passion is reserved for New Zealand vineyards. “Neill is an oenophile and…
Revisiting Jane Campion’s Haunting Classic The Piano
The New Zealand-born director Jane Campion won the 1986 short film Palme d’Or at Cannes with her nine-minute Peel, shared the Palme d’Or for The Piano (with Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine) in 1993,…
Effortless New Zealand Electro Making Waves
Electro-pop duo Broods, comprised of brother and sister Georgia and Caleb Nott, have helped draw the eyes of the music industry to a country that had only rarely troubled the international charts, Laura Barnett…
Travelling the Inked Map of Her Father’s Life
A coloured butterfly, a pseudo-celtic armband, a giant spiral: the tattoos on New Zealander Nell Frizzell’s father are an inky historical record of his lifetime’s journey through continents, relationships, families, marriages and deaths. Ahead…
Gatland Rang His Chances and Triumphed
Hamilton-born Warren Gatland “turned a Lions travesty into a triumph” with the team’s 41-16 win over Australia in the third and deciding match, the Lion’s first Test series victory in 16 years. “Only a…
Words of Praise for Lions Coach
World Cup-winning former All Blacks skipper Graham Henry believes New Zealander Warren Gatland, 49, is the perfect choice as Lions coach. “Warren is an outstanding coach with a wealth of experience,’ says Henry,…
Shrewd Choice for Poland Cook It Raw
New Zealand chef Ben Shewry is one of a selection of the “world’s finest chefs” to recall their experience of a Cook it Raw event for a recent Observer article. Shewry, who owns…
Willie Moon Shows ‘Wit’ and ‘Invention’ on Debut Album
Kiwi 50’s revivalist singer Willie Moon’s debut album, Here’s Willy Moon, shows ‘wit’ and ‘invention’, according to The Observer. Described by the same paper in 2011 as ‘one to watch’, Moon combines ‘rootsy rock…
Neilson Gets ‘Better and Better’
New Zealander Ruban Neilson’s playing and song writing just gets ‘better and better’, according to The Observer. Reviewing his group’s latest CD. Unknown Mortal Orchestra II, The Observer’s Kitty Empire praises the bands songs…
Crooning Retro Sass
Wellington-born 21-year-old Willy Moon is “dressed up to the nines in a black wool coat, white suit, pale blue shirt and tie, hair greased and parted with precision — the spitting image of a…
Grass and Seeds
Wellington reggae-soul group The Black Seeds played at the Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass at Woodford in Queensland on 29 July; keyboardist Nigel Patterson was interviewed ahead of the gig by the…
Saving grace
New Zealand-raised cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh is praised for his work on the Mira Nair-directed film Amelia, about pioneering American aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The Observer’s Philip French writes that the film is “beautifully photographed” by…
Tourist Bucket List
The six best things to do in New Zealand are, according to The Observer: attending Gisborne’s Rhythm and Vines Festival for New Year’s Eve; walking the four-day Hillary Trail; staying the night at Franz…
Symbol of Renewal
“If you believe clouds have silver linings, Napier’s is surely rimmed with neon and chrome, the shiny new materials of the art-deco age,” describes the The Observer’s Nigel Tisdall. “For this was an earthquake…
In London cinemas
Duncan Sarkies’ 2006 movie Out of the Blue – a dramatic reconstruction of the 1990 Aramoana massacre – is showing in London this week and continues to receive favourable reviews. The Guardian…
Off-Stage Antics
Wellington-born musician and “New York Rock God” Dean Wareham formed the band Luna in 1992 and later, together with his second wife Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta. Black Postcards is Wareham’s…
A Diamond in the Rough
A little-known NZ rugby book has received critical acclaim in the UK. Inside French Rugby: Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary offers an insight into author John Daniell’s experiences as a professional player, and is described…
The Future of Transport
Transport Communications, a new book by two NZ professors, predicts an end to congestion, terrorist threats and increasing fuel prices through the widespread adoption of nanotechnologies and satellite communications over the next 50 years. Authors Chris Kissling…
Highland Habitat Reborn
NZ-born wildlife expert Hugh Fullerton Smith is working at the forefront of British eco-tourism as general manager of Alladale Estate. The 23,000 acre Highland property, owned by Scottish millionaire philanthropist Paul Lister, is soon to become Britain’s…
Altitude with Attitude
Whare Kea Lodge – the “ultimate mountain hut” – featured in the Observer’s dream travel series. The luxury lodge is located at 5,600ft in the South Island’s Buchanan mountain range. Observer: “A mountain hut that mixes altitude…
The Great Indoors
Waikato University’s “maverick oceanographer” Professor Kerry Black is one step closer to making surfing an indoor spectator sport with the launch of Versareef in Orlando, Florida. While several pools around the world already feature modest artificial wave…
Beautiful on the Inside Too
Novelist Emily Perkins points out the lesser-known urban pleasures to be found in her NZ homeland in a travel feature for the Observer. It is the latest in a line of “yes, but…” travel features on NZ,…
Kiwi Thesps Impress
Sam Neill charmed the British film press while promoting his latest UK release, Little Fish. Guardian: “In the Q&A session that followed , his performance as Sam Neill was as compelling as…
JK on Growing the Game
The Observer talks to All Black legend John Kirwan about his globetrotting ways and aspirations to coach in the UK. “Kirwan was a travelling rugby player long before it became the fashion it is today ……
End of One Era, Beginning of Another
All Black captain Tana Umaga has officially retired from the game aged 34, with a stellar career behind him. “Already he has been admitted by his countrymen into the exclusive band of great NZ captains, along…
Four stars for Fat Freddy
Wellington groovers Fat Freddy’s Drop recently mounted a highly successful European tour. The Observer‘s glowing review of their new album, Based on a True Story, proves the broad appeal of their distinctly Kiwi sound….
Simple is Best
The British government is officially considering modeling its pension system on NZ’s current superannuation scheme, which is described in the Guardian as “a model of elegant simplicity compared with Britain’s multi-layered mixture of private and state provision, means…
From Wilderness to Café Culture
NZ features in a Lonely Planet dream itinerary compiled exclusively for the Observer. “NZ’s wild side is wonderful, especially the South Island’s rugged west coast, but it’s great to return to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch where cafe…
Godley’s Own Country
Godley Lake, NZ, features amongst the Observer‘s crème de la crème of international ski touring routes. “Described as a ‘Symphony on Skis’, this tour involves a traverse of the Southern Alps from east to west via some…
Memorable Moves
The Royal NZ Ballet’s performance of Javier Frutos’ Milagros made the Observer‘s top ten dance moments of 2004. The piece toured the UK in May as part of an RNZB triple bill.
Top 40 Hit
Cairnbrae ‘The Stones’ Sauvignon Blanc 2003 made Decanter‘s list of top 40 wines under $10, following a rigorous blind tasting of more than 2,000 offerings. Observer critic Tim Atkin describes the silver medal winner as “lemon,…
Top Spot
Martinborough Hotel features on the Observer‘s list of top retreats for wine lovers. “If you’re looking for a nice drop of Kiwi class, character and convenience, this is just the job … The bistro serves excellent…
No vanity project
Observer reviews Other Ways of Speaking, the latest offering from Russell Crowe’s band Twenty Odd Foot of Grunts, and is pleasantly surprised. “hat should be an easy target and, on the face of it,…
