Berkett settles in 
Neil Berkett is eight weeks into his role as chief executive at Virgin Media and already has battle scars. Actually, he explains in an interview with Sunday Times reporter Andrew Davidson, he just banged his head at home, and you wouldn't want to argue. Berkett, 52, is a scrapper who makes a virtue of pragmatism, like many rugby-loving New Zealanders. Medium height, with an economy of movement that underpins his occasional terseness, he has jumped enough sectors and continents to take whatever's coming. "My appointment coincides with a huge coming together of opportunities," says Berkett, keen to accentuate the positive. "We are the single organisation with the most powerful digital network in the UK." And right now, he says, he is where he wants to be - scarred, but involved. 
(4 May 2008)

Oram fit for Lords 
Palmerston North Black Caps all-rounder Jacob Oram, 29, has recovered from stress-related injury and is braced for the first Test against England at Lords on May 15. Oram's economy rate of 2.4 is the best among leading New Zealand bowlers of the past 20 years and superior to that of Sir Richard Hadlee. At 6ft 6in, Oram might be considered a stretch version of the limousine of fast bowlers. Oram says this Test series could be perceived as either daunting or an adventure. "It could be damned rocky but a year or two from now we might feel the benefits. New Zealand cricket tends to go up and down. We have some rough periods then hit a golden patch. Cricket remains very popular in our country and our domestic cricket is a lot more professional than it was," he says. 
(4 May 2008)

Outfoxing furniture 
The small town of Pokeno in Franklin district, Auckland is behind ex-Thompson Twin Alannah Currie's latest artistic foray, a display of surreal furniture on show at London's Ragged School. Under the moniker Miss Pokeno, the exhibition combines upholstery and taxidermy - that's armchairs and entwined foxes. Seeking the good life in New Zealand after years of making synth-pop in the UK, Currie explains her comeback as an "armchair activist": "I'm making chairs to confront ideas of what comfort is." 
(26 April 2008)

Hawaiian hunt 
New Zealand hunting specialist Prohunt has been hired by The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii to help stem the destruction of the island's native forest by marauding wild pigs and goats. Prohunt is conducting research and demonstration projects on Conservancy preserves and other private lands on Maui, Kauai and Molokai. TNC decided to work with Prohunt because according to spokesperson Evelyn Wight, "we do not know of a local company that has all of the tools needed to run a project of this magnitude." Prohunt was established in 1994 and have also been involved in pest eradication on Great Barrier Island, Lord Howe Island, in the Galapagos and on Cocos Island in Costa Rica. 
(April 2008)

Surfing rhapsody 
Raglan may be home to "one of the world's best left-hand surf breaks", but the town is also garnering international interest for its relaxed isolation and its arts scene. "Bohemian" Raglan writes the Lonely Planet, is "Perched on the rugged western edge of the North Island, on the road to nowhere." The article recommends Solscape, "Raglan's most spectacular accommodation", a gig at Aqua Velvet or in the town's renovated Victorian pub, the Harbour View Hotel and a visit to "funky" gallery, Jet Collective. "Raglan may be at the end of the road to nowhere, but I'm in no hurry to move on," concludes the author. 
(20 April 2008)

Peter Jackson step aside
Christchurch video production company Gorilla Pictures is making a zombie film "better than most indie stuff cranked out on the cheap" in the US, according to horror film aficionados Dread Central. Director Logan McMillan's film Last of the Living has just been picked up by LA-based Quantum Releasing for worldwide distribution later this year. Central says: "For a low budgeter, it sure as hell looks like a damn professional film." Last of the Living is about three boys making their way through a post-zombie apocalypse world, asked to become heroes by a girl who might know of a cure for the infection. Gorilla Pictures also produce music videos, promos and short films. 
(April 2008)

Beijing pact signed 
New Zealand is the world's first developed country to sign a free-trade deal with China. "It's a bit like getting the first date with the best-looking girl on the block," says Stuart Ferguson, chairman of the New Zealand-China Trade Association: in this case, ahead of suitors Australia, Norway and India. Dairy and timber exporters are expected to profit most, but manufacturers like white-goods maker Fisher & Paykel and fashion house Icebreaker also stand to gain from easier access to China's low-cost factories as well as to its fast-growing middle class. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao described the occasion as "a day of historical significance". 
(3 April 2008)

Moore to head charity 
Former prime minister and World Trade Organisation Director-General Mike Moore has been hired by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Moore will chair the Altimo Foundation, one of Fridman's charitable organisations associated with the telecom arm of the Alfa Group. The foundation will focus on fighting poverty in developing countries. Credited with restoring confidence in the multilateral trading system following the setback of the 3rd WTO Ministerial Conference held in Seattle in 1999, Moore is also author of a number of books including World without Walls, a reflection on his time at the WTO. Moore is widely regarded as one of the most powerful voices in the debate about the future of globalisation. 
(30 March 2008)

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 just-released chronicle of his career, and it's 'A Rock & Roll Romance'. Aside from the hint of a New Zealand accent in his voice, he looks like a pretty typical 40-something New Yorker writes the Observer. An emissary of New York to the world of indie rock for almost 20 years, Wareham said of his book: "I wanted to pull back the curtain, show the boredom, the pettiness, and the arguments." "It's the hardest thing I've ever done," he admitted. The latest issue of Men's Vogue features an excerpt from Black Postcards. 
(13 March 2008)

Twain's tramping track 
Motatapu Track, which cuts across a Central Otago high country property owned by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, has officially opened. The 28km track is part of Te Araroa/The Long Pathway - a walkway planned from Cape Reinga to Bluff. In 2004, Twain and her husband Robert Lange won approval to buy the 33-year lease to 24,700 hectares of rugged and scenic farmland on condition they created a tramping track, with huts and other facilities, crossing their land as part of a nationwide trail. 
(14 March 2008)

Alaskan war chant 
Taranaki basketball player Jeremiah Trueman, 19, has introduced New Zealand's haka to his Alaskan team, the UAA Seawolves, and the crowds love it. Trueman, a junior transfer to the Seawolves, said he was trying to tell them something about himself. "It kind of blew them away a little bit. I was pretty excited to do it," he said. The haka is now an integral part of the Seawolves' pregame ritual and reflects the team's international flavour. Trueman formerly played for the Nelson Giants and the Tall Blacks. 
(15 March 2008)

Peak inspiration 
In preparation for a race to the South Pole, adventurer Ben Fogle hits the South Island for some thrill-seeking training. "The country that staged the world's first commercial bungee jump has invented a whole world of extreme sports," Fogle writes. Inspired from helicopters, kayaks and whale-watching boats, his real challenge lies in the ascent of the 2,340m Double Cone, part of the Remarkables range. "At the final pinnacle, the cloud lifted and New Zealand revealed itself. Our peak was no Everest, but I felt exhilarated as I surveyed the view stretching before me. Maybe, just maybe, a little bit of its magic will have rubbed off on me and help me in my attempt to reach the South Pole later this year." 
(14 March 2008)

Tunnel museum opens 
During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able to hide 25,000 troops. The tunnellers named this dark, damp kingdom - rediscovered in 1990 - after home towns. From one huge quarry called Auckland, soldiers could march through to Wellington, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin. Canteens, chapels, power stations, a light railway and even a fully functioning hospital were all established below ground. A £3 million visitor centre and a lift have just been opened to the public. Head of Arras's archaeology department Alain Jacques said: "I could not understand why there was all this English writing on the pillars and signs to places such as Wellington," he said, still thrilled at the recollection of his discovery. "And then I worked out that these must be the tunnels of the Great War." 
(15 March 2008)

Promises reviewed 
Dunedin indie band Die! Die! Die! is currently touring Los Angeles and Austin, Texas to promote their latest album Promises, Promises released in the US in February. Die! Die! Die! may sound less like the Sex Pistols and more like Dookie-era Green Day according to the Santa-Fe Reporter, but at least they're not like the pseudo-punk bands that have "been tarnishing the radio for the last decade and a half." Popmatters says Promises "thrives on its own individual sense of confidence and youth, and the primitive sense of escapism that only loud, crashing rock music can bring." According to Popmatters you'll want to be amongst the fanbase. 
(5 March 2008)

Leap for frogkind 
Thirteen tiny, and extremely rare, Maud Island froglets have been spotted at Wellington's Karori Wildlife Sanctuary hitching a ride on the back of a fully grown male. Researcher Kerri Lukis said the frogs have never before been seen breeding, even on their home islands of Maud and Motuara in the Malborough Sounds. "It's wonderful timing for the 2008 International Year of the Frog," Lukis said. Maud Island frogs are one of four native New Zealand frogs, and unlike other frogs, they do not croak, live in water or have webbed feet. They also hatch from an egg as opposed to going through the tadpole stage. 
(3 March 2008)

Bursting into canzone 
New Zealand bass-baritone Paul Whelan stepped out of the audience and onto the stage to sing the part of Raimundo at a London Coliseum performance of Lucia di Lammermoor. Whelan, who is due to play the part in March, sang from the side of the stage while Clive Bayley stayed on to mime having lost his voice. Whelan made it to the stage before the second scene but did not have time to change into 19th Century costume. A spokesman for the English National Opera said: "It was an electric evening all round. There was such an enthusiastic response from the audience, and then when Paul stepped forward to take his bow, the house erupted." 
(19 February 2008)

Rhodes vies for Bianca 
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes performs in Rossini's Bianca e Fallierio at Washington D.C's Lisner Auditorium in April. Rhodes stars as Capellio, Fallierio's rival for the affections of Bianca. Rhodes won New Zealand's Lexus Song Quest in 1989 and studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His discography includes Faure's Requiem and Le naissance de Vénus, Handel's Messiah as well as the solo discs, Mozart Arias, The Voice and Vagabond. 
(13 February 2008)

New exec at Opera House
Sydney's most famous landmark is now presided over by New Zealander Richard Evans, who last month became chief executive at the Opera House. Among the challenges Evans will face, is raising some NZ$790 million for the ongoing renovation of the Sydney Opera House complex. Evans told The Dominion Post: "There is no question that it must be one of the more difficult jobs there is, but unless it was, I wouldn't want to do it." Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust Kim Williams said Evans has the right attributes for the role. "Richard has a strong entrepreneurial outlook with a good sense of humour ... qualities which are essential to managing an enterprise like the Sydney Opera House," Williams said. Evans was previously chief executive of the Australian Ballet.
(16 February 2008)

NZ studies awarded 
Dr Ian Conrich, director of New Zealand Studies at the University of London, is the 2008 New Zealander of the Year in the UK. Conrich received the accolade at an awards ceremony in London on Waitangi Day in recognition of his achievements establishing the Centre for New Zealand Studies last year. "Over the last decade New Zealand Studies has made significant strides in becoming a recognisable and serious discipline," he recently said. A highly respected New Zealand academic, Conrich has a particular interest in film, cultural studies and early forms of tourism. He has written extensively about New Zealand and is editor of the forthcoming book, Contemporary New Zealand Cinema. 
(9 February 2008)

NZ makes a dash 
Seachange is primed to be the first ever New Zealand-trained horse to race at Royal Ascot. She will contest the Group Two Windsor Forest Stakes over a mile in June, if she wins the $6.5 million Group One Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba in late March. Seachange won New Zealand's $250,000 Telegraph Handicap at Trentham this year, recording a cracking 1min 6.66sec, just outside the national record. "She usually takes four or five starts to find her best, so she'll be ready for Dubai and all going well, England," said trainer Ralph Manning. 
(4 February 2008)

Past meets present 
Financial Times writer Richard Evans finds Christchurch to be much more than a sleepy replica of an English village. "There is nothing backward about Christchurch, just a happy mix of today and yesterday with the past preserved by a strict eye for conservation," he writes. Evans recommends Canterbury Wine Tours, Hanmer Springs, Orana Wildlife Park, the Charlotte Jane Hotel and restaurants The Viaduct and Hay's to his London readers.
(26 January 2008)

Black Beauty tops rankings 
Team NZ has won its first A1 Grand Prix race on home soil in Taupo, and is now the overall series leader. Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid won the Sprint Race and finished fourth in the Feature, boosting NZ ahead of Switzerland and France on the points table. Reid, 27, described his Sprint win as the highlight of his career. "It's huge, absolutely huge. It's the greatest moment in my motorsport career," he said. The next leg in the A1GP series takes place at Eastern Creek, Australia, in two weeks. 
(20 January 2008)

Budding swim star 
Te Haumi Maxwell, 13, has been hailed as the "best male swimming prospect since Ian Thorpe" in the Australian press. Maxwell was born in NZ but raised in Australia, and is due to become an Australian citizen later this month. Maxwell won five gold medals and a bronze at the New South Wales state age championships in Sydney last week, with times that make him the fastest swimmer in the world for his age. "Thorpe is my idol but I want to swim like (US superstar) Michael Phelps," he said in the Melbourne Age. 
(20 January 2008)

Farewell to a literary legend
Hone Tuwhare, one of NZ's most distinguished and best-loved writers, has died in Dunedin aged 86. Tuwhare was the first Maori poet to be published in English (No Ordinary Sun, 1964) and one of the leading figures in the Maori cultural renaissance of the 1970s. Born in Kaikohe of Ngapuhi descent, Tuwhare spoke only Maori until the age of nine. He began writing in 1939, combining ancient Maori myth with contemporary political issues in a uniquely accessible style. Maori Party MP Hone Harawira said Hone Tuwhare was a writer who could "say what people really felt in their bones…You just have to look at his poetry to see his love of people and his deep sadness at the impacts of man on the world." Tuwhare won two Montana NZ Book Awards for poetry in 1998 and 2002, and was given honorary doctorates by the universities of Auckland and Otago. He was made NZ's second Te Mata Poet Laureate in 1999. 
(17 January 2008)

The world mourns our humble colossus 
Sir Edmund Hillary - adventurer, philanthropist and global icon - has died aged 88. The lanky beekeeper from Tuakau found international fame in 1953 as the first person to scale Mt Everest, together with his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay. "In the annals of great heroic exploits, the conquest of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund and Mr. Norgay ranks with the first trek to the South Pole by Roald Amundsen in 1911 and the first solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight by Charles A. Lindbergh in 1927," reads his New York Times obituary. Fame did not sit easily with Sir Ed. He preferred to be known for his philanthropic work rather than his high-profile adventures, and saw his greatest achievement as the founding of the Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Trust. Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala praised Hillary's lifelong devotion to Nepal in an official message of condolence: "The Government and people of Nepal shall always cherish the fond memories of his selfless devotion to the cause of development of the Everest region, his human qualities and courageous spirit as well as his contribution to make Nepal known to the world." NZ PM Helen Clark has announced a state funeral to honour the man she calls "the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived". "Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities," she said in her official statement. "In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only knocked off Everest but lived a life of determination, humility and generosity ... All New Zealanders will deeply mourn his passing." Click here to read Sir Edmund Hillary's NZ Edge Heroes biography, the most popular in our ongoing series. 
(11 January 2008)

Gourmands flock to Matakana
The New York Times heads to Matakana Village, a thriving boutique wine town an hour north of Auckland City. Matakana Village is a gourmand's delight, boasting an award-winning artisanal bakery, scores of boutique wineries, cafes and restaurants, and a popular weekend organic market. "[The market] is no dusty-radishes Birkenstock scene," assures NYT writer Debra Klein. "With uniform chalkboards, resort-style umbrellas and slickly packaged products, it's more like Dean & DeLuca in a country setting." Matakana Village is located in Auckland's Rodney District, the fastest growing region in the north island. 
(13 January 2008)

Master craftsman 
Leading children's book illustrator Graham Percy has died aged 69. Percy was born and grew up in Auckland, where he attended the Elam School of Art. After graduating, he won a scholarship to study graphics at the Royal College of Art in London. Percy went on to be a prolific and much admired illustrator, who was best known for the delightful images he created for children's books. Independent: "His craftsmanship - the later work was mostly done with coloured pencils - was perfect ... People, vehicles, chairs, houses and tables all give the feeling that they have been taken from a toy box and skilfully arranged." Percy's work can be seen in the Sam Pig stories for Faber and Faber, The Wind in the Willows for Pavilion Books, and the full-length animated film Hugo the Hippo. 
(10 January 2008)

Pacific perspective on disarmament
Christchurch anti-nuclear campaigner Kate Dewes is the first New Zealander to be appointed to the UN's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. "It is exciting," she said in a Christchurch Press interview. "It is a real honour and a huge responsibility. Issues from the Pacific often aren't raised in a forum like that." Dewes, 55, is the co-ordinator of the Peace Foundation Disarmament and Security Centre in Christchurch and a key player in the World Court Project, an international citizens' network fighting for nuclear disarmament. She will attend her first UN session in New York next month. 
(10 January 2008)

Portrait of a lady 
New Zealander Daisy Wilkie has been immortalised in oil for Australia's leading portrait prize. Australian artist Malcolm Smith chose Wilkie as his Archibald Prize subject after meeting her at one of the art classes he hosts in Cronulla, Sydney. Wilkie, 75, was born in NZ and is a descendant of Te Rauparaha. "I've always been terribly proud of my heritage; there is something spiritual that ties me to New Zealand," she says. The AU $35,000 Archibald Prize is Australia's most prestigious award for portraiture. This year's Archibald winner will be announced in March. 
(8 January 2008)

Gov-Gen reflects on changing nation 
NZ Governor-General Anand Satyanand gave an exclusive online interview to Indian TV station NDTV. In it, he discussed NZ's increasingly multicultural makeup, as well as his own Indian ancestry. "New Zealand, like all countries, continues to have disparities in race and other areas but my appointment is symbolic of this country's commitment to ending those disparities," he says. "Since the first New Zealand-born Governor-General was appointed in 1967, two Governors-General have been women (Dame Catherine Tizard and Dame Silvia Cartwright) and one has been Maori (Sir Paul Reeves) and their appointments in turn reflect other changes within New Zealand." Anand Satyanand succeeded Dame Silvia Cartwright as Governor-General in 2006.
(8 January 2008)

Beauty and the beast
Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid took on a Boeing 777 at Auckland International Airport this month, in a dramatic promotional stunt for January's A1 Grand Prix event in Taupo. The race car and the Air New Zealand jet won a race each on the tarmac, with Reid's car reaching speeds of nearly 300 km p/h. Race teams from 21 nations competed for the A1GP Taupo on January 20, with Reid's victories placing New Zealand at the top of the race table. 
(8 January 2008)

Tapping into Kazakhstani market 
A tiny Martinborough vineyard has become the first NZ winery to establish a presence in Central Asia. Alexander Vineyard, a family-run business headed by Michael Finucane, has added Kazakhstan to its growing list of export destinations, which includes Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States. Alexander Vineyard produces just 1000 cases of wine a year, most of which is sent overseas. It is testing the market in Kazakhstan with six cases of premium pinot noir. 
(7 January 2008)

Worthy splurges and brilliant bargains 
Two NZ luxury lodges feature in Tatler's annual hotel guide for 2008. Otahuna Lodge, Christchurch, and Matakauri Lodge, Queenstown, were named two of the world's 101 Best Hotels by the British society magazine. At the other end of the spectrum, three NZ establishments feature in The Guardian's top 50 hotels under £50 this month. "Flashpacker" hostel Base Auckland, Pukekohe bed and breakfast No.40 Carlton Gardens, and the ultra-modern Hotel SO in Christchurch all made the cut, alongside the best budget hotels from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas. 
(5 January 2008)

Hall takes out Huntsman
Paralympian ski racer Adam Hall has become the first New Zealander to win the United States' prestigious Huntsman Cup. The 20-year-old from Outram won seven gold medals in a row to claim the Cup, which is the culmination of the NorAm (North American) disabled alpine ski racing series. The 21st annual Huntsman Cup was hosted by the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. 
(8 January 2008)

Taranaki's silver surfer
Taranaki teenager Paige Hareb has stunned the international surfing world by reaching the final of the Billabong World Pro Junior in Sydney. Hareb, 17, finished in second place behind Australian favourite Sally Fitzgibbons, after knocking the South American, South African and US junior champions out of the competition. Hareb only gained entry to the prestigious event via a sponsor's wildcard. "I think I sneaked up on a few people but I have been working hard behind the scenes," she said in a post-event interview. "It's great to see my name up there, and the words 'New Zealand' after it."
(7 January 2008)

Arrondissement-on-the-Edge

Aquaflow ahead of the curve 
A Blenheim-based company could hold the key to the world's energy crisis, according to a recent Guardian article. Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation has patented a cleansing process known as bio-remediation that extracts biofuel from wild algae. "Wild algae is one of the ubiquitous units of nature," says Aquaflow partner Nick Gerritsen. "If you leave a bucket of water outside, the water will turn green as it is settled by wild algae. We realised very early that we needed to create a model that took advantage of wild algae feedstocks." Aquaflow describes its process as cheap, practical and accessible, and its end product as suitable for both domestic use and transport. The rest of the world is already catching on: Shell has announced a joint algae harvesting venture with HR Biopetroleum, the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative is seeking an algae-based biojet fuel, and an "algae summit" held in San Francisco last month drew more than 300 delegates. 
(9 January 2008)

Provocative prize-winner 
The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins by Auckland filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly has won an award at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Brettkelly's documentary tells the story of contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft's attempt to adopt Sudanese twins. Irena Dol won the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award for her work on the film, which has been widely praised by US critics. Variety: "Director Pietra Brettkelly's enigmatic rendering of the situation echoes incendiary questions raised in Beecroft's art and defies the commercial demands of documentary cinema ... [The] provocative result is not a straightforward artist's profile, political commentary or domestic drama, but a poetic fusion of the three." 
(21 January 2008)

Christchurch goes carbon neutral 
Christchurch International Airport has become the second airport in the world to be certified carbon neutral, after Sweden's LFV. According to chief executive Rene Bakx, the airport achieved carbon neutral status by reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by airport operations and offsetting any remaining through the purchase of carbon credits. "We don't want to be ruled out of consideration as a destination because it is seen as unsustainable to be here at all," said PM Helen Clark. "New Zealand as a country, and tourism as an industry, must go the extra mile to prove sustainability credentials." 
(24 January 2008)

Dazzling debut 
Liam Finn's solo debut, I'll Be Lightning, has received widespread praise in the US, where it was released this week. Paste magazine calls it "a dazzling solo debut" while The Wall Street Journal praises the "spare, melodic sound" that Finn has achieved by recording on an old-fashioned analogue tape. Finn, 24, is the eldest son of NZ music pioneer Neil Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House) and the front-man for Melbourne-based band Betchadupa. He begins a year-long US tour next month. 
(19 January 2008)

---

Campion on Frame 

New leathers for Lawless 
Lucy Lawless, has been both trawling the back streets of West Hollywood for replacement leather chaps and performing at the Carling Academy in Islington, London. The lesbian icon, just turned 40, talks to Time Out about Russell Crowe, 'cowboy' vs. 'rock 'n' roll', and those chaps. Lawless is also attending a London Xena Convention at the Hilton Metropole Hotel on Edgware Road. What happens at a convention? "We just yak. I never prepare anything - I just go along, answer the fans' questions, or do a silly little song," she replies. Lawless is currently filming an Adam Sandler comedy, Bedtime Stories in Los Angeles. 
(28 April 2008)

Singer performs on ice 
New Zealand singer/songwriter, Mihirangi has returned from a trip to Antarctica where she filmed a video for her latest single No War. "They put me on this iceberg all by myself!" she said. "It was this million-year-old iceberg, in the middle of nowhere. No one had ever stood on it before." The song No War was inspired by Mihirangi's desire to uncover the reasoning behind wars. "I'm Maori. I come from a warring people. We were warriors. I wanted to find out why humans are constantly going to war." Also a passionate environmentalist, Mihirangi is the Australian director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and is based in Melbourne. 
(3 May 2008)

Otago examines obesity 
A University of Otago study has found that obesity in women may worsen the impact of asthma and also mask its severity in standard tests. The findings were published in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. It's the first prospective study to find a significant comparative difference between obese and non-obese people in how the lungs and airways respond to a simulated asthma attack. Principal investigator at the University Dr Robin Taylor said among women with greater BMI, an asthma-like episode has the potential to cause greater breathing difficulties than in non-obese women. "Obese individuals lose the ability to inhale as deeply or exhale as fully as normal weight individuals," Taylor said. 
(1 May 2008)

Great spirit returns 
New Zealand's favourite wizard, Sir Ian McKellen will return to the country to reprise his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. McKellen had told Empire before he was cast that he was a very lucky actor and would certainly return to the role if asked. "Encouragingly, Peter and Fran Walsh told me they couldn't imagine The Hobbit without their original Gandalf," McKellen said. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Rings, has also been re-cast. 
(28 April 2008)

The highest of achievers 
Colin Murdoch, inventor, pharmacist and self-taught engineer, a man who designed something the world could not do without, has died in Timaru, aged 79. Murdoch led an extraordinary life; creator of the disposable syringe, he also invented the tranquiliser gun, the silent burglar alarm and the childproof bottle cap. Born in Christchurch in 1929 and an inventor not many years later, he successfully built a firearm at the age of ten. At 13, he saved a drowning man in the New Brighton estuary and was awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal. Working late at night at the kitchen table or in his workshop Murdoch was to patent 46 inventions. His most famous and influential invention for the well-being of humankind was the disposable syringe which he developed more than 50 years ago. Murdoch designed a range of pistols, rifles, syringe darts and velocity-controlling telescopic rifle sights, he travelled to Africa to field test them on herds of zebra and antelopes, supervised their commercial production at two Timaru factories, and marketed his equipment worldwide. Within a few years of its establishment in 1961, his company, Paxarms, was exporting products worth some $NZ2 million a year to veterinarians, zoos and hunters around the world. In 2000, Murdoch was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to inventing. In a recent television interview, he said: "I have no regrets and I am very pleased with what I have achieved." Who could deny him that? Colin Murdoch's story features on the nzedge New Zealand Heroes page. He generously contributed photographs, archive material and detailed commentary on his life and work. 
(5 May 2008)

From one village to another 
New Zealand journalist Thomas Butson began his career in copy at New Zealand's Truth, followed by positions at The Toronto Star and from 1968 at The New York Times. In 1992 Butson and his wife bought the ailing 59-year-old Greenwich Village paper The Villager and resumed publishing, saving it from vanishing from existence. In the next seven years, the Butsons transformed a moribund paper into a thriving community weekly, he as editor and Elizabeth as publisher. His New York Times obituary opines: "Butson brought journalistic ambition to a paper that had previously been more of a shopper." He also wrote the first English-language biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, which was published on the day Gorbachev assumed power in 1985. Butson died in Brooklyn, New York in 2000, aged 68. 
(30 April 2008)

Bond says it like it is 
Shane Bond, ex-Black Cap fast bowler and now in the money at the Indian Cricket League's Delhi Giants, says the decision to go to India is a "no brainer". Though he will double his income, Bond says the transfer is not only about finances. His first ICL game last month was "full on, with Russian dancers and Bollywood stars wandering around the grounds while the crowds [went] crazy." But Bond is too candid not to concede that playing for the Delhi Giants will never come close to matching the intense thrill of opening the bowling for New Zealand against Australia. "Test cricket is still the ultimate. Even going to a World Cup doesn't compare to getting the creams on for a Test because it's still the best form of cricket to play. That's why Test cricket will survive. There's too much tradition and modern Test cricket is still exciting to watch. But 50-over cricket will become redundant - it's too boring." 
(29 April 2008)

Maori role models 
New Zealand is a model for Canada in improving its relations with indigenous populations. By adopting lessons from the Maori experience, a report by the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy is urging a change in Canadian aboriginal policy. The report's researcher Joseph Quesnel found in a 10-year study of aboriginals from four countries, that Maori made the greatest gains, with better educational attainment and higher incomes. Here's the important point: "There was an understanding that any movement toward indigenous cultural and political self-determination had to be accompanied by economic self-reliance. They could not call themselves self-governing while receiving handouts and massive government transfers." 
(22 April 2008)

Island Calling at Festival 
New Zealand filmmaker Annie Goldson's An Island Calling, featured at the Canadian International Documentary Festival, explores Fiji's infamous 2001 murders of Red Cross boss John Scott and his partner. "The facts are known about the case. So it isn't an investigation," Goldson said. Her film instead goes behind events to reveal hidden contexts. The New Zealand Herald says Island Calling "is a complicated but clearly articulated story of the toll colonialism, homophobia, evangelical Christianity and the tension between indigenous Fijians, Indians and kai valagi (white Fijians) have taken and continue to take on life in the islands." Goldson's Punitive Damage and Georgie Girl have also been internationally acclaimed. 
(23 April 2008)

Thank goodness for spreadable
One of the greatest inventions of all time, according to the New Zealand Post, is New Zealand's spreadable butter, and the Telegraph's Bee Wilson agrees. "If it weren't for the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, I would still be condemned to start each day in a bad mood, struggling to spread lumps of fridge-cold butter on toast," Wilson writes. "Spreadable butter therefore feels like a gift from a benign providence. When it was launched in Britain in 1991 it was a hit, and is now so popular that butter sales are eating into margarine's profits." Spreadable butter was developed in New Zealand in the 1970s. 
(20 April 2008)

Worth the air miles 
New Zealand could be the most "luxurious destination of all" according to Canadian newspaper The Vancouver Sun in an article which promotes Rotorua's Treetops Lodge and Estate, Waiheke Island and Peter Gordon's Dine. "In the past few decades, New Zealand has quietly become a top-notch - if somewhat far-flung - destination for golfers, sailors, gourmets, wine lovers and spa goers. New Zealand is opening the world's eyes to a new sort of luxury, where the food is fine, the wine is flowing, the accommodation is blissfully comfortable and where there is all the time in the world to enjoy it all." 
(15 April 2008)

At large in Sydney 
New Zealand is well represented at this month's Australian Fashion Week with thirteen fashion designers joining together to create a formidable showroom line-up. These include Kate Sylvester, Cybele, Lonely Hearts and Stitch Ministry. Sylvester opted for a more unusual invitation this year, sending Australian editors small ceramic printed teacups. She returns to the runway with a solo show. Sylvester is winner of the recent NZI National SME Emerging Sustainable Business Awards and told the Dominion Post she is not a green campaigner who started the business to promote a cause. "What we are trying to do is bring sustainable practices on board as part of how we run our business." 
(12 April 2008)

Potentially Pinot 
Though Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc continues its global popularity - sales grew nearly 29 per cent last year - New Zealand winemakers seek a new viticulture challenge. This challenge is Pinot Noir. The winemakers' excitement about Pinot Noir is the converse of their boredom with Sauvignon Blanc. Careful control of yields, and not heavy growth, brings out the grape's best. Humans, not machines, have to harvest the delicate fruit. Oak, not stainless steel, helps the wine. However meanwhile, the US market still savours Marlborough's best: "Not a day goes by that someone doesn't order Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and interest and demand has remained consistent," says Ken Wagstaff, wine buyer and sommelier at San Francisco's Aqua restaurant.
(11 April 2008)

Sir Geoffrey's TV legacy
Celebrated New Zealand journalist and soldier Sir Geoffrey Cox has died in Britain, aged 97. As editor-in-chief of Britain's ITN from 1956 to 1968, Sir Geoffrey built the foundations of 50 years of popular news coverage and, in 1967, founded News at Ten, ITN's half-hour evening news bulletin. Born in Palmerston North and a student at Otago University, in 1932, after impressing the selection committee with his knowledge of pig-breeding, he won a Rhodes Scholarship. He then covered the Spanish Civil War, the Finnish-Russian conflict, the Anschluss and the German invasion of Belgium and France. A distinguished soldier in the New Zealand Army, while in Crete in 1941, as heavily armed German paratroopers rained down, the journalist in Second Lieutenant Cox was thrilled to be on to a great story. "My first reaction was 'I might be dead by tonight, but by God, I've seen the first airborne invasion in history'," he told NZPA in 2001. He was appointed MBE in 1945, CBE in 1959 and was knighted in 1966 for services to journalism. In 2000, Sir Geoffrey was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. 
(4 April 2008)

NZ's hottest beaches 
New Zealand's four most "sizzling" beaches feature in a Forbes Traveler's 'Sexy Beaches Downunder' slide show. These are: Piha, Hot Water Beach, Onetangi Bay, and Abel Tasman National Park, which receives a "'10' rating for beauty and natural sex appeal in New Zealand's smallest but perhaps most outstanding national park." Forbes says for New Zealanders, sex appeal is one of pure and basic unadulterated aesthetics, not of skimpy togs or a "froo-frooey" cocktail. "For much of the year the beach can be theirs - and theirs alone - for the entire day." 
(3 April 2008)

Aotearoa à la mode 
New Zealand lifestyle and design fills 15 pages in this month's Marie Claire Maison. The French publication's spread includes Outpost Hokianga (Rangi Kipa's Corian Tiki pictured), EON, Stevens Lawson, David Trubridge, Black Barn, Dilana Rugs, 42 Below, Gavin Chilcott, Air New Zealand, the Matakana Cinema, Aotearoa Lamour and artagent.co.nz. The article was based on an itinerary put together by Paris-based company Moaroom, who since 2004, has been collaborating with New Zealand artists, designers and entrepreneurs in Europe. In February this year, Moaroom also worked with windowdressers and stylists of the legendary Parisian department store Printemps to combine David Trubridge's most recent work with the latest fashion collections of Lanvin and Stella McCartney. 
(April 2008)

Sound system men 
Hamilton reggae group Katchafire are touring the US "spreading their Aotearoa Roots" to big crowds from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Hawaii, where the band headlines at the One Love Reggae Festival. Lead singer Logan Bell explains that even though New Zealand isn't traditionally considered a hotbed of reggae music, the country's homegrown variety has a deep and rich history. "There was a statistic I heard, that [New Zealanders] were the biggest buyers of Bob Marley records per capita in the world," Bell says. Katchafire was formed in 1997.
(26 March 2008)

Land this good 
Cape Kidnappers is not only home for thousands of gannets, Wall Street magnate Julian Robertson visits his properties on the scenic coastline every US winter. Robertson, who founded Tiger Management Corp, has recently purchased 6000-acres of land for a sheep and cattle ranch, and his second New Zealand luxury lodge. Over the past decade Robertson has built not one but two of the most highly regarded golf courses in the world in New Zealand. He first visited in 1978 searching for an exotic locale where people spoke English. Robertson found it and decided that, "If you've got land this good, you've got no excuse not to build a wonderful golf course." 
(28 March 2008)

Ancestral art in UK 
George Tamihana Nuku, renowned Maori carver and sculptor, is staging his first solo exhibition at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, UK. Nuku's exhibition ranges from large carved pieces to traditional Maori weapons, and intricate pieces of personal adornment and jewellery, including the only Maori Hei Tiki neck ornament made of Whitby jet. Film footage will also show the artist undergoing tattooing using traditional Polynesian methods. Nuku, who first visited Middlesbrough in 2006, said: "I am so excited to have the opportunity to display my work at the Museum and to provide a direct link between Cook and my ancestors who first met the great explorer nearly 240 years ago in New Zealand." The exhibition runs through June 1. (25 March 2008)

Sydney sees Red 
Established in 1953, the Royal New Zealand Ballet had humble beginnings, performing nationwide with a company of three and a pianist. Now 32-strong, and with an international reputation to boot, the RNZB perform Red in Sydney, a triple-bill of works by contemporary choreographers. Artistic director Gary Harris says in touring Australia, there is no point bringing classic works long familiar to audiences. The company has performed in Australia before, but Harris hopes to do a Sydney season every two years. "It's important for the general standard of the company to be compared and critiqued by outside eyes," he says. Later this year, the RNZB perform Romeo & Juliet, and in celebration of Sir Jon Trimmer's 50th year with the company, Don Quixote. 
(25 March 2008)

Feasts in factories 
New Zealander Margot Henderson, sought-after London gourmand and the other half of Arnold & Henderson catering, does not like to use the word 'simple' when describing their menus. "It's more like it has a sense of place," she says. At a recent Parisian soirée in a metal factory, 240 guests, including the French prime minister, sat down at long banquet tables while the cooks worked out of a makeshift kitchen. Dishes were served family-style from large bowls and platters; the entrée, veal shin on the bone, arrived with a knife sticking out of it. Arnold & Henderson has an impressive client list including Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs and Mulberry. Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson began the catering business in 1995 when they worked together at London's The French House Dining Room in Soho. They now run restaurant, Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch.
(23 March 2008)

Pacific mix 
Eleven-piece New Zealand band Te Vaka travelled to Macau where they enchanted the audience with the sound of the South Pacific, just as they have done at venues throughout the world for the past 11 years. Samoan-born, Tokelau-raised songwriter Opetaia Foai started the band in 1997. He saw music as the way of linking his culture with his new life in New Zealand. Band manager Julie Foai said the band is very proud of their Pacific heritage. "With a stage full of instruments from guitars and keyboards to more than five types of drums and a flute, Te Vaka has modernised the traditional South Pacific music while keeping with its roots," Foai said. Most recently, Te Vaka performed at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in Paris. 
(16 March 2008)

Maconie explains Stockhausen on war
Composer and musicologist New Zealand-born Robin Maconie writes about celebrated German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's controversial statement after September 9/11, in which he called the terrorist attacks "the greatest work of art" ever. Maconie writes: "Stockhausen's opinion deserves respect as the view of one who knows what war is about, has suffered and forgiven, and does not shrink from confronting the moral ambiguities of international conflict nor from recognizing that actions undertaken for a morally defensible cause can still inflict enormous cruelty on the innocent." Maconie joins American composer Morton Subotnick and Björk, in ultimately discussing Stockhausen's fame as an avant-garde composer of startlingly original and uncompromising music. The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross calls Maconie "Stockhausen's chief chronicler" and this article a "passionate defence". Robin Maconie is the author of Other Planets: The Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. 
(14 March 2008)

Massive robotics 
New Zealand software company Massive, famous for its on-screen swarms of pillaging orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently showcased new business potential in Hanover, Germany. This included engineering, architecture and robotics. Software used in The Rings enabled characters the ability to react to their surroundings based on sight, touch and hearing. When scaled into a crowd, the characters interacted with each other, creating a more realistic result. Massive now sees this software being used for safe-building design, disaster scenarios, traffic and municipal planning, and possibly for scientific research into the behaviour of species. Massive CEO Diane Holland said it is unclear how many markets the company's technology could serve. "If you can accurately simulate what we as human beings think and do, [the possibilities are] absolutely endless," she said. 
(9 March 2008)

Dale's no loony 
New Zealand actor and Ugly Betty star Alan Dale treads the West End boards in his debut appearance as King Arthur in the comedy Spamalot at London's Palace Theatre. Dale was born in Dunedin in 1947 and made his first major television appearance in the 1980s as Jim Robinson in Australian soap Neighbours. However he says his first big break was in the New Zealand series Radio Waves. "Lovingly ripped off" from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, his latest venture Spamalot tells the tale of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Dale says: "Apart from having a yearning for the West End, I've always had a passion for the Pythons - most people of my generation have and if they haven't, well all I can say is they've got no taste." Spamalot runs through September 2008.
(10 March 2008)

Promoting type 
Wellington designers get set, the first ever typography symposium TypeSHED11 is coming to the city's waterfront for five days in February next year. TypeSHED11 will host international experts and explore the notions and the voices of typography across the artistic disciplines. The symposium is a creative initiative of New Zealand-based designer and typographer Catherine Griffiths and Simone Wolf from Typevents (a consultancy to the international typo/graphic arts industry, based in Italy and the UK). Christchurch creative director of Strategy Guy Pask believes TypeSHED11 "will be a watershed event for New Zealand design." 
(10 March 2008)

Debut at the Met 
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes made news again this week with a number of glowing reviews for his first role at New York's Metropolitan Opera in Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes. The New York Times said in a "notable debut", Rhodes is "robust-voiced and swaggering as Ned Keene, the apothecary who peddles quack remedies to his neighbours." In The Washington Post Rhodes "has generated a lot of buzz for his good looks, but it was his full, healthy singing that stole the show. Indeed, he outsang Anthony Michaels-Moore," who played Balstrode. And in The New York Sun "Teddy Tahu Rhodes was smooth and rich. It will be good to hear him in larger roles. What a triple-decker name!" 
(1 March 2008)

Snell's still running 
Olympic champion and New Zealand's greatest athlete of the 20th century Peter Snell looks back over his 70 years and discusses, age, Auckland and Arthur Lydiard. Now based in Dallas and a distinguished sports scientist, Snell has researched a scientific basis for the revolutionary training methods devised half a century ago by Lydiard. "I wasn't from his suburb in Auckland, I ended up being there. I was attracted by the results he was getting," said Snell. He became the outstanding individual in the Lydiard stable. Today, his aim is to demonstrate personally that daily exercise can delay if not halt the ageing process and relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis. "I am also motivated by my own sort of mortality." 
(6 March 2008)

Windy farewell 
Paddy Gillooly owns a tourism company in New Zealand which takes visitors by jeep or all-terrain bus to the tip of the South Island's Farewell Spit, one of only two companies permitted the sandy, and windy trip. Some days it's like looking through a "curtain of sand" says Paddy. "Only a mechanic could do this job," he says. That's because his buses, which are continuously deluged by sand, salt water and mud, need constant care. Farewell Spit is a protected area and still growing and changing, mostly due to those strong winds. 
(4 March 2008)

Beyond the ugg
No longer are New Zealand's fashion tastes being derided for unbecoming tracksuits and shoes, the local fashion industry is pinning the country on the style map. New Zealand is now home to a vibrant and steadily expanding fashion industry, with some 50 established labels, up from a handful ten years ago, half of which sell abroad. The Economist cites Karen Walker, Trelise Cooper and Icebreaker as leading examples of the New Zealand fashion industry's value. The World Trade Organisation says clothes exports were worth NZ$315m ($216m) in the year to June 2007, up from NZ$194m a decade earlier. Trelise Cooper says because New Zealanders are geographically remote and have little exposure to mass labels, like Gucci and Gap, designers ignore the rules. "This produces a different, quite edgy style," Cooper says.
(28 February 2008)

NZ whaler doco 
The BBC is making a documentary about ex-Royal New Zealand Montague Whaler, the Essex which sunk in the South Pacific in 1819 whilst chasing an aggressive sperm whale. The Essex was twice rammed, the second blow knocking crew-members aboard the ship off their feet and fatally holing the ship below the waterline. Years later, the almost unbelievable story, including the surviving crew's attempt at reaching South America, was recounted to Herman Melville who used the true story as the basis for Moby Dick. 
(29 February 2008)

Finn unpacked 
Auckland artist Martin Ball's portrait of singer Neil Finn is up for Australia's most prestigous art award, the Archibald Prize. Ball won the Archibald Packing Room prize, selected annually by backroom staff at the NSW Art Gallery in Sydney. It is one of 700 entries for the Archibald Prize, which will be announced on March 7. The winning artist said he picked Neil Finn as a subject because "he has an interesting face, I like his music and he is an iconic figure in Australasia." Ball studied at the University of Auckland's School of Fine Arts and completed a Masters degree there in 2001. 
(28 February 2008)

Shadows at Pataka 
Porirua's Pataka Museum is building on ties with the American Haille Ford Museum in an exhibition of North American Indian prints called 'Crow's Shadows', put on in conjunction with Wellington's International Festival of the Arts. Curator of the exhibition, American Rebecca Dobkins first connected with indigenous people from New Zealand when she curated a Hallie Ford exhibition of Maori weaving in the 2005 Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread, which saw Maori weavers demonstrating at the museum. Pataka says they are expecting thousands of visitors for the exhibit, which offers the widest range of work by Native American artists seen in New Zealand for more than a decade. The show opened February 16 and runs through June 8. 
(24 February 2008)

Vintner role for Paikea 
New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, has begun filming The Vintner's Luck, based on Elizabeth Knox's novel of the same name and directed by Niki Caro. Castle-Hughes told the New Zealand Herald she was initially nervous playing her first adult role. "But now I'm really looking forward to it. It is going to be a challenge, but I love challenges," the 18-year-old said. She plays the vintner's wife, Céleste opposite Belgian actor Jeremie Renier. Best known for her role as Paikea in Caro's 2002 Whale Rider, Castle-Hughes was at the recent Berlin Film Festival promoting Australian comedy Hey Hey It's Esther Blueberger.
(19 February 2008)

Godwits fly 
Every year, godwits fly from Alaska to New Zealand in an astonishing six days. A Seattle-based husband and wife team have been following the migratory patterns of the tiny bird and write about their findings in The Christian Science Monitor. The couple write that the first people to discover New Zealand owed much to godwits. "One legend has it that ancestors of the Maori, who were living on a nearby barrier island at the time, observed the annual southward passage of what they called the kuaka. They thought, surely all those birds aren't just circling the earth. Their outriggers, set sail, and found New Zealand." 
(28 February 2008)

Written on the Edge 
Duncan Fallowell's latest travel book Going As far As I Can about a trip to New Zealand, is a candid account of three months spent in the country in 2004. And though many New Zealanders have complained of his honesty, this Guardian reviewer declares Fallowell's anti-travel book, charming and elegant. "His matter-of-fact encounters include fleeing a gay hotel, sex cellars and financial transactions. Fallowell is constantly ambushed by variations of Englishness, but the reiteration of being in God's own country conveys the opposite as well: insularity and void." The New Zealand Herald said the book "paints a scathing picture of the country." 
(9 February 2008)

Drawn on difference 
Preeminent documentary photographer Mark Adams is making his North American debut with the exhibition Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and Global Culture at Canada's Ontario College of Art & Design. The exhibition explores the Samoan tattooing tradition of tatau as an example of cross-cultural collaboration and cultural diversity. Gallery curator Charles Reeve says the "beguiling" photographs describe distant cultures while raising relevant issues in Canada. Adams' work has been shown extensively throughout New Zealand, Europe, Australia, South Africa and Brazil. His books include Land of Memories and Cook's Sites. The exhibition runs 15 February through May 18, 2008. 
(14 February 2008)

Tastebuds will travel 
Guardian reporter Emma Johns and friend spent a two-week culinary tour of New Zealand "exploring the local flavours before attempting to recreate them ourselves." From fine-dining in Wellington to cooking lamb fillet off a cliff in Arthur's Pass: "One great incentive to roam, on any New Zealand road trip, is the extraordinary proximity of its different landscapes. A few hours' drive can take you almost anywhere, from the coastline to the snowline; you can eat prawns for breakfast on the beach, lunch on farmed venison on the plains, and drink your sundowner atop a 3,000ft mountain." 
(10 February 2008)

Room in Europe 
Anne Noble, one of New Zealand's most respected photographers, began the European tour of her provocative exhibition Ruby's Room in Paris at The Musée du quai Branly in January. Part of the museum's inaugural visual arts biennale PHOTOQUAI, Ruby's Room is a series of large scale images which challenge conventional portraiture of childhood. Noble shot the series of digital prints of her daughter's mouth, and what Ruby does with it, as "an alternative archaeology of childhood". The museum describes the collection of 40 images as "deliberately disproportionate compared with the apparent banality of the subject ... highlighting details of the mouth in a rather unusual manner." 
(18 January 2008)

On top of the world 
New Zealand has been voted Top Country for the second year running in a UK-based travel magazine readers' poll. Almost 30,000 travellers voted in the annual Wanderlust poll, with New Zealand receiving a 96.8 percent satisfaction rating. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said that visitors come to New Zealand for a unique and authentic experience. "The fact that this award is based on visitor satisfaction is something our tourism industry can be very proud of," said Hickton. 
(1 February 2008)

Still steadfast 
Anti-apartheid activist New Zealander John Minto has turned down a nomination for an award proffered by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Minto organised protests against the Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand in 1981 when thousands responded to Minto's campaign by taking to the streets. In a letter to President Mbeki on his website, Minto declined nomination for the Companion of O R Tambo Award named after South African anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo. "When we protested and marched into police batons and barbed wire here in the struggle against apartheid, we were not fighting for a small black elite to become millionaires," Minto wrote in his letter to Mbeki, "We were fighting for a better South Africa for all its citizens." 
(28 January 2008)

Worldwide appeal 
NZ documentary Sand Dancer has clocked up more than 30 international film festival screenings since its 2006 release. Directed and produced by Valerie Reid, the 10-minute short showcases the work of Christchurch-based sand artist Peter Donnelly. Sand Dancer has been accepted for competition at festivals in Thailand, Taiwan, France, NZ, Australia, Tahiti and the US. It has won awards at the Golden Horse International Short Film Competition in Taipei, the Foursite Film Festival in Utah and the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Reid is currently working on a longer version of her documentary. 
(January 2008)

Golden bowling 
NZ has topped the medal table at this year's World Bowls Championship. The Black Jacks won four gold and two bronze medals at the event, which was held at Burnside Bowling Club in Christchurch from January 12-27. Gold medals were won by Peter Belliss and Rowan Brassey (men's pairs), Phil Skoglund, Morgan Moffat and Ian Dickison (men's triples), Jo Edwards and Val Smith (women's pairs), and Gary Lawson, Russell Meyer, Richard Girvan and Andrew Todd (men's fours). "Six medals, four of them gold - how big an achievement is that?" asked Jo Edwards in the NZ Herald. The combined effort by the NZ men saw them win the overall men's team prize, the Leonard Trophy, for the first time. 
(27 January 2008)

Chopped, but not out 
New Zealander Mark Simmons, 29, a sous chef at New York restaurant Public and until recently a contestant on popular reality show Top Chef, wants to open his own restaurant in the Big Apple serving antipodean cuisine. Simmons says he wants to introduce New York to more of New Zealand. "I definitely think there's room in New York for that," he said. "The produce and the protein that we have over there; it's from the purest, most pristine waters, and the greenest pastures." On Top Chef, Simmons had to contend with American-themed challenges. "Like a street party: we don't have street parties. And the tailgate - it was a first experience for me, but I had a great time on it. It was pretty awesome." 
(1 May 2008)

Weathering the storm
Rotorua-born and Ruatoria-raised political campaigner and artist Tame Iti has the leading role in a Europe-bound performance based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Iti will perform in Tempest II with the 15-member Mau Dance Company. The Dominion Post quoted choreographer Lemi Ponifasio as saying that Iti was a "really, really beautiful" performer. "His protest experience means he knows the audience and will be able to reach out and deliver. It gives him a platform to speak about what is happening in our own backyard and around the world." On his return from the four-week tour Iti takes up a position as host on an Auckland Maori radio station. 
(6 May 2008)

Reed races for US 
Palmerston North-born Matt Reed is 6-foot-5 and the world's tallest triathelete. Two weeks ago Reed, 32, won the US men's team trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and secured a place on the American Olympic team. "It was total exhilaration, a total dream," he says. Reed suffers from severe asthma, and after racing in Beijing in September 2007 doctors determined he had been using less than 50 per cent of his total lung capacity. However he says he never thinks about quitting. "Not once." Reed lives in Boulder, Colorado. His brother, Shane, also a triathelete, is to compete as part of the New Zealand Olympic contingent. 
(2 May 2008)

Lange's working class
Pioneering filmmaker New Zealander Darcy Lange's work screened in New York's Lehmann Maupin gallery as part of group show, You & Me, Sometimes... A "textured" and "cool" show according to The New York Times, "about something, but not", the exhibition is "a dance of history, politics, pop culture and conceptualism, where objects glance off one another without quite touching." Lange is renowned as one of the first artists to use the long take and his prevailing theme 'the worker' includes studies of British factories and coal mines. Lange also made early studies in New Zealand of the Waitara Freezing Works and sheep farming in Ruatoria.
(25 April 2008)

Trade relationship anniversary
In 1983, New Zealand and Australia signed the Closer Economic Relations trade pact, and this year, on the 25th anniversary of the agreement, chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission Tim Harcourt reflects on a first of its kind. Considered a model for dismantling trade barriers and harmonising regulations between two economies, New Zealand and Australia are now more economically dependent than ever before and in some ways operate as a single trans-Tasman market. Trade commissioner in Sydney for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Tim Green, says: "CER has effectively created a single regional domestic market five times the size of the NZ market by itself."
(25 April 2008)

From a common ancestor
Auckland Museum's "most ambitious" travelling exhibition Vaka Moana - Voyages of the Ancestors is currently at Taiwan's National Museum of Prehistory and the National Museum of Natural Science. University professor and editor of the exhibit's companion book, Kerry Howe says: "The human settlement of the Pacific islands is not just a Pacific story. It is also the final chapter in the story of human exploration and settlement of our planet. With the settlement of the Pacific islands, we reached the end of our habitable world." Vaka Moana - Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific won the history category of the 2007 NZ Montana Book Awards.
(25 April 2008)

Two hobbits of a kind 
Peter Jackson is joining forces with Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro to make the two back-to-back film adaptations of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. Jackson will co-produce the film with fellow director Fran Walsh. Del Toro, who directed Pan's Labyrinth and Hell Boy, said the appointment was a dream come true. "This is a great honour, and I am indeed blessed to become a part of the film-making community that Peter, Fran and their extraordinary team of collaborators have created in New Zealand," he said. Jackson's Wingnut and WETA production facilities will provide digital effects.
(25 April 2008)

Lucky Dagg at the Logies
Comedian and writer John Clarke, born in Palmerston North and famous for creating the "elegantly dressed" farmer Fred Dagg and his seven sons, all Trevors, will be inducted into the Australian Logies Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Melbourne on May 4. Clarke first became known in 1975 for portraying the laconic New Zealander, when he released the singles, 'Traditional Air'/'Unlabelled', and 'We Don't Know How Lucky We Are'/'Larry Loves Barry'. "I'm inclined to regard this as a youth encouragement award," Clarke said when informed of his win. "I'm deeply grateful and will do what I can." Clarke lives and performs in Australia. 
(21 April 2008)

Scaling the opera ladder 
New Zealand tenor Geoffrey Knight is a versatile individual, a former member of motorbike gang Highway 61, a stuntman, actor and deep sea trawlerman, Knight is currently performing Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta Utopia Limited with the Rockdale Opera in Australia. Knight said the next step is work with one of the professional Australian companies. "I'm the last person that thought I'd be doing this, but I love it," he said. Knight graduated from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art, where renowned international bass and visiting tutor Grant Dickson commented, "I believe you have the talent, intelligence, and the potential to be a highly sought after singer on the international stage." 
(21 April 2008)

WOWed by India 
Wellington's annual Montana Wearable Arts Awards continues to entice greater number of international participants to enter in the "ultimate arts competition". A recent preview of this year's competitors saw the final design entries from India which will participate in the 2008 extravaganza. In 2007, 12 Indian designs were showcased, with a number winning in their categories. Creator and director of World of Wearable Arts (WOW), Suzie Moncrieff says, "I can see that many fashion students in India are very talented and are ready to make their mark internationally." The Awards' nine two-hour shows will be held in September and October.
(19 April 2008)

Masterpieces in ink 
Ta moko is more than aesthetics, it is writes the Los Angeles Times, a solemn declaration of Maori identity and dignity. With a little ink, some stinging pain and a helping hand from the ancestors, modern master of ta moko, Mark Kopua can heal a wounded soul. The centuries-old designs turn the faces and bodies of women and men into testaments to their identity, and offer spiritual healing. "I learned very quickly that moko was therapy for people," Kopua said. "If you ail inside, and you get taken to a grandparent for advice, the elders are involved in your healing. This is very similar to that." Now members of the urban mainstream including Maori police officers, teachers, office workers and businesspeople, are shrugging off any fear of being stared at or shunned by colleagues and are going for full-glory moko. 
(15 April 2008)

Together at arms 
A new sculpture of a New Zealand digger will be unveiled on the Anzac Bridge in Sydney. The digger will stand guard on the other side of the road, opposite its Australian equivalent, thus completing the bridge's heroic Anzac spirit. Premier Morris Iemma said: "The Anzac story belongs to two nations, not just one. It is a precious inheritance shared by both sides of the Tasman." The newcomer will be the same size and in the same "rest on arms reverse" position as the Australian digger and will wear a traditional New Zealand uniform, with a "lemon-squeezer" hat.
(16 April 2008)