Coping with Train Misery by James Nokise
There are many ways to cope with a rail journey from hell, Helen Pidd writes for The Guardian. When the New Zealand-born comedian James Nokise found himself on an 11-hour odyssey between London and…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Antarctic Explorers’ Logbook Found at MetService
“Priceless” artefacts linked to Antarctic explorers Ernest Shackleton and Captain Robert Falcon Scott have been unearthed in a surprise discovery within a dark storage room of New Zealand’s meteorological service, Eva Corlett reports for…
Wellington Library Book Returned after 118 years
A book has been returned to a Wellington library 118 years after it was checked out, Yahoo News Australia reports. The Earl of Derby by George Saintsbury was borrowed from the Newtown Library in…
Artist Scott Conrad Kelly Gets Some Rich Insights
London-based artist Scott Conrad Kelly, 29, first started documenting the kind of scribbles people left on the walls of public bathrooms in London in 2016, Raj Aditya Chaudhuri writes for Condé Nast Traveller. “I like…
Little Blue Penguins Stake Out Local Sushi Joint
When the police call saying there’s been an arrest at your business, it’s usually cause for concern, CNN correspondent Isabela Espadas Barros Leal writes. The owners of the Sushi Bi restaurant in Wellington, however,…
Calcutta Celebrates Hillary@100: “Tales Of Man On Mission”
A celebration of the life and work of Sir Edmund Hillary in Calcutta on Saturday “remembered him with stories and anecdotes of not only as the mountaineer who became the first to climb Mount…
Teen Charlie O’Brien Breaks Swinging World Record
After 32 hours, Taradale High School student Charlie O’Brien, 16, has broken the world record for longest non-stop marathon on a swing. O’Brien was allowed a five-minute break for every hour he swung, which he…
Even in Brogues Peter Messervy-Gross Completes Race
It would be hard enough completing a 160km ultra marathon across a frozen Mongolian lake with the proper equipment. New Zealander Peter Messervy-Gross, 47, performed the feat wearing his everyday fashion brogues. Messervy-Gross had spent…
Antarctic Tour Guide Tarn Pilkington Job Addictive
There is no doubt that Ernest Shackleton’s endeavours in 1916 – when he sailed a lifeboat 1287km across the southern Atlantic Ocean, crossed the remote frozen outcrop of South Georgia and returned to the…
Trekking N Korea with the Intrepid Roger Shepherd
Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, New Zealander Roger Shepherd who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea, is leading the first group…
Aucklanders Share SH1 with Family of Ducks
As a species, humans rarely take the time to exude kindness to each other, let alone our fellow inhabitants of this Earth. But motorists in Auckland recently provided a high-minded example of how to…
New Zealanders’ Epic Trips to Isle of Skye
New Zealander Dr Hannah Bulloch is in Scotland to research a book she is writing based on trips her grandfather made to the Isle of Skye. The BBC’s Annabel Maclennan caught up with Bulloch…
Photojournalist Susan Skinner New US Citizen
After many years of photographing the Carmichael Independence Day Parade in Sacramento, California, newly naturalised US citizen, Susan Maxwell Skinner will this year ride in its first division as Grand Marshal. “4 July has always…
Keith Dawson of Port Macquarie Turns 105
An effervescent Keith Dawson celebrated his 105th birthday on 24 May as he does each year: with family, friends and a tremendous smile. He will proudly tell you he is a New Zealander who…
Ivana Kostovich Wanders the World in Two
New Zealander Ivana Kostovich, 31, and Scottish fiancée Jamie Craig, 31, hope their adventures around the globe will inspire others to do the same. They’ve launched a blog called Wander…
Post Makes Its Way to the Farm up the Long Drive
A parcel sent to a couple in New Zealand addressed only with “a farm, situated up a long driveway with cows, opposite a pub or thereabouts” has reached its rightful owners, via the Cust…
Joyful Acquaintances Made over Message in a Bottle
Whangarei teenager Julien Joy, 15, could not believe his eyes when he received a letter in the post from a German woman reminding him of a distant memory. Luisa, who was walking along a…
Karl Rock Surprises Locals With Grasp of Hindi
Karl Rock, a New Zealander currently living in Delhi, has won many Indian hearts with his fluent Hindi, and in his video “Foreigner Surprising Indians with Hindi” specifically. On his website India Survival Guide, Rock…
New Zealand the Perfect Place to Shape Ed Hillary
“I ended up in boat-drunk summery Auckland because I wanted to figure out, 10 years after Sir Edmund Hillary’s death, how the first person to climb Mount Everest ever happened. I promise that is…
Ollie Dale Aims to Help Solve Earhart Mystery
Auckland filmmaker Ollie Dale is joining former US Navy intelligence officer Guy Noffsinger to investigate how Pan Am flight 229 inexplicably vanished over the Pacific in 1938 – and how the plane’s disappearance may…
Etihad’s Andrew Fisher Breaks Fastest Trip Record
New Zealander Andrew Fisher, 42, who works in Abu Dhabi as Etihad’s vice president of fleet planning, has broken the world record for flying around the world in the shortest time on scheduled commercial…
Roger Shepherd Shares Love for Korea’s Mountains
Roger Shepherd, 52, a former police officer from New Zealand who has lived in the rustic southern county Gurye near Mount Jiri since 2011, said Korean mountains have plenty of hidden delights. Shepherd, 52, is…
Harley Neville’s Wild Shave Gets Him on Ellen Show
Two years ago, Aucklander Harley Neville shaved off half the hair on his body and photographed the result for his followers on social media. The picture sat on the internet, gestating, clicks multiplying like…
Misfiled Piece of Brontë Brother’s Work Found in NZ
The first Brontë manuscript identified in New Zealand has been restored to its place in literary history thanks to university researchers. The fragment of Branwell Brontë’s work was misfiled as a letter in the…
Anna Wilding Recalls Time in The White House Press Corps
“Marine One had just landed on the South Lawn and Anna Wilding was standing 20 feet away among the press with her camera in hand, ready to capture the 44th president head back into…
Anniversary of Ed Hillary’s South Pole First
It was the first few days of 1958 and the two teams of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition were converging on the South Pole. Although it was not meant to be a race, New Zealand…
Waiheke Commute One of the More Unusual
Whether it’s skiing, snowboarding or skating, Guardian readers from around the world, who opt to take an alternative route to work, share their stories, including Aucklander James Scroggins who commutes daily from Waiheke Island…
Miriam and Peter Lancewood Living Off the Grid
For seven years, Dutch woman Miriam Lancewood and her New Zealand-born husband Peter have lived a nomadic life – she is the hunter and he is the cook. Five years into a nomadic life…
Dedicated Pen Pals Look Back over 70 Years
After thousands of air miles, reams of paper and a lifetime of stories, Oxfordshire woman Barbara Finch is marking seven decades of writing to her pen pal Elizabeth Martin, 84, (pictured) on the other…
New Zealand Getting Left off World Maps
“Last time you looked at a map, it very well could have been missing an entire country. Poor New Zealand,” Cassie Shortsleeve writes in a Condé Nast Traveler piece. “A sub-Reddit thread with more than…
Lois Salvisberg Honours Time in Migrant Centre
A New Zealander who had become a Swiss citizen, Lois Salvisberg perhaps wasn’t a typical new arrival to Australia’s Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre in 1969. “I didn’t mind it, we were used…
Will Paton in the Front Seat of New UK Trains
It’s hard to imagine being responsible for the safety of 1700 lives, but that’s what New Zealander Will Paton faces every day, when he steps into the high-tech cab of his train. Paton spends up…
Paul Cowan Sorts London Transport’s Lost Property
As many as 1200 items arrive at Transport for London’s lost property office on Baker Street each day, revealing what the city’s inhabitants value enough to recover – and what they’re happy to let…
Packing Guru Daan Dijkstra’s Top Travel Tips
New Zealander Daan Dijkstra who works as “pack master” at adventure shop Kathmandu says travellers constantly go over the luggage limit for no reason. He has revealed that countless travellers are constantly going over…
Tony Aidney Has a Growing Passion for Yoga
Three years ago, Aucklander Tony Aidney and his son went on a spiritual retreat to Peru. The retreat offered three free yoga classes as part of the package, and was the beginning of Aidney’s…
Greg Agnew Invited to Tea With the Queen
Los Angeles-based New Zealander Greg Agnew found a loophole that he says got him an invite to one of the most exclusive events in London – a garden party with the Queen, Prince Philip,…
Shoelace Specialist Ian Fieggen Knots The Secure
A new study explains why shoelaces keep coming undone – but it can’t explain why we’re stuck with a centuries-old fudge to fasten our trainers, according to the Guardian’s Gavin Hayes who talks to…
Arizona Snowmaking Help from Shaz Dagan
New Zealanders Shaz Dagan and her partner Easy Fergus have been heading up the snowmaking and grooming crew at Arizona’s Sunrise Park Resort this winter. Dagan started her career plans like many people – planning…
Laying His Mark on George Town Heritage Protection
Co-founder of the George Town Heritage Action Group New Zealander Mark Lay is so dedicated to heritage conservation in the Malaysian city that he walks everywhere with a camera in hand, taking pictures of…
Tui Wordley Still Making Waves at 80
Tutanekai “Tui” Wordley should be an inspiration to every surfer. Not because of the size of the waves he rides or the latest overseas trip he’s made, but because, at 80, he’s still out…
This is the Antrim Coast Road that Andrea Drove
For New Zealander Andrea Bald a recent journey along the Antrim Coast Road in Northern Ireland really was a momentous and breathtaking one as for the first time she got to see the road…
Stephen Moore Completes Singapore Bike Quest
A New Zealander who set out two years ago to pedal his bike on every Singapore road – save those where cycling is not allowed – has finally completed his quest. Stephen Moore, 49,…
Bali Dog Orphanage Volunteer loves Results
Ten years ago, New Zealander Alanah Dalton was holidaying in Ubud when a poster outside a shop front that said “I Love Bali Dogs” caught her eye. “I love animals, so I stopped in…
How to Tell a New Zealander from an Australian
“To New Zealanders and Australians, the differences between the two countries’ cultures, accents, and national characters are glaringly obvious,” according to Ella Morton, a correspondent for online travel guide Atlas Obscura.” “To the rest of…
Dunedin Skipper Hokkaido Tour Drawcard
Canal tours led by 35-year-old New Zealander Brad McIvor along the Otaru Canal are one of Hokkaido city’s most popular tourist attractions, according to the Japan Times. Of the seven skippers working for
Globetrotter John Bougen on Track for World Record
One of the world’s greatest globetrotters, Timaru-born John Bougen who was the founder of the Dress Mart chain, is closing in on the world record for the number of states visited by an individual…
Book Returned to Epsom Library 67 Years Late
A woman has brought back Myths and Legends of Maoriland by AW Reed to an Auckland library 67 years after it was due to be returned. The book was checked out by a girl in…
Welcome to World’s First Ever Pastafarian Wedding
The world’s first official Pastafarian wedding, held by The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and officiated by Martyn, the ministeroni, has taken place in Akaroa. “The groom, Toby Ricketts, vowed to always add salt…
NZ-Michigan Penpals Connected for 40 Years
Berwyn Arthur, 87, of Waimate and Wilma Christian, 91, of Michigan have been writing to each other for more than four decades and though the two women have been communicating since 1971, the international…
How to Ford a River
The New York Times asks retired firefighter, New Zealander George Spearing, who has crossed hundreds of rivers on solo wilderness treks, including a five-month, 4265km hike from the Mexican border to British Columbia and…
Singapore Events Exec Matt Bennett Takes Time Off
New Zealander Matt Bennett, 47, is the managing director of events company Magic Rock, which is organising Magners International Comedy Festival in Singapore. Bennett divides his time between Singapore and Bangkok. He talks to…
Charlie Smith Trades in Wedding for Dream Sail
Former ITV weather presenter and model New Zealander Charlie Smith, 27, and her fiancé, who goes by the name, Captain, 34, made the choice to sell their house and put their wedding plans on…
Kiwi Model Eats 22 Big Macs in One Hour
Kiwi model Nela Zisser “devoured 22 Big Macs in under an hour, which was she followed up by scarfing 100 gyoza dumplings in nine minutes, 31 seconds”, as reported in an article on Vice. “It’s just a good…
Real Life Castaway Tom Neale Never Lonely
“The phrase “sole survivor” evokes scenes of violent disaster — a plane crash; an explosion in a mine; the eruption of a volcano whose lava destroys a city and all its inhabitants but one,”…
Reminders of Home in Abu-Dhabi
Abu Dhabi-based journalist, New Zealander John Henzell, who writes for English-language newspaper the National, says one of the things that often unites the country’s massive expatriate population is a desire to be surrounded with…
Book Shop in Andhra Pradesh Eric Baigent’s Literary Gift
The man who played a vital role in making Prabodha Book Centre a part of Vijayawada’s urban culture was a friendly New Zealander named Eric Baigent, who came to the city in the Indian…
