Views Up-Front and Horse-Back
“There’s no finer way to experience the pristine New Zealand countryside than riding horses at Rangihau Ranch, in the Coromandel,” according to Lost at E Minor’s Zac in an article included in The Morning…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Immense Contribution to NZ
Opera singer, sports administrator and Southern Opera founder Chris Doig has died in Christchurch, aged 62. Former New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive and member of the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) board, Doig…
Enlisting Memories
Christchurch war historian Dr Frank Glen is searching for letters, documents and medals from the war fought by Bendigo volunteer soldiers between 1860 and 1872 across the Tasman against Maori tribesmen. Glen — who…
Unpretentious Infusions
“New Zealand has gone from a foodie backwater to a champion of fresh, unpretentious fare,” CNN reporter Simon Farrell-Green’s writes, suggesting that you “don’t miss out”. “Increasingly, the best places to eat in New…
Fear the Spud No More
Researchers at Otago University have found that potatoes may not be the fat-gain ogres that many dieticians claim and that when you eat these carbohydrates as part of a meal of meat and vegetables…
Making Music with Muppets
Former Flight of the Conchord Bret McKenzie, 35, has written four original songs for the soundtrack of the new Disney film The Muppets, which will be released on 21 November. McKenzie is also the…
Zimbabwe’s Miss September
Hamilton student Ashley Magumise, 19, has won the Miss September round in the ongoing Face of Zimbabwe competition and will go on to battle for the title in December against 11 other beauties. Magumise’s…
Swinging Over the Uprights
“You have to love a country that combines two of the greatest sports,” Universal Sports blogger Buzz McClain proclaims. “Rippon Vineyard and Winery is on Lake Wanaka in Central Otago; they make a gorgeous,…
Weepu Does us Proud
New Zealand has secured its place in the Rugby World Cup semifinals with a comfortable 33-10 victory over 2007 third-placed team Argentina at Auckland’s Eden Park, which was packed with a crowd of 57,912….
Rakiura Impressions
In 2002, 85 per cent of Stewart Island was designated as Rakiura National Park, named for the Maori word meaning “Land of the Glowing Skies.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Dennis Passa writes that sampling…
Flu Research Coup
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has won a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract awarded by the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study influenza in an effort to better…
Geothermal Goodness
“When I first see Shane Beattie engulfed in clouds of steam, sweat running in rivulets from beneath his white chef’s cap,” Wanda Hennig writes in an article for South Africa’s Independent Online, “he looks…
Another Kind of Edge
President of the Mongrel Mob’s Napier chapter Rex Timu is one of a number of gang leaders rejecting violence and urging members to embrace mainstream values. Speaking over a hot chocolate in the cafeteria…
Qualifying for English Squad
Dannevirke-born Rangi Chase, 25, has been named Super League’s Man of Steel as the competition’s best player, ahead of inclusion in England’s Four Nations train-on squad. The Castleford star has opted to qualify for…
Sprinting for World Cup Status
Top New Zealand road cyclist and seven-time Tour de France veteran Julian Dean, 36, will join new Australian team GreenEDGE for the 2012 season. “With the quality of the team named, I’m confident we’ll…
Swinging Up the Ranks
New Zealand’s Danny Lee, 21, the 2008 US Amateur champion, has won the WNB Golf Classic for his first second tier United States Nationwide Tour title, beating former Georgia star Harris English with a…
Sick Paddling Earns Gold
Rotorua paddler Sam Sutton, 23, is still the fastest extreme kayaker in the world, defending his title with a new course record of 55.84 seconds at the Adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World…
New Zealand a Travel Success
New Zealand has won five awards at the 18th World Travel Awards in the Australasia category, with Air New Zealand voted as the region’s ‘leading airline’ and Wellington International as ‘leading airport’….
Nothing of the Golden Girl
A pre-True Blood Anna Paquin stars in the recently-released Margaret as 17-year-old Lisa Cohen, a senior at an upper West Side private school. The New Yorker’s movie editor Richard Brody writes that Paquin “brings…
Mystical Oscar Entry
Samoan-language feature The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is New Zealand’s first-ever entry into the best foreign-language film category for the 84th Academy Awards. New Zealand Film Commission CEO Graeme Mason said: “The…
Tempting Players Back Home
“New Zealand’s incredible dominance of rugby league in recent years is paving the way for a second team to enter an expanded NRL competition,” Daily Telegraph sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield says. “Exactly 10…
Warriors Prepare for Battle
The Warriors have touched down in Sydney in preparation for Sunday’s NRL grand final having defied the odds to win against the Storm last weekend. Despite claims the team is favoured to win the…
Danger for Native Dolphins
New Zealand’s Hector’s dolphin population has fallen from 30,000 to around 7000 since nylon gillnets came into use in the 1970s while subspecies Maui’s dolphin is seriously threatened with numbers falling to fewer than…
Squared to Power of Awesome
Neil Finn’s “Kraut-inspired” Pajama Club recently performed a special set on Later With Jools Holland enlisting Ladyhawke on drums. Pajama Club also features Sharon Finn, Sean Donnelly and Alana Skyring. The band…
Handsome Encore
Christchurch-born baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes (right) performs with Australian David Hobson at the Perth Concert Hall on 29 October as part of their “encore” national tour. During a lunch where the conversation ranged from…
Provoking Perfumed Luck
Aucklander Isaac Sinclair is New Zealand’s sole perfumer and one of only 500 official perfumers worldwide. Sinclair, who grew up in Laingholm and Blockhouse Bay, trained in Milan and found his olfactory feet in…
Hawaiian Duet
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performed “a range of songs from the Baroque to Rachmaninoff, accompanied by friend and accompanist, Professor Terence Dennis” in a benefit concert for the Hawaii Opera Theatre in late September….
Whimsical Wannabe Snat
“Behind the tomfoolery, the chap who appears to have stumbled off the set of Withnail and I is making some of this year’s boldest music,” Guardian reviewer Dave Simpson writes about Connan Mockasin’s Manchester…
Caro to Direct Callas
Wellington-born film-director Niki Caro will assume writing and directorial duties for Callas, a film about the life of legendary opera star Maria Callas based on Alfonso Signorini’s book Too Proud, Too Fragile, according to…
Laminating in China
Auckland-based construction giant Fletcher Building Ltd has announced it is to build a new laminates plant in China through its Formica Group unit. Formica, which designs and manufactures laminates, would build its second China…
Restitution of History
France will return some 20 mummified heads of Maori warriors still held by its museums back to New Zealand at a ceremony in January. The restitution follows a four-year political struggle which ended in…
Eyeballing for Laughs
New Zealand award-winning comedian Sam Wills, 32, has drawn comparisons with Harpo Marx and Mr Bean, “though he is grungier and livelier than both” according to the Guardian’s Brian Logan who interviews Wills about…
Wondering About Kaitangata
Margaret Mahy’s Kaitangata Twitch is reviewed on the Guardian’s children’s book site, a site “by kids, for kids”. “The Kaitangata Twitch is an earthquake that happens regularly,” Bookworm 88 writes. “The island of Kaitangata…
Parallel Computing Hotbed
New Zealand could be a hub of expertise for parallel computing — “the future of computing” — according to software director at chip maker Intel James Reinders. Parallel computing is when software uses multicore…
Revelling in Rugby Fervour
“International commentators have revelled in New Zealand’s embracing of the , calling for the small nation to get a chance to host again — regardless of the financial drawbacks for the International…
Masterpiece Rereleased
Peter Jackson’s “masterpiece” Heavenly Creatures has been reissued on DVD and Blu-ray and is re-reviewed by the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw who says watching Jackson’s “masterly, formally daring, and superbly acted drama” was again, a…
Testing Theories of Existence
New Zealand and Australia are working together to build the most powerful radio telescope ever constructed, the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The international consortium behind the project — 67 organisations in 20…
Return of the Storm Petrel
DNA evidence has confirmed that the tiny New Zealand storm petrel bird, thought to be extinct for more than 150 years, is still alive, meaning its comeback eclipses that of other “extinct” birds like…
Milestone Made at Eden Park
“After being awarded a special commemorative cap for becoming the first man to reach 100 All Black caps, captain Richie McCaw told over 60,000 fans at Eden Park that now French demons have been…
Rather Unsettling Logic
“Twentysomething” New Zealand musician Connan Mockasin is on tour in the United Kingdom playing gigs in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Brighton. The Guardian includes London-based Mockasin in its website’s ‘This week in live…
More Presence than Santa
Warriors cult hero Manu Vatuvei averages more than 70m a game from inside his own half, providing the type of quick play-the-balls that ignite Warriors marches upfield. “ arguably the most powerful man…
Great Things Take Seasons
New Zealander Mark Burry is executive architect of the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona and part of a project that needs no completion date according to the Guardian’s Jonathan…
Soccer Challenges the Union
“You don’t have to follow rugby to know that the national team of New Zealand, the All Blacks, are the undisputed kings of this sport,” Wall Street Journal reporters Lucy Cramer and Jonathan Clegg…
Sharing the Medals
Linda Villumsen, cycling for New Zealand, earned silver in the elite women’s race against the clock at the 2011 UCI Road Championships in Copenhagen, while New Zealand cyclist James Oram won a silver medal…
Desert Diplomats Draw Closer
The New Zealand Embassy in Riyadh recently played host to a special meeting of 100 trade and investment leaders from the Saudi Arabian business community including New Zealand businessmen who live in the Kingdom….
Top of the Podium for Dixon
New Zealand speedster Scott Dixon driving for Ganassi Racing, has won the IndyCar Series’ Indy Japan 300 mile auto race at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi. And if there’s one word that describes Dixon…
On the Beach in Devonport
Auckland artist Kirsty Nixon is staging a solo exhibition of 15 iconic beach and coastal paintings at Devonport’s Art by the Sea Gallery from 8 October to 27 October. Nixon paints warm…
Rock ‘n’ Roll Running
Papakura-born athlete Kim Smith, has broken her personal US all-comers record winning the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in 67:10, seven weeks out from the ING New York City Marathon. “I knew I…
Lucerne Greens Up the Dry
Farmer of the Year Marlborough lamb and beef producer Doug Avery was a guest at the Queensland Agforce conference in September giving Australians tips on drought proofing their properties. The ABC’s Landline executive producer…
Notes For the Animals
Christchurch-born soprano Hayley Westenra, 24, talks to the Daily Mail’s Jon Wilde about hiring Victoria Beckham’s minder to deal with stalkers and reaching notes only animals can hear. “Certain animals will prick up their…
Baronial City Still Impressive
“A plan for was laid out on paper in Scotland and given the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Dun Eideann,” The Independent’s Adrian Mourby explains. “There were high hopes of this port settlement,…
Elevating Comfort Food
“In the global landscape of New York City dining, New Zealand is underrepresented,” The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Lancaster writes. “Chef Mark Simmons, best known for a stint on the fourth season of Top…
Comparing Notes in Casper
Aucklander Donna Thompson (right) has been writing to Wyoming woman Peg Scott since she was 12-years-old. The pen pals finally met 46 years later over breakfast at Sherrie’s Place in Casper, Wyoming. At school…
Sensitive Golfing
In the space of three weeks this winter, Cape Kidnappers Golf Course was honoured as the most environmentally sensitive golf course in New Zealand, and by GOLF Magazine as the 33rd ranked golf course…
Pass Mark Against Blossoms
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has given his team a pass mark following their 83-7 thrashing of Japan in the Rugby World Cup Pool A match on 16 September. Henry said the…
Seriously Shaken
“By the standards of global hipness, New Zealand – where local food is a way of life and you’re as likely to see a beard on a farmer as on a barista – has…
