NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

On Shortlist for Dream Win

Outrageous Fortune actor Tammy Davis’ short film Ebony Society has been picked as a semi-finalist for the first international Your Film Festival. The competition is described as a global hunt to find…

Connecting the Health System

General manager for planning and funding with Canterbury District Health Board Carolyn Gullery explains how the city’s healthcare workers responded so quickly and effectively to last year’s devastating earthquake. “The transition towards a more…

On From London to Rio

Despite pushing his body to breaking point for years five-times world rowing champion Mahe Drysdale cannot resist the lure of an Olympic gold medal. While Drysdale looks forward to the day he can eschew…

On the Slopes by Lunchtime

It’s possible to take an early flight from an eastern capital in Australia and be lining up at the lifts above Queenstown, by mid-afternoon, The Sydney Morning Herald’s online sports reporter Scott Spits explains….

Servilles Steals the Show

New Zealand-based Servilles came out on top at this year’s Schwarzkopf Professional Hair Expo Awards held in Sydney last week, taking away three of the event’s top prizes. Servilles won in each of…

Taking in the Majestic

“New Zealand is a country of breathtaking extremes and that is spectacularly evident in the central North Island where you’ll find the world famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing,” Australian reporter Greg Sweetnam writes. “Even before…

Selling it Natural

Award-winning nudist resort Katikati Naturist Park is for sale. Owners Kevin and Joan Sampson began the naturist resort in 1996, and it ended up being very successful. Each year, the property attracts…

Silence on Sunderland

“In days gone by, sleepy Clyde really made some noise, writes Caroline Gladstone for The Age. “Tuesday morning, 7 o’clock and the streets are pretty quiet. You could fire the proverbial cannon down Sunderland…

Designer Tramping with the Birds

“In the style stakes, there is no contest between hikers and pied oystercatchers in Abel Tasman National Park,” Melanie Ball writes for The Australian’s Vogue Living section. “For while the former splash through low-tide…

Savea Does Us Proud

The All Blacks trounced Ireland 42-10 at Eden Park in the first test since winning last year’s World Cup, with 21-year-old winger Julian Savea scoring three tries in his debut for New…

Drafted into the Major League

Auckland catcher Daniel Devonshire, 19, is “the talk of the Moose Jaw baseball community”, according to Saskatchewan local newspaper reporter Aaron Stuckel. “Devonshire is the third ever baseball player from New Zealand to be…

Startlingly Beautiful by Boat

An image of a local tour boat taken in the Milford Sounds, Fiordland National Park, is featured in the USA Today’s ‘Photo Friday’. “The whole park is part of the Te Wahi Pounamu UNESCO…

Flair on the Field

“If you are in search of a player that encapsulates a sense of flamboyancy, and something just a little out of the ordinary then, Sonny Bill Williams may just be your man,” Kate Rowan…

Prize for Elegance and Economy

Wellington author Emma Martin has won the £5,000 Commonwealth short story prize for Two Girls in a Boat, which chair of judges Bernardine Evaristo described as “gorgeous, elegant and spare”. The story was chosen,…

Experiencing Activism in Thames

Thames was the first stop in New Zealand for American Deborah Swift, author of The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia’s Convict Women. On a three-week book tour of the Antipodes, Swift writes…

Wellington Hosts Hobbit

The world premiere of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will take place at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre on 28 November two weeks ahead of the film’s release on 14 December. Based…

Breaking More Ice

New Zealand-based clothing company Icebreaker, makers of hand-picked merino wool adventure-wear will open a second Vancouver store in September. “Vancouverites have been such great supporters of Icebreaker, and we think the North…

Remarkable Command on Tough Track

New Zealand IndyCar champion 28-time winner Scott Dixon, 31, took top of the podium at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit. Dixon pulled away on lap 55 for his first win of…

Sharing in Canadian Energy

The Richard Chandler Corporation has announced acquisition of shares in Canadian energy company InterOil Corporation. The Richard Chandler Corporation is a private investment group based in Singapore and founded by New Zealand-born…

Samosas Fit For a Queen

New Zealand chef Anna Hansen, owner of London’s The Modern Pantry, was one of “six food-and-drink creatives” invited by The Independent “to dazzle ” with a commemorative Queen’s Diamond Jubilee offering….

Not for Children

Aucklander Chelsea Nikkel a.k.a. pianist and vocalist Princess Chelsea, is the Guardian’s recommended ‘New Band’ for 1 June. “Princess Chelsea is the solo project of Nikkel, a classically trained pianist and former…

Winning from Within

President of Gatorade New Zealander Sarah Robb O’Hagan is No 23 on Fast Company’s 2012 list of The 100 Most Creative People in Business. No Gatorade shower could extinguish the flaming mess Robb O’Hagan…

Solving the Jam

Auckland businesses have come out in favour of a surprising solution to finding the cash for mayor Len Brown’s $12bn transport improvements, Monocle correspondent Simon Farrell-Green explains: “A daily toll on the city’s motorway…

Making Small a Virtue

Chief executive officer of Air New Zealand Rob Fyfe, 51, talks to Monocle about the importance of national identity to the airline and staying competitive in the industry. “One of the goals we set…

Rising Star Enamours

Wellington-born singer Willy Moon “is quickly establishing himself as one of today’s more fascinating and engaging pop stars,” according to music, style and culture magazine DIY. “Ever since he burst on to…

Unsung Hero of Buchenwald

Napier-born Squadron Leader Phil Lamason, who has died aged 93, was the leader of a group of Allied airmen sent to Buchenwald concentration camp by the Gestapo. Lamason worked in the Hawkes Bay as…

Willis Readies for London

One of New Zealand’s “most revered track and field athletes”, Nick Willis, 29, will defend his Olympic silver medal in the men’s 1500m run at the 2012 Games in London. The London Olympics will…

Case of the Disappearing Stock

“One would never think that sheep could be an endangered animal, at least not in New Zealand,” Global E & C Solutions Marketing’s senior director Manju Bansal writes for Forbes. “Over the last few…

White Water Wins

New Zealand 2012 Olympic slalom kayaking team member Mike Dawson has taken first place in the Bud Light Lime Steep Creek Championships at this year’s Teva Mountain Games in Red Cliff, Colorado. Dawson, from…

All Black Across the Board

New Zealand Maori and the national men’s sevens team will be rebranded and known as the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks Sevens, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has said, with a change…

Harnessing Light in Venice

Port Chalmers-born sculptor, photographer and installation artist Bill Culbert will represent New Zealand at the 2013 Venice Biennale. The e-flux announcement for the appointment says that Culbert was born in 1935 and describes him…

Walking Amongst the Dead

South Island cemeteries intrigue visiting USA Today correspondent, Liz Lewis, who stops in at Collingwood cemetery and the idyllic Church of the Holy Innocents graveyard at Peel Forest. “New Zealand crime writer Ngaio Marsh…

Dress Them Like Children

New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor, Metro’s “go-to designer for pretty, feminine ensembles perfect for first dates, anniversaries and meet-the-parents moments, just launched a line for another important part of a woman’s life:…

In Memory and For the Future

Several hundred people attended the unveiling of a new memorial in Paekakariki to commemorate the lives of 10 American servicemen who died at the town’s beach when a landing craft capsized during training exercises…

Hall’s Racy Debut Feature

New Zealander Regan Hall is the director and producer of Fast Girls, a new film about the UK athletics team. Directing his first feature film, Hall was determined to find young actresses…

Whakapapa a Cool Destination

Skiing down the side of active volcano Mt Ruapehu, the Herald Sun’s Sarah Nicholson is “getting to know the Whakapapa ski area… and keeping an eye out for a puff of smoke…

Rethinking Early Education

An analysis of pupils in New Zealand has found that pupils kept out of formal schooling until the age of seven perform just as well as those subjected to normal lessons at five. Academics…

Sustainable Award for Cement Works

Golden Bay Cement has been recognised for its use of bioenergy to reduce CO2 emissions, winning the Renewable Energy category in the 2012 Energy Efficient and Conservation Authority (EECA) Awards. The company has cut CO2…

Half a Century of Wine Style

New Zealand wine pioneer Villa Maria Estate’s Sir George Fistonich is celebrating his 50th vintage in the New Zealand wine industry. Sir George says the enduring popularity of the screwcap closure and sauvignon blanc…

Taxing the Habit

Over the next four years, smokers in New Zealand will have to pay 40 per cent more for a packet of cigarettes after the government announced tobacco tax hikes in this year’s budget. Prices…

Shakier Isles Than First Thought

A study has found earthquake-prone New Zealand is even more unstable than previously thought, after Victoria University scientists discovered deep tremors lasting up to 30 minutes along the country’s biggest fault line, the Alpine…

Honey, It’s a Superfood

The nectar collected by honey bees that forage New Zealand’s manuka bushes, contains unique antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, stomach-healing, wound-repairing, and overall health-promoting properties that make it an amazing “superfood” worthy of…