Iconic Mountain Bike Race The Pioneer Set for Alps
A new mountain bike race, The Pioneer, is set to hit the rugged trails of the Southern Alps from 31 January through 6 February 2016. The race will string together established bike trails with…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Sir Edmund Hillary’s Name Taken to New Heights
A newly discovered mountain range on Pluto has been named Hillary Montes in homage to New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, half of the pair who first climbed Mount Everest in 1953. Tenzing Norgay, his…
Finnian Galbraith’s Hit Te Reo Pronunciation Video
Raumati College pupil Finnian Galbraith’s YouTube video complaining about poor pronunciation of Maori words has proved a hit online, with more than 160,386 views. Galbraith, 15, says in his YouTube video that many people in…
Sileni Estates Winery Finds Ripe Market in US
Nigel Avery, CEO of Sileni Estates USA, and a former member of New Zealand’s Olympic weightlifting team, has moved his family to Minnesota while he works to expand sales and learn the US market…
Jono Williams Invents the Ultimate Man Cave
Plastics engineer and inventor Jono Williams has built possibly the world’s most coveted man cave in Linton. After shooting the breeze one night with his mate Grant Ramsay, a mechatronics engineer, Williams committed to building…
Darren Pene Pati Wins at Operalia 2015
New Zealander Darren Pene Pati, “the one with the special tenor voice”, took second prize and the audience prize for male singer at this year’s Operalia, The World’s Opera Competition, held in London. According to…
McCaw Magic Seals All Blacks Win at Ellis Park
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw grabbed a late winning try to lift the All Blacks to a dramatic 27-20 win over South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The home side led for most of…
Seb Chan Is Digitally Revitilising Museums
New Zealand-born Seb Chan, lauded for his leading role in transforming the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York with a human-centred digital renewal, has been appointed chief eXperience officer (CXO) at the…
New Zealand Seventh Most Respected Country
New Zealand has been ranked as the seventh most respected country in the 2015 RepTrak Survey conducted by the Reputation Institute, which examines how countries are perceived across the globe. 55 nations were…
The Good Dinosaur Trailer Released – Voice Over Cast Includes Anna Paquin
The official trailer for The Good Dinosaur has been released and is starring New Zealander Anna Paquin as part of the voice-over cast. “At first glance it might look like ground similarly tread by another…
Six Picturesque Places in New Zealand You Must Visit
The Indian Express has featured six breathtaking places in New Zealand “you will absolutely love (…) if you are a nature lover”. 1. Sutherland Falls – New Zealand’s largest waterfall in Milford Sound 2. The Kepler…
New Zealander Wins French Scrabble Championship Despite Not Speaking French
New Zealander Nigel Richards has won the French Scrabble championships even though “his command of the language (…) stretches to “bonjour” and being able to count”. Richards, who has been called the Tiger Woods of…
New Zealand Girl Plays Piano While Sleepwalking
“Some people are so good at musical instruments they purport to be able to play it in their sleep. Yet for this one girl, it’s a reality”, writes Vin Shahrestani for The Telegraph. A video…
Lucy Lawless – “Xena Reboot a Rumour”
“Twenty years after it first premiered as a Hercules spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess could be returning to television”, writes Lesley Goldberg for The Hollywood Reporter. Over the last few weeks rumours have been heard that the beloved…
New Zealand Attractions Named in the 2015 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards
A number of New Zealand attractions including the amusement parks Splash Planet and Rainbow’s End have been recognised in the TripAdvisor 2015 Travelers’ Choice Awards. Hawke’s Bay’s water park Splash Planet has been…
Kate Newby, artist, debuts in New York
New York-based Aucklander Kate Newby debuts at the Laurel Gitlen Gallery in the Lower East Side with a show ‘I memorized it I loved it so much’, with a laudatory review in…
In Defense of the Soccer Mom’s Favorite Wine
Reliable, inexpensive New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is the go-to wine for many Americans. Is it worthy? And are some even better than just upscale Pinot Grigio? Lettie Teague, wine columnist for The…
New Book Spotlights Home of the British Army-Kiwi WWI Connection
Aldershot in the Great War: The Home of the British Army, part of the Your Towns & Cities in the Great War series published by Pen and Sword Military, is the first…
Flautist Marya Martin heads Bridgehampton Festival
Internationally acclaimed flutist Marya Martin heads the 26st season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival on New York’s Long Island with an 12-concert program featuring works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert….
Warren Gatland Steers Wales into World Cup Ready
With a near perfect World Cup training trip to Switzerland in the bank, Wales coach Warren Gatland has steered his squad into a very good place, according to Wales Online rugby editor Delme Parfitt. “If…
Cutthroat role for Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Sweeney
Operatic baritone New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes has the lead role as the infamous barber in Victorian Opera’s take on Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s bloodiest musical. Rhodes, playing Sweeney for the first time, hasn’t watched…
Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist
New Zealand street artist Owen Dippie is making a name for himself in Brooklyn, New York with “show-stopping” murals. It takes a true intuitive sense and careful execution to produce a mashup or remix, and…
Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”
Ohura is a tiny town with a population of just 120 people where there is next to no power, internet, or jobs – where time almost stands still. Photographer Tony Carter spent one year…
Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa
New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery joined forces with the Royal Samoa Police Band, who were in Sydney playing outside the Pacific Islands for the first time, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end…
Flight of the Conchords Role Models for Success
Flight of the Conchords stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are California-born stand-up comedian Arj Barker’s role models, he tells the Guardian. Barker, who is best known for his role as pawnshop owner Dave in…
Lujo’s Free-Standing Hammock a Visual Masterpiece
A free-standing hammock designed by New Zealand-based company Lujo features in the Dallas Morning News Home & Gardening section. Lujo, which designs and manufactures top-of-the-line lounge furniture, describes its free-standing hammock as “a functional sculpture…
New Zealand Biker Jed Mildon Lands World First BMX Quadruple Backflip
New Zealand professional BMX biker Jed Mildon, 28, has landed the world’s first quadruple backflip after four years of planning for the incredible feat. Riding a 20-foot box jump, Mildon scored his second world first…
All Blacks Dominate Argentina in Christchurch
Captain Richie McCaw scored a try and stand-off Dan Carter kicked 14 points in their last home Test at AMI Stadium in Christchurch as the All Blacks beat Argentina 39-18 in the opening match…
Diplomatic Businessman Sir John Buchanan
Sir John Buchanan, who has died aged 72, was an Auckland-born scientist who rose to be finance director at BP before taking on prominent non-executive board roles in sectors ranging from mining, most recently…
New Face of International Music Conducting
Gemma New, the 28-year-old native New Zealander violinist who became a professional conductor while still in her teens, has been named the music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s in…
World Economy Model Inspires NZ artist Michael Stevenson in New York exhibit
A hydro-mechanical computer that models world economic flows, invented in 1949 by New Zealander Bill Phillips, is the inspiration for artist Michael Stevenson’s installation at Long Island City’s SculptureCenter in…
Karl Urban Nominates Kids Can as Part of Star Trek Beyond’s Global Omaze Campaign
Karl Urban has nominated the New Zealand charity Kids Can as one of the nine global causes chosen by the cast of Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond as part of the Star Trek: To Boldly…
Ash Vs. Evil Dead Trailer Released at Comic Con
The first Ash vs. Evil Dead trailer has been screened at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. “If anyone was on the fence about bringing the cult classic horror tale to the small screen, this trailer…
New Zealand Stars Feature in Powerful ‘Force of Black’ Rugby World Cup Advert
New Zealand’s All Blacks players unleash their inner animals in the new powerful World Cup advert by shirt sponsors Adidas. “It’s inside us. Beating in our heart, pumping through our veins. It strengthens every sense….
Everest to Open the Venice Film Festival
“Everest, a new movie about the two rival missions up the mountain in 1996, has been chosen as the opening night film of this year’s Venice film festival – a spot which has recently proved…
Clear Skies Ahead for Cloudy Bay
Cloudy Bay, the New Zealand winery that has “become the flag-bearer for New World wines,” is celebrated in the June issue of Air France Magazine. The winery, established in 1985…
Legacy of Visionary Entrepreneur Catalyzes NY’s Park Avenue Armory
The family of Wade Thompson, the Wellington, New Zealand native who revitalized the US recreational vehicle industry in the 1980s, has gifted New York City’s Park Avenue Armory with an historic $65…
Annette Tanner on a Unique Broadway Mission
New Zealander Annette Tanner, executive director of Atlanta-based non-profit organisation Broadway Dreams Foundation, is one of a “handful of remarkable women who are making their mark on educational theatre” in the United States, the…
Massey University Professor Chris Galloway committed to telling stories of Palestinians
“I feel personal commitment to tell the stories of Palestinians in the West Bank where I taught voluntarily a few times,” Chris Galloway, a professor from Massey University, told the Tehran Times on the…
Tree Church by Barry Cox a Backyard Sanctuary
Barry Cox’s Waikato Tree Church is a “heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a three-acre landscaped garden … walls are made of living trees planted around an iron frame”, Slate magazine reports. “In 2011, Cox,…
People Age at Wildly Different Rates Study Shows
Tests done in Dunedin on physiological markers in nearly 1000 38-year-olds has found that some had biological ages many years older than their birthdates would suggest. The research confirms that people grow old at…
Bologna-Based Guy Lydster Installs Headscapes
A new public art installation in Bologna sculpted by acclaimed Auckland-born artist Guy Lydster, has added an ecological dimension to the red-stoned city. A two-metre tall “headscape” base relief sculpted from Veronese marble showcases…
Beer and Burgers at Wellington on a Plate
New Zealand’s annual Wellington on a Plate culinary festival, which runs from 14-30 August, features in a Daily Telegraph travel feature. The newspaper takes a tour of the city’s breweries and seeks out the…
All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen Now a Samoan Chief
Three-times World Rugby Coach of the Year New Zealander Steve Hansen, 56, has been named an honorary high chief, or matai, of Vaiala village in Samoa, a day after his All Blacks team beat…
Tim Finn Loves Writing Songs More than Ever
Forty years in the music business, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, Tim Finn, 63, recently performed his new collaboration, White Cloud at the Galway International Arts festival. White Cloud may be derived from…
Lecretia’s Fight Lives On
The case brought by terminally ill New Zealand lawyer Lecretia Seales has become part of the larger worldwide right-to-die debate. A feature story in the June 27, 2015, edition of The Economist…
Twenty-Six Reasons NZ is the World’s Best To Visit
Once again, New Zealand has topped the Telegraph Travel awards as the world’s best place to visit; the publication offers up 26 reasons why. “First and most importantly, it looks amazing. Douglas Adams, the author…
Mitch Evans Is Formula One’s next Big Thing
The brightest star in the Formula One (F1) feeder series GP2 is Aucklander Mitch Evans who has amassed an impressive list of accolades despite being just 21 years old. He also has an attribute…
Weta Smithy Peter Lyon in the Mix at Comic-Con
Amongst the colourful characters who flood the San Diego Convention Center Comic-Con was New Zealand smithy Peter Lyon, who has worked the past 16 years for Weta Workshop. “When I started at Weta…
Comedian Rhys Darby Joins X-Files Cast
Actor Rhys Darby, who played werewolf Anton in What We Do in the Shadows, will join the cast of The X-Files “event series” as a man suspected by Fox Mulder to be the perpetrator…
Scientists to Study Silent Earthquakes off NZ
Scientists have proposed a 2018 pioneering project beneath the seafloor off New Zealand aimed at understanding the mechanisms of silent earthquakes, also known as slow-slip events. “An important way to understand the true cause of…
Heineken Open Honoured as Best Fan Experience
Beating stiff competition from renowned tournaments around the world, the Heineken Open Auckland has taken out the Best Fan Experience award at the ATP Awards in Wimbledon this week. “The Heineken Open Auckland is an…
NZ Baby Seals Use Inland Waterfall as Creche
Baby seals in New Zealand have turned the Ohau Waterfall into their personal swimming pool, even though the inland waterfall is more than a mile away from the coast. “It takes the seals about half-an-hour…
Rare White Whale Migaloo Tours New Zealand
A rare white humpback, usually spotted up the eastern Australian coastline, has been seen swimming with a normally dark-coloured humpback in New Zealand’s Cook Strait. “White humpbacks are extremely rare. Only four have been reported…
How Elk Farmer Thom Van Eeghen Became Canadian
Ottawa elk farmer Thom Van Eeghen, “a landed immigrant from New Zealand”, explains how he became a Canadian, and what he thinks Canada should do to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday in 2017. “I came…
JK Russ Major Player in US Art Scene
New Zealand-born artist JK Russ is included in a Los Angeles Confidential feature “spotlight and celebrating the freshest, boldest artistic talent” from each of the 11 American cities in which the magazine publishes. “From Aspen…
