Blog Archives

World’s Fastest Rower Hamish Bond Switches Sports

World’s Fastest Rower Hamish Bond Switches Sports

Multiple Olympic medallist Dunedin-born Hamish Bond, 31, is moving to the UK to compete in the domestic time trial scene as he attempts to make the transfer from rowing to bike racing ahead of…

Actor Tim Kano Happy to Call Melbourne Home

Actor Tim Kano Happy to Call Melbourne Home

For a New Zealander who has lived, worked, studied, and travelled abroad, Neighbours star Tim Kano, 29, is happy to call Melbourne home, Catherine Nikas-Boulos writes for the Daily Telegraph. The former Wellingtonian, who plays…

Reuniting the Family of WW2 Pilot Roy Hodge

Reuniting the Family of WW2 Pilot Roy Hodge

Canadian Gerry Hodge had already received the dreaded telegram once, the one that regretted to inform her that her husband, New Zealander Roy, had been shot down over Europe and was presumed dead, Jack…

Horse Trainer Laurie Laxon Heading Home to NZ

Horse Trainer Laurie Laxon Heading Home to NZ

Veteran horse handler New Zealander Laurie Laxon, 71, will head home with nothing but fond memories of his time spent in Singapore. Laxon has been a fixture at the Singapore Turf Club for the…

Chef Hayden McMillan’s Etta a Melbourne Stand Out

Chef Hayden McMillan’s Etta a Melbourne Stand Out

New Zealand-born chef Hayden McMillan recently opened the 80-seat bistro Etta in Melbourne’s Brunswick. Etta is one of four new Melbourne restaurants Broadsheet readers are recommended to try, and McMillan named, one of the…

Jane Campion’s China Girl is Unforgettable

Jane Campion’s China Girl is Unforgettable

“Is it a movie? Is it a TV show? Whatever you call it, Jane Campion’s latest is as beautiful and soul-stirring as anything you’ll see this year,” David Ehrlich writes in a “grade A”…

Pania Newton Taking up the Fight for Ihumatao

Pania Newton Taking up the Fight for Ihumatao

Pania Newton, 26, a descendant of Ihumatao has been integral in helping to establish Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL Ihumatao), the group at the forefront of the Auckland land struggle. Ihumatao…

Susan Te Kahurangi King’s First UK Exhibition Opens

Susan Te Kahurangi King’s First UK Exhibition Opens

New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King stopped speaking aged four, and has since communicated only through her acutely detailed drawings. As her first UK exhibition opens at Marlborough Contemporary, London, her sister and…

Greg Agnew Invited to Tea With the Queen

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,…

No New Zealander Could Be Without It

No New Zealander Could Be Without It

A “dog-eared friend with a sentimental association read ritually every year seemed not to exist for me,” president and general director of San Francisco male chorus Chanticleer Christine Bullin tells the San Francisco Chronicle….

Former Beauty Queen Jenni Mortimer Confesses

Former Beauty Queen Jenni Mortimer Confesses

Aucklander Jenni Mortimer, a digital producer at the New Zealand Herald, and former beauty queen, offers up ten confessions about life on the pageant circuit. And she says it’s not all about “big hair,…

Roger Donaldson’s Doco McLaren Filling the Gaps

Roger Donaldson’s Doco McLaren Filling the Gaps

An Australian who emigrated to New Zealand in 1965, Roger Donaldson, 71, cut his teeth in documentaries and TV before launching into a career in feature films. His first feature was Sleeping Dogs in…

MTV UK Getting it Georgie Wright

MTV UK Getting it Georgie Wright

One of the “new generation of MTV talent” is New Zealander Georgie Wright, 22, a news presenter for the broadcaster’s UK channel. Wright, who also works full-time at i-D magazine, moved to London in 2015…

Jane Campion Says Cannes Needs All-Female Juries

Jane Campion Says Cannes Needs All-Female Juries

New Zealander Jane Campion, 63, has just shown the full six hours of her new series, Top Of The Lake: China Girl to audiences at Cannes. At the festival, Campion bemoaned that, just three…

Hayden Tee Leaves West End for Sydney Stint

Hayden Tee Leaves West End for Sydney Stint

New Zealand-born musical theatre performer Hayden Tee has been playing the role of Javert in Les Misérables since 2014, first as part of the Australian cast, then on an international tour, and finally on…

Whangarei Highland Dancer off to Tattoo

Whangarei Highland Dancer off to Tattoo

Seventeen-year-old Whangarei student Shannon Vesey will be the only New Zealander to dance as part of the Tattoo Highland Dancers at this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on in August. Vesey will join 49 dancers…

Russell Coutts on Transforming the America’s Cup

Russell Coutts on Transforming the America’s Cup

Five times America’s Cup winner Sir Russell Coutts is nowadays working behind the scenes as chief executive of the America’s Cup Event Authority. The New Zealander has, along with Oracle’s Larry Ellison, been responsible…

Alex Hunt Taking Tennis World by Storm

Alex Hunt Taking Tennis World by Storm

Though New Zealand-born Alex Hunt has only one arm it was enough for the 23-year-old to beat six players and make it to the main draw of the on-going Singha Classic in Bangkok, Thailand. The…

NZ Launches Into Space Race With 3D-Printed Rocket

NZ Launches Into Space Race With 3D-Printed Rocket

Rocket Lab, a Silicon Valley-funded space launch company, has just launched the maiden flight of its battery-powered, 3D-printed rocket Electron from New Zealand’s remote Mahia Peninsula. “Made it to space. Team delighted,” Rocket Lab said…

Pop’s Outsider Lorde Covers Rolling Stone

Pop’s Outsider Lorde Covers Rolling Stone

In a cover story for Rolling Stone magazine, Lorde talks about growing up in the spotlight following her hit debut Pure Heroine, and why her new Melodrama, out on 16 June, is the work…

Introducing Rousseau’s Dark Pop Identity

Introducing Rousseau’s Dark Pop Identity

Independently released in April, Wellingtonian Clare Barrett Rousseau’s debut EP hello, i know you’re busy “is the ideal entrance, introducing the many shades of Rousseau’s dark pop identity while leaving us hungry for more,”…

Emilia Wickstead’s Wedding Style Advice

Emilia Wickstead’s Wedding Style Advice

As New Zealand born, London-based designer Emilia Wickstead launches her 10-piece bridal collection, Vogue’s news editor Lauren Milligan asks for her top wedding style tips, from how to choose the right fabric to what…

Chef Robert Oliver Fuses Pasifika Flavours

Chef Robert Oliver Fuses Pasifika Flavours

A New Zealander who was raised in Fiji and Samoa, celebrity chef Robert Oliver has developed restaurants in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Sydney. His new Auckland restaurant, Kai Pasifika has just opened. He…

Quake Scientists Make Surprising Find Underground

Quake Scientists Make Surprising Find Underground

When Victoria University of Wellington researchers drilled deep into Alpine Fault, they stumbled upon a discovery they say could provide a significant new energy source for New Zealand. The scientists found the water in the…

Lorde is ELLE’s Dior Cover Girl

Lorde is ELLE’s Dior Cover Girl

In the news yet again this week, just ahead of the release of her long-awaited second album Melodrama, Auckland-born mega star Lorde, 20, dresses up in a Dior jumpsuit for the cover of ELLE’s…

New Plymouth Firmly on the Cultural Map

New Plymouth Firmly on the Cultural Map

“ Lye’s story might well have slipped into obscurity had his 18,000-item archive not ended up in a small seaside city on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island,” Nigel Tisdall writes for…

Russell Coutts Expects America’s Cup to Remember

Russell Coutts Expects America’s Cup to Remember

As the countdown to the 2017 America’s Cup enters the final week, New Zealander Sir Russell Coutts, 55, anticipates Bermuda getting swept away in the feel-good factor of the Cup and has urged the…

Aldous Harding’s Songs Won’t Be Pinned Down

Aldous Harding’s Songs Won’t Be Pinned Down

Aldous Harding, 26, shies away from explaining the quiet, cryptic, utterly arresting songs on Party, her second album and first American release. Harding, who is from New Zealand, was in New York at the…

Hamish MacDonald’s Healthy Approach to Data

Hamish MacDonald’s Healthy Approach to Data

The days of haphazardly following a GP’s advice will be over if New Zealander Hamish MacDonald’s health app The Diary has its way, The Australian reports. Many of us fall victim to waning interest in…

Beekeepers Fight for Rights to Manuka Honey Name

Beekeepers Fight for Rights to Manuka Honey Name

Surging demand for manuka honey, the sticky substance prized for its anti-bacterial properties, has generated a multimillion-dollar export boom for New Zealand, Jamie Smyth writes for the Financial Times. But success has come with…

Our Yellow-Eyed Penguins in Trouble

Our Yellow-Eyed Penguins in Trouble

According to a new study, New Zealand’s iconic yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) may be locally extinct by 2043, Kendra Pierre-Louis writes for Popular Science. The study, published in the journal PeerJ, reports…

Christopher Marshall’s Cosmos on in Florida

Christopher Marshall’s Cosmos on in Florida

New Zealand composer Christopher Marshall’s Cosmos, a 20-minute work highlighting the history of flight, will have its world premiere as part of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra 2017-18 season on 27-28 May in Orlando,…

Coaching Stalwart Wayne Smith to Step Down

Coaching Stalwart Wayne Smith to Step Down

The All Blacks will lose the services of long-serving and successful assistant coach Wayne Smith after the 2017 Rugby Championship, which begins in August. Smith announced he will take a break from October to consider…

Former Te Papa Chief Rick Ellis Crosses the Ditch

Former Te Papa Chief Rick Ellis Crosses the Ditch

Chartered Accountants ANZ has appointed former Te Papa boss Rick Ellis its new chief executive as the organisation seeks a “transformational leader” to remain relevant to its 117,000-strong membership. Ellis, who will take up the…

Architect Briar Hickling Takes on Shanghai

Architect Briar Hickling Takes on Shanghai

When New Zealander Briar Hickling (pictured right) moved to Shanghai in 2009, she never expected she’d still be living there to this day, Leanne Amodeo reports for Architecture Now. As luck would have it, the…

Why New Zealand is an Amazing Paddling Destination

Why New Zealand is an Amazing Paddling Destination

One of the best ways to see the country is from the water, and standing up, according to photographer and paddler New Zealand-based Scotsman Johny Cook writing for SUP magazine. “All of my …

Author Julie Parsons Makes Punchy Return

Author Julie Parsons Makes Punchy Return

New Zealand-born but long-time resident in Ireland, Julie Parsons boasts a CV more varied than the average author. As well as producing five previous crime novels, she’s worked as a radio and TV producer…

Postcard Home to Belfast

Postcard Home to Belfast

New emigrant to New Zealand, Leanne Ross’ first visitor from Belfast, her father, since she arrived in Dunedin last year was “a cause for joy and reflection.” “I’m not just grateful for seeing him physically,…

Hotelier Chris Parkin’s Artistic Legacy

Hotelier Chris Parkin’s Artistic Legacy

Michael Tuffery’s Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000) “nattily doubles as a barbecue and is part of a large collection of contemporary art amassed over a quarter of a century by business identity Chris…

Seven Foods You Must Try in New Zealand

Seven Foods You Must Try in New Zealand

Travel specialist Alexandra Stewart moved to Singapore in 2015. One year later, the former creative director and deputy chair of Skope Industries (a successful manufacturing company founded by Stewart’s father) went on to launch…

Isaac Hindin-Miller Likes Alphabet City

Isaac Hindin-Miller Likes Alphabet City

New York resident, New Zealand-born DJ and influencer Isaac Hindin-Miller, of the Isaac Likes blog, has been a fixture in the fashion world for nearly a decade, working for top menswear brands and writing…

Weissenborn Player Thomas Oliver Off on Tour

Weissenborn Player Thomas Oliver Off on Tour

Wellington-based musician Thomas Oliver, 31, talks to Australian independent online music publication, The AU Review about the inspirations behind his new self-produced album Floating in the Darkness and his upcoming local tour followed by…

Gina Inverarity’s Children’s Book Uplifts

Gina Inverarity’s Children’s Book Uplifts

Wellington children’s author, Gina Inverarity’s new book The Brown Dog is reviewed by Stephen Romei for The Australian. The Brown Dog is illustrated by Australian Greg Holfeld. “‘The brown dog turned up one rainy Saturday afternoon,’…

Soprano Natasha Wilson Sings With Acrobats

Soprano Natasha Wilson Sings With Acrobats

Acclaimed Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has teamed up with Auckland soprano Natasha Wilson and circus company Circa to present Spanish Baroque at the City Recital Hall in Sydney. Wilson, 23, was invited by Brandenburg artistic director…

Journalist Jamil Anderlini Emancipated in Hong Kong

Journalist Jamil Anderlini Emancipated in Hong Kong

Asia editor at the Financial Times, New Zealander Jamil Anderlini spent the past 11 years on the Chinese mainland in Beijing. In a feature for the paper, Anderlini talks about his move to Hong…

Population Specialist Clint Laurent Looks at China

Population Specialist Clint Laurent Looks at China

In an article about China’s growing middle class, Global Demographics founder New Zealander Clint Laurent told The Australian that “China was the last place to come through” a worldwide population explosion to land safely…

Fazerdaze Releases Confident Dreamy Debut

Fazerdaze Releases Confident Dreamy Debut

Morningside, the “accomplished” debut album of Auckland’s Fazerdaze, aka Amelia Murray, “is like having the door to a house opened for you, casually strolling in and taking your own time to find a comfortable…

Mayoral Candidate Chlöe Swarbrick Talks to VICE

Mayoral Candidate Chlöe Swarbrick Talks to VICE

Auckland’s youngest mayoral candidate, independent Chlöe Swarbrick, 22, came third in a field of 19, but even this was an achievement, according to VICE who interviewed the politician for a feature as part of…

Trap Shooter Natalie Rooney Ranked No 1 in World

Trap Shooter Natalie Rooney Ranked No 1 in World

Timaru trap shooter Natalie Rooney, 28, has been ranked world No 1 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), the first New Zealander, man or woman, to hold the top spot in any of…

Heavyweight Joshua Parker Gets the Job Done

Heavyweight Joshua Parker Gets the Job Done

South Auckland professional boxer Joshua Parker, 25, has retained the WBO world heavyweight title after a wide points victory over former sparring partner, Romanian Răzvan Cojanu at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau. “Parker’s team…

Life Coach Despina Nicola Dared to Begin

Life Coach Despina Nicola Dared to Begin

New Zealand-born life coach and author Despina Nicola says we are the product of our choices – which is pretty hard-hitting stuff for anyone who’s overwhelmed and looking for someone to blame. But then…

Miles Humphreys Designs Private-Island Resort

Miles Humphreys Designs Private-Island Resort

Designed by New Zealand-born architect Miles Humphreys – who counts Bali’s temple-like Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve among his many hospitality projects – Indonesia’s new private-Cempedak Island accommodations are constructed entirely of sustainable bamboo, recycled…

Len Lye’s Film A Colour Box is Jazz Visualised

Len Lye’s Film A Colour Box is Jazz Visualised

Christchurch-born artist Len Lye’s “revolutionary” 1935 film A Colour Box is an example of visually-depicted jazz and is discussed in a book by British scholar Nicolas Pillai called, Jazz as Visual Language: Film, Television and…

Kane Strang’s New Album Out in June

Kane Strang’s New Album Out in June

After sharing a string of ace singles over the last few months, New Zealander Kane Strang has announced that his new album, Two Hearts and No Brain will be out…

Designer to Princesses Launches New Bridal Line

Designer to Princesses Launches New Bridal Line

New Zealand-born London-based Emilia Wickstead, Kate Middleton’s favourite designer, is launching a new line of wedding dresses. Wickstead previously only worked with bespoke bridal clients. Who can forget Lady Charlotte Wellesley’s fantastical entrance in a…

Sam Neill Speaks about Tiny Rowland TV Role

Sam Neill Speaks about Tiny Rowland TV Role

New Zealand actor Sam Neill stars in Channel Nine’s television miniseries about Australian businessman Alan Bond’s life and said he was sure people would enjoy watching the “rollercoaster” ride. “You’re familiar with the story of…