Fis Teams with Maori Sound Artist Rob Thorne
“Berlin-based producer Fis (aka Olly Peryman) shifts focus back to his home of New Zealand for Clear Stones, a collaborative album with veteran Maori sound artist Rob Thorne due on Subtext,” Miles…
Blog Archives
Matt Twigge Opening His Heart and His Home
New Zealander Matt Twigge, 52, a mechanic, and Scottish wife Joyce, 48, moved between their two home countries for some years before settling in Queensland to raise their two children. When those grown-up children…
Why Lorde Is a Great Dancer
Lorde’s unpolished dancing has drawn a mixture of criticism and backhanded praise from the public and press throughout her career. Perhaps it’s more accurate – and less patronising – to view the way she…
Bruce McLaren’s Daughter Maintaining the Vision
Amanda McLaren is the only child of New Zealand-born Bruce McLaren, founder of one of the most successful teams in Formula One history. She was just four years old when…
Rugged Landscapes Beguile Malaysian Photographer
A photographic exhibition of New Zealand’s “majestic” landscapes is on show in Kuala Lumpur. The “Aspiring New Zealand” collection was taken by award-winning photographer Malaysian Jeffry Lim during a family holiday in the country…
Selena Gomez Enlists Georgia Fowler for New Clip
Auckland-born Georgia Fowler, 24, who debuted in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last December, has officially added actor to her modelling resume, starring in Selena Gomez and Kygo’s It Ain’t Me video clip, reports Vogue…
Xero’s Rod Drury Promotes the Global Ecosystem
“As the world becomes more tribal, global platforms, which enable the flow of global commerce, will help build communities, foster understanding and deliver economic prosperity,” Xero founder and chief executive officer, New Zealander
Stand Up Paddler Annabel Anderson Wins Again
New Zealand world champion female stand up paddler Annabel Anderson defended her title recently at the 21.2km West Marine Carolina Cup elite graveyard race held at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. Anderson led from start-to-finish…
Resident’s Dark Matter Brightens Milan Design Week
Auckland lighting and furniture design firm Resident has been exhibiting off-site at Milan Design Week since the company was established by Simon James and Scott Bridgens in 2011. This year,
White House Open to Chris Liddell’s Ideas
Nearly 300 executives have visited the White House this year, according to a New York Times tabulation, an open-door policy that is a sharp break with the Obama administration and puts corporate chieftains on…
Air NZ Takes Top Spot on Australian Reputation Index
Rugby’s Bledisloe Cup. Cricket’s Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Now New Zealand has taken the title of Australia’s most reputable company, James Thomson reports for Australian Financial Review. Air New Zealand has grabbed number one spot on…
Down Under Delights Enjoyed in Oregon
“If I must choose just one New Zealand winery for sauvignon blanc, I’ll pick Kim Crawford. The 2016 vintage is already available in area stores, and if anything, it’s even better than previous years,”…
Luxuries Karen Walker Can’t Live Without
New Zealand fashion designer Karen Walker tells the Telegraph that luxury is no longer about how rare your handbag is, how big your yacht is or how hand-made your watch is. “It’s about how special…
Playwright Eleanor Bishop’s Jane Doe Touring US
Jane Doe, previously titled We Are Steubenville, is a play created, written and directed by Eleanor Bishop, a New Zealand-born director who studied fine arts at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama in…
Lucky Planet Hunters Discover Super-Earth
NASA is adopting a planet hunting technique created by New Zealand scientists. Called gravitational microlensing, it helped Auckland and Massey University scientists Associate Professor Ian Bond and Dr Nick Rattenbury find a new giant…
It’s the Little Things in Life Says Emilia Wickstead
“It would be impossible to write about my childhood without mentioning the two amazing women in my life who raised me: my mother and my grandmother,” New Zealand-born designer Emilia…
NZ and UK Talk Meat Deals Post-Brexit
New Zealand’s powerful meat promotional body Beef and Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) has begun discussions with UK producer groups about the possibility of collaborating on post-Brexit lamb deals to third countries, Nancy Nicholson writes…
Pork Pie Reboot Hits Australian Theatres
New Zealand’s Pork Pie screened recently as part of the Gold Coast Film Festival and is reviewed by Jake Tired for Australian entertainment news site, The Iris ahead of the film’s release in Australian…
Scottish ANZAC Ceremony Remembers Fallen NZ Airmen
A quiet corner of a Scottish cemetery was the sombre setting for remembering the darkest day in New Zealand’s military history. Figures from Angus and across the Commonwealth gathered at the graveside of four…
Taika Waititi Confirms Thor Cameo
“With a very popular trailer already out, Marvel fans probably thought they already knew everything there was to know about the cast of Thor: Ragnarok,” according to…
Lorde Makes Sophisticated Return at Coachella
“Lorde used her late-evening (Coachella) slot to showcase material from her forthcoming album, Melodrama. Starting off with a portion of her lead single, Green Light, she performed staring straight down…
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…
Seven Reasons Auckland Beats Sydney
“Like most Aussies I know, I’ve spent my life poking fun at our Kiwi cousins, mostly because of the way they say ‘fush n’ chups’,” Andrew Brown (pictured) writes for news.com.au. “Despite this, in December…
Coffee Chain Mojo to Open First US Shop in Chicago
New Zealand coffee chain Mojo is opening its first shop in the United States in Chicago near the city’s iconic Willis Tower in May. Mojo’s first store opened in 2003…
Sleep Under the Stars in PurePods
PurePods are four free-standing glass houses set in open clearing on private farm land in the South Island. There’s no carpet, curtains, or traditional ceiling (it’s made of glass), and…
Lorde talks Melodrama at New York Diner
Lorde owns a house in Auckland, where she grew up, but for the better part of the last year she has been living at different hotels around New York, trying…
Guy Stanaway Chef in Charge at Doot Doot Doot
New Zealand-born chef Guy Stanaway is executive chef at new upmarket Melbourne restaurant Doot Doot Doot, where he will serve degustation menus showcasing contemporary Australian produce. Doot Doot Doot is part…
NZ Devises Manuka Honey Test to Fight Fakes
The New Zealand Government has tested 800 samples of honey from around the world to establish a scientific definition of genuine manuka honey and crackdown on alleged fakes, Eleanor Ainge…
Top of the Lake Season Two More Accessible
Critics loved Top of the Lake, New Zealander Jane Campion’s dark crime drama, starring Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss as Robin Griffin, the police detective tasked with finding out why a…
Jamie Beaton Leading the Ivy League Charge
New Zealand-born Jamie Beaton dreamt big when he finished high school. He applied for 25 international universities and received an offer from all of them, Henrietta Cook writes for the Age in a feature…
Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Not Built For Passive Music Fan
From being BBC Radio 1’s “tastemaker-in-charge” for fresh, cutting-edge music to helming Apple’s fresh, cutting-edge new radio station, New Zealander Zane Lowe has found himself at the forefront of music media development, time and…
MI5 File Lays Bare Case of KGB Spy Paddy Costello
A controversy that has spanned more than seven decades over whether Auckland-born Paddy Costello, a Cambridge-educated diplomat and academic, was a top Soviet spy has been fuelled by the release of his MI5 file. Desmond…
Palmerston North Med Student Heading to Yale
Palmerston North-based medical student Josh Smith is heading to American Ivy League institution Yale University to learn a technique that could shape the future of healthcare. Smith is in the final year of his medical…
Isabella Moore’s Spine-Chilling Performance Lauded
Auckland soprano Isabella Moore’s recent performance in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at Conservatory Concert Hall in San Francisco is highly praised in online music site, San Francisco Classical Voice. “Moore was the spine-chilling Angelica, her voice…
Americans Prefer Pricier NZ Wines to Australian
Americans are falling in love with pricey New Zealand wines at the expense of cheaper vino from Australia and Argentina, according to a Bloomberg report. The value of New Zealand wine shipped to the United…
Sprint Cyclists Dominate at World Championships
New Zealand’s sprint trio team Ethan Mitchell, 26, Sam Webster, 25, and Eddie Dawkins, 27, made it two world titles in a row and three in four years with a flawless performance at the…
Karen Walker Launches Made Up Eyewear
New Zealand fashion designer Karen Walker is using eyewear to bring her version of “eye shadow” to market through her new collection of sunglasses, Women’s Wear Daily reports. “We wanted to play with the idea…
New Ben Sanders Novel an Engrossing Chase Story
“In earlier Ben Sanders books, Marshall Grade worked undercover for the NYPD. When he made serious enemies in the criminal subculture, the federal cops hid him far away in the witness protection programme,” Toronto…
Chef Hayden McMillan Opens Etta on Lygon Street
Etta in Melbourne’s Brunswick East has just opened. The 80-seat bistro’s kitchen is overseen by New Zealand-born chef Hayden McMillan, formerly of The Roving Marrow, and along with Hannah Green (pictured right), he runs…
New Zealand’s Rocket Man Peter Beck Taking Off
When New Zealander Peter Beck arrived in Silicon Valley in 2013, he gave himself three weeks to secure funding for his small-satellite launch vehicle start-up, Rocket Lab, the Los Angeles Times reports. Instead of blanketing…
Jossi Wells Is One Heck of a Thrillseeker
“Given that his chosen profession provides ample thrills, as well as the very real possibility of serious injury, one would be forgiven for thinking that Olympic skier Jossi Wells, 26, is content…
More Global Accolades for Attica’s Ben Shewry
New Zealand chef Ben Shewry’s Melbourne restaurant Attica has once again made the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, coming in at No 32, up one from last year. Attica also received the Best Restaurant in…
Simon Denny’s Mass Entrepreneurship on in China
Taking Shenzhen’s accelerated production model as its point of departure, New Zealand artist Simon Denny’s exhibition Real Mass Entrepreneurship looks at the myth of the small technology hardware business owner as global hero. The exhibition…
David Howman New Athletics Integrity Unit Chair
The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has announced its new independent Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), with the former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), New Zealand-born David Howman, appointed as chairperson. The…
Two-Metre Peter Retires After 16-Year Career
Former New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton has retired after a 16-year first-class career that was highlighted by two stints in the international arena. The towering 38-year-old, nicknamed ‘Two-Metre Peter’, made his first class debut…
Grant Rawlinson’s 12,000km Test of Endurance
New Zealander Grant Rawlinson, 42, has just finished the 4500km first leg of his epic journey from Singapore to New Zealand. Having rowed to Darwin, he will next have to cycle down to Coffs…
Soulful New Video for Singer Janine
New Zealand-born soul singer Janine, formerly known as Janine and the Mixtape, is back with a “heart-tugging visual for Don’t Love Me,” Adelle Platon reports for Billboard. “As previously heard on the emotional offerings like 2015’s…
That Wanaka Tree a Social Media Sensation
A crack willow tree, believed to have grown from an old fence post, has been photographed tens of thousands of times, with queues of photographers routinely forming on the lake’s shore to capture its…
Nothing Beats a Life-Affirming NZ Holiday
The Daily Mail’s travel editor Mark Palmer kicked off his eight-day tour in and around Queenstown, admiring Lake Wakatipu, then taking in the World Heritage Site Matukituki Valley where Lord Of The Rings was…
Baldwin Street an Ever Instagrammed Steep
“If you find yourself near Dunedin anytime soon, put on your most comfortable walking shoes and head to Baldwin Street for a seriously trippy Instagram opportunity,” Travel + Leisure journalist Nina Ruggiero recommends. “Baldwin…
Alluring Role for Paris Ballet’s Hannah O’Neill
Hannah O’Neill, 24, a New Zealander who joined the Paris Opéra Ballet company in 2011, is “a beguiling” Titania, Paul Jennings writes in an Observer review of the Opéra Bastille performance of A Midsummer…
Collector Patrick Pound Shows Treasured Snaps
Remember when we stopped buying family photo albums? Artist-collector New Zealand-born Patrick Pound does, Rebecca Michael writes for the Herald Sun. It was when analog became digital, when Kodak film vanished into the ether. But…
Monica Galetti Cooking as She Pleases in Fitzrovia
The spotlight is once again on Masterchef judge New Zealander Monica Galetti as she opens her first restaurant Mere in Fitzrovia, London. The Telegraph reviews. According to the newspaper’s Hilary Armstrong, Galetti’s Mere is “a…
Martyn Connell Helping At-Risk UK Youth Find Jobs
New Zealander Martyn Connell is the head of West Yorkshire recruitment firm Maze8 that aims to support the young in overcoming barriers to employment. From its semi-rural setting in Mirfield, Maze8 recruits specialist…
This is Shannon Cullen’s Journal for Mothers
When New Zealand-born Shannon Cullen had her first baby Matilda, who is now aged four, she found herself writing down random notes and doodles at all hours. This sparked the creation of
Aldous Harding Announces Party and Tour Dates
New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding will release her sophomore album, Party on 19 May. After sharing the striking single Horizon, Harding has also revealed European and US tour dates, beginning with a performance at The…
