Fat Freddy’s Drop Chat Ahead of BoomTown
Internationally regarded as one of the world’s finest live draws, seven-piece band Fat Freddy’s Drop has a sound that has developed over the years, TNT Magazine reports ahead of the group’s show on the…
Blog Archives
Escape to Wellington Where Life’s a Breeze
Wellington is one of 10 cities to feature in Monocle’s annual “journal of places less explored,” The Escapist. The New Zealand capital is home to incomparable coffee, exceptional seafood and a strong cinematic pedigree…
DJ Zane Lowe Queues Up His Summer Faves
From a moody duet to a Mac Miller joyful four-on-the-floor groove, Auckland-born DJ, producer and poptimist Zane Lowe shares the songs he’s got queued up this summer for the Guardian’s regular column, The Playlist. Lowe,…
Triathlete Aaron Fleming Defies the Odds
Blenheim-born Aaron Fleming, 32, will line-up for his eighth Ironman start in Malaysia this November achieving his triathlon goals despite suffering from a collapsed lung, undergoing two major surgeries, and being told he would…
Fond Farewell to Formula 1 Hero Chris Amon
Chris Amon, regarded as one of the best Formula One racing car drivers of his generation, has died in Rotorua at age 73. Toronto Star “Wheels” editor Norris McDonald reflects on the life and…
Top Local Eateries Make International List
Auckland restaurant Ortolana and Wellington’s Olive are included in Monocle’s annual journal The Escapist’s 2016 Restaurant Awards, a list of 50 establishments from around the world. “Tucked away in downtown Auckland, Ortolana is…
Hurricanes Clinch 2016 Super Rugby Title
“After 20 years of waiting, Hurricanes fly-half Beauden Barrett dived on a loose ball with little over 11 minutes remaining to score the winning try and secure his side’s first Super Rugby title with…
Isaac Burrough Concept Catamaran a Luxury Statement
New Zealand-born designer Isaac Burrough has inaugurated a new yacht design studio in Amsterdam with the release of a 60m sailing catamaran concept, featuring an infinity pool, a 12-person cinema and a glass-bottom jacuzzi. A…
Ballet World’s Rising Star Harrison James
Some dancers take more than a decade to rise through the ranks of a professional ballet company. Others, such as the New Zealand-born Harrison James, manage a swift ascension in three quick seasons. The…
MAALA Rolls out Debut Album Composure
The past few years has seen Aucklander Evan Sinton, better known as MAALA, transform from New Zealand’s Got Talent star to brooding, mysterious electronic artist. With his debut album, Composure just out, Rolling Stone…
Poet Hera Lyndsay Bird Speaks to a Generation
Millions are turning to poetry in response to a year of troubling news stories – with previously excluded voices, like Thames-born writer Hera Lyndsay Bird, in the field now going viral, the Guardian’s Rhiannon…
Singer Mukuka Musowa Keeping Her Roots Close
Hamilton singer-songwriter Mukuka Musowa, 22, talks to Zambia’s Lusaka Times about her latest single “Just Fine”, her musical inspirations, and New Zealand television show Both Worlds, in which she features. Musowa, who was…
Archibald McIndoe Patients Pay Tribute
Surviving members of New Zealand-born plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe’s Guinea Pig Club, which was formed in 1941 to cope with the ever-rising number of young pilots left with life-changing injuries, talk with the Telegraph…
Step into Hayden Fowler’s Dark Ecology
A huge biodome constructed by New Zealand-born artist Hayden Fowler has been set up outside the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at Circular Quay in Sydney. “Dark Ecology”, a walk-in installation, is part of…
Margot Henderson’s Rochelle Canteen Seduces
New Zealand-born Margot Henderson’s London café Rochelle Canteen “wears its fabulousness lightly.” It is “nourishing for body and soul, and huge fun”, according to Guardian reviewer Marina O’Loughlin. “This canteen may come on…
New Zealand to Exterminate All Introduced Predators
The New Zealand Government has announced a “world-first” project to make our country predator free by 2050, aiming to wipe out all introduced species of rats, stoats and possums. According to the government, introduced species…
Broods Video Brings Technology to Next Level
New Zealand indie electropop duo Broods incorporates technology in an unexpected and intimate way, with its enthralling new music video for the latest single, “Heartlines,” off their sophomore album, Conscious, according to Entertainment Tonight. In…
Matt Smith Shears World Record in Cornwall
New Zealand-born cutter Matt Smith, 32, has posted a world nine-hour shearing record of 731 ewes in Cornwall. Smith took an average of 44 seconds to shear each sheep on his way to beating…
Ladyhawke’s Favourite Top Five Albums
Despite Ladyhawke’s busy schedule, the New Zealand musician talked to ELLE.com about the albums that have changed her life and turned her into the synth-pop maestro she is today. Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown, has already…
Team USA Trainer Craig McFarlane Talks Tough
The “beasts” of the Oracle Team USA America’s Cup crew are among the world’s toughest athletes – people for whom some of the most gruelling training imaginable is all part of the routine, and the…
Designer Rebecca Taylor Offers up Some Holiday Tips
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor is constantly looking to her world travels for inspiration. She lets W magazine in on the best outfits for the plane and what makes for the perfect travel shoe….
The Dead C’s Latest Trouble Strangely Beautiful
New Zealand band The Dead C’s latest album Trouble, which is out on 12 August, is reviewed by Mike Barnes for The Wire magazine, who describes the trio’s new work as “strangely beautiful and…
Baldwin Street a Photogenic Optical Illusion
Dunedin’s Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world, has become an unlikely tourist attraction, with people sharing photos on social media of a bizarre optical illusion, the Daily Mail reports. When photos of houses…
Real Women on Film for Karen Walker’s New Campaign
New Zealander Karen Walker’s latest campaign celebrates the art of film photography and women of all ages, with the designer and her 8-year-old daughter Valentina in front of the camera for the SS16/17’s Magnetic…
Huffman’s Wins at World Hot Sauce Awards
Wellington-based Huffman’s Hot Sauce has been named World Champion in the Pepper Blend category at a ceremony held in Louisiana. Auckland’s Culley’s and Kaikohe’s Fire Dragon Chillies were also named world champions in the…
Card Ninja Performs in UK at Bedfringe
New Zealander Javier Jarquin is the Card Ninja, a PG-rated, one-man show with up-beat humour, impressive stunts and smooth audience interaction. Jarquin will demonstrate his “remarkable skills” in the UK at the Bedford Fringe…
Richard Lewer Wins Basil Sellers Art Prize
Hamilton-born Richard Lewer has been announced the winner of this year’s A$100,000 Basil Sellers Art Prize for his work “The Theatre of Sports (2016),” beating 240 other entries. The Basil Sellers Art Prize is a…
Yeongrak Online in Search of Scuzzy Beats
With the Christchurch earthquake wiping out all of Yeongrak’s previous hangouts, he took refuge in his bedroom, where he withdrew from regular socialising and immersed himself into the dark, distant corners of the internet….
International Fashion Award Goes to Mayako Kano
New Zealander Mayako Kano, 32, has been named winner of the International Talent Support (ITS) Fashion Award claiming a 10,000 Euro prize with “one of the more elegant provocations” of the competition, according to…
Jess Johnson’s New Language of Virtual Reality
Jess Johnson, a Tauranga-born, New York-based artist, whose work includes drawing, animation, video, installation and recently, virtual reality (VR), offers some fascinating insights into how altered perceptions change how we communicate and the forms…
Play Lady of the Manor at Otahuna Lodge
“New Zealand’s luxury lodges each have their unique selling point,” Cleo Glyde writes for news.com.au, “and as you wend your way along the freshly raked gravel driveway of an 1895 mansion set in the…
Flight of the Conchords Aimless and That’s Okay
There was a time, about 10 years ago, when this unassuming pair seemed to have it all figured out in their own quiet way. The Flight of the Conchords had a well-received HBO series…
Star Trek’s Karl Urban Meets Hero Harrison Ford
A perk of working for producer J.J. Abrams on Star Trek Beyond was the chance for Wellington-born actor Karl Urban, 44, to visit his boss’ other set. And for Urban, a lifelong Harrison Ford…
Celebrating French Legion Hero James Waddell
A new exhibition marking the Somme Centenary called “Médaillé Extraordinaire” aims to raise awareness of James Waddell, a much decorated New Zealander who served in the French Foreign Legion during the First World War. Lieutenant-Colonel…
Dancer Kexin Li Reviving an Ancient Art Form
Before Kexin Li, a Chinese New Zealander, came to New York in 2008 to receive systematic training in classical Chinese dance, she cared little for performing arts or even physical exercise. It was after Li,…
Conservation Dogs on the Pest Warpath
One of New Zealand’s greatest conservation accomplishments, our so-called 100 “island sanctuaries”, are entirely pest- and predator-free, allowing endangered animals to thrive without threat. Conservation dogs like Piri the terrier ratter, a specially trained…
New BBC Doco Explores Our Mythical Islands
“In New Zealand, you’ll be interested to learn, there are more species of penguin than anywhere else in the world,” the Independent’s deputy managing editor Sean O’Grady writes in a preview of BBC Two…
RBS CEO Ross McEwan Still Optimistic Despite Brexit
While the Royal Bank of Scotland share price did sink to levels reminiscent of the 2008 crisis, when the bank ran out of cash and only survived because of a £45bn taxpayer bailout, New…
Judith Hereford Pens Book Focusing on Elderly Care
New Zealand-born Judith Hereford, who lives in Herefordshire in the UK, may be over the age of 70, but that isn’t stopping her from taking on the publishing world with her first self-penned book,…
Québec Music Fans Enjoy Neil Finn’s Summer Set
Neil Finn performed at the recent Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) playing a mixture of Split Enz and Crowded House favourites, as well as some of his own tracks, “in smooth style” according to…
Personhood Designation Granted to Te Urewera
Former national park Te Urewera has been granted personhood with Whanganui River expected to receive the same status soon, the New York Times reports in a feature about the “undoubtedly legally revolutionary” decision. The unusual…
Getting to Know Thomston
Auckland-based musician Thomas Stoneman, aka Thomston, 20, is gearing up to release his highly anticipated debut album, which is “shaping up to be a really interesting, emotive release”, according to Australian entertainment site Howls…
New Zealand Blazing Trail on Global Cocktail Path
“With its bordello-meets-street-art décor, Napier’s Monica Loves bar has all the trappings of a modern speakeasy, the kind you’d find down a London alley or behind an unmarked door in the East…
Australians Are Flocking in Droves to Wellington
In the three years to 2015, the number of Australians moving to Wellington has spiked by 86 per cent, and the flow of expatriates last year reversed direction for the first time in more…
How Flight of the Conchords Outlasted the Hipster
“Despite breaking out at a specific cultural moment – an era during which America, at any rate, was seething with ironic hauteur and fetishised authenticity – penchant for loving…
Revived Team McLaren Returns to Grand Prix
Team McLaren, founded in 1963 by owner-driver New Zealander Bruce McLaren and the second-most successful team in series history, returns this weekend to its home Grand Prix, celebrating 50 years in Formula One –…
Tipperary Store Keeps Homesick Hungry Stocked Up
Dean Hand is founder of kiwis.ie which brings a taste of home to other New Zealanders around Ireland through the website and a village shop in Clerihan, County Tipperary. “We’re a one-stop-shop for…
Rare Whales Seen off Dunedin Coast
For the first time in New Zealand waters an extremely rare grouping of Shepherd’s Beaked Whales, one of the least known cetaceans in the world, has been spotted from a University of Otago research…
Wimbledon’s Anthony Wilding a Superstar of his Day
Long before the PR driven age of image rights and social media, before Borg, Laver and even Perry, Wimbledon had its own matinee idol – New Zealand-born Anthony Wilding. Yet despite him being a…
Awaroa Beach Bought by Crowdfunding given to Public
The pristine Awaroa Beach in the Abel Tasman National Park bought through a crowdfunding campaign for almost $2.3 million has been handed to its new owners – the public, becoming part of the Department…
Te Reo Hit Topples Justin Timberlake
Pop tune Maimoatia, sung entirely in Te reo and released for Maori Language Week, shot straight to the top of the iTunes chart in New Zealand, knocking Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling from…
NZ Super Rugby Teams Trouncing Australian
“In the 20 years of Super Rugby, there has never been a weekend like the one just gone, with results that have shaken Australian rugby to its very foundations,” according to the Australian’s senior…
Waiheke One of World’s Best Islands
Waiheke has placed forth in Travel + Leisure magazine’s annual top ten best islands in the world survey for 2016, ahead of Bali, Hawaii and the Greek islands. It was also named the top…
Rebecca Taylor Takes InStyle Around the Office
When it came time for New Zealand-born fashion designer Rebecca Taylor to redecorate her office in the company’s Midtown New York showroom, she wanted to mimic the same relaxed, feminine vibes as her boutiques. “When…
Julie Brougham Takes Most Senior NZ Olympian Crown
New Zealand dressage rider Julie Brougham will pip Mark Todd to the “elder statesman” record at this summer’s Olympics, Horse & Hound reports. The New Zealand Olympic committee had said that Todd, 60, would become…
Tucson Teen Discovers Love of Writing
Nineteen-year-old New Zealand-born Samara Attridge, who has always been more of a “centre-stage type, acting and tackling musical theatre,” tells the Arizona Daily Star that she never pictured herself as a writer. Born in Palmerston…
