Blog Archives

Stuart Thrush Introduces Meat Pies to Danes

Stuart Thrush Introduces Meat Pies to Danes

In an instalment of “My Danish Career”, The Local speaks with New Zealander Stuart Thrush, who traded out the corporate life with shipping giant Mærsk for a Copenhagen pie adventure. Wild Kiwi Pies opened…

Top of the Lake Two Never Meant to Be Says Campion

Top of the Lake Two Never Meant to Be Says Campion

New Zealand-born director Jane Campion has said she never expected to be working on Top Of The Lake again and that she was surprised by the success of the original 2013 BBC miniseries that…

US Returns Remains of 54 Indigenous People to NZ

US Returns Remains of 54 Indigenous People to NZ

Four mummified Maori heads have been returned to New Zealand, following five years of negotiations with the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. The objects are part of the second-largest repatriation of indigenous remains…

McLaren Lauds Its Hero 50 Years On

McLaren Lauds Its Hero 50 Years On

McLaren is celebrating its Formula 1 heroes and history with a 50th anniversary campaign. An online video charts some of the pivotal moments in the team’s history kicking off at one of McLaren’s earliest…

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

With his long hair and handlebar moustache, Steven Adams, 22, looks like he has stepped out of the 1970s. But this 7ft tall New Zealander with a sleeve of tattoos is fast becoming the…

Miami Exhibit Features Susan Te Kahurangi King

Miami Exhibit Features Susan Te Kahurangi King

New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King’s debut museum exhibition in North America opens on 8 July at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Miami. The exhibition includes some 60 works, many of which…

NZ Shearers Keeping Australian Wool Industry Afloat

NZ Shearers Keeping Australian Wool Industry Afloat

Most of the shearing team bent over the softly glowing timber board of the historic Terrinallum woolshed in Victoria’s western district have New Zealand accents, sport tribal tattoos and are of Maori heritage, including…

Ten Things You Never Knew About Ladyhawke

Ten Things You Never Knew About Ladyhawke

Synth-pop singer Pip Brown, aka New Zealand-born Ladyhawke, tells Spin magazine about her love of sci-fi, UFOs, and Disneyland. Turns out Brown – who will release her third record, Wild Things, on 3 June has…

A to Z of New Zealand Food and Beverage

A to Z of New Zealand Food and Beverage

“Crossing the Ditch to New Zealand no longer means a step back in culinary time. Our trans-Tasman neighbour is right up with modern food trends so food lovers will find artisan products, farm-to-fork dining,…

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

From turtles and manta rays, to whales and sharks, New Zealand-born photographer Matt Draper, a former carpenter, has spent the last two years photographing marine animals from the water, the Weather Channel’s Simone Scully…

Joe Naufahu Looks to next Role after Thrones Stint

Joe Naufahu Looks to next Role after Thrones Stint

We all know that Game of Thrones keeps its secrets even from its own cast members, but when it came to episode 4’s fiery finale involving New Zealander Joe Naufahu, 38, there were some…

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Three American climbers joined New Zealand alpinist Graham Zimmerman, 29, for a 72-hour descent of Mount Aspiring in which the group navigate “across glaciers and snowfields, jungles and flooded rivers; exchange greetings with local…

Duo Wins Film Rights to Bestselling Capital

Duo Wins Film Rights to Bestselling Capital

New Zealanders Matthew Metcalfe and Justin Pemberton have acquired the film rights to French economist Thomas Piketty’s 2013 global bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century. In Cannes, the pair unveiled their plans for the…

Ski New Zealand’s Secret Snowfields

Ski New Zealand’s Secret Snowfields

Scattered around the Canterbury-Southern Alps region are boutique ski fields, with few queues and uncontested slopes, just waiting to be explored. Perth Now offers ups some suggestions including Porters, Ohau and Mount Dobson. “There are…

Martin Henderson Talks on Grey’s Anatomy Role

Martin Henderson Talks on Grey’s Anatomy Role

New Zealand actor Martin Henderson, 41, who plays Dr Nathan Riggs in the long-running popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, is profiled in Singapore’s Straits Times. The handsome neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) had been dubbed…

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

World and Olympic K1 200m champion New Zealander Lisa Carrington, 26, has won the final of the sprint discipline of the opening cup regatta in Duisburg, Germany – her 12th successive victory in the…

On a Culinary Discovery in New Zealand

On a Culinary Discovery in New Zealand

New Zealand has much more to offer than lamb and seafood, according to Straits Times food critic Wong Ah Yoke, who travels to Auckland, Waiheke Island, Hawkes Bay and Wellington sampling food cooked in…

Business Booming at Dane Allchorne’s Kent Pub

Business Booming at Dane Allchorne’s Kent Pub

Taking on an empty English pub and turning it into a thriving, village hub was the goal for New Zealander Dane Allchorne – and he succeeded, writes Angela Cole for Kent Online. Just witnessing the…

Mastering Spicy Crab with Margot Henderson

Mastering Spicy Crab with Margot Henderson

Chef Margot Henderson is invited by VICE magazine’s MUNCHIES garden series to a rooftop vegetable plot in Brooklyn, New York “to explore .” New Zealand-born Henderson…

Sam Neill Says NZ Cinema like Nothing Else on Earth

Sam Neill Says NZ Cinema like Nothing Else on Earth

In a career of almost unparalleled versatility, Sam Neill’s latest role in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople finds him returning to his roots. Elle Hunt tracks the New Zealander down in Sydney for…

Drink and be Merry in Wairarapa

Drink and be Merry in Wairarapa

“Hidden beyond the peaks and gorges of New Zealand’s Rimutaka Range lies Wairarapa, a wine region that’s gathered little of the fame of its southern neighbour, the Marlborough area, but that overflows with charm,”…

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

New Zealander William Trubridge “is a man who both embraces and defies nature,” according to the Telegraph. The director of Vertical Blue, a freediving team and school based in the Bahamas, tells the newspaper…

Kids Mimic Donald Trump in Powerhouse Parody

Kids Mimic Donald Trump in Powerhouse Parody

Six New Zealand children are taking aim at US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in a parody advertisement for online electricity retailer, Powerhouse, with the hope of proving that power should be used for…

Guest Fashion Editor Role for Model Nikki Phillips

Guest Fashion Editor Role for Model Nikki Phillips

Model and blogger New Zealander Nikki Phillips joins the Yahoo7 team during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The entertainment portal asks Phillips about her fashion week survival essentials. A seasoned fashion week attendee and front row…

Moody Electropoppers Broods Virtually Famous

Moody Electropoppers Broods Virtually Famous

As Broods, brother and sister Caleb and Georgia Nott were initially known for who they know, now they’re stepping out on their own with their music, London’s Evening Standard reports. “They share a producer, Joel…

Emilia Wickstead’s California Dreaming

Emilia Wickstead’s California Dreaming

New Zealand fashion designer Emilia Wickstead hit California this week to celebrate her new collection for London’s Matchesfashion.com, stopping in San Francisco firstly, where she and Matches co-founders Tom and Ruth Chapman mingled with…

Peter Jackson Pro Screening Room First-Run Rental

Peter Jackson Pro Screening Room First-Run Rental

One director in favour of Napster co-founder Sean Parker’s potential industry-disrupting startup – to sell first-run movies to home viewers at US$50 a pop – is Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director behind The…

More to Come from Brilliant Bundee Aki

More to Come from Brilliant Bundee Aki

Auckland-born Bundee Aki, 26, has been crowned both Connacht Player’s Player and Fans’ Player of the Season, as well as Guinness Players’ Player of the Season after a poll of all of the Pro12…

Paul Barron Championing Artisanal Coffee in Paris

Paul Barron Championing Artisanal Coffee in Paris

Although Paris is famous for its street-side cafes and artisanal food culture, the city generally serves up an unappetising cup of coffee according to Emma Jacobs reporting for the Washington Post. “So many of…

Josh Webb Gives Firsthand Take on Refugee Crisis

Josh Webb Gives Firsthand Take on Refugee Crisis

For the last five months New Zealand-born Josh Webb has been volunteering at Moria refugee camp in Greece. Webb relocated to New York City in 2007, landing a job as director of digital products…

Globetrotter John Bougen on Track for World Record

Globetrotter John Bougen on Track for World Record

One of the world’s greatest globetrotters, Timaru-born John Bougen who was the founder of the Dress Mart chain, is closing in on the world record for the number of states visited by an individual…

Banshee Star Antony Starr Reflects on Cult Series

Banshee Star Antony Starr Reflects on Cult Series

Fans of Cinemax’s highest rated original show Banshee are on the edge of their collective seats to see just where the show’s central figure – played with a combination of extreme grit and deep-rooted…

John Lord a Pioneer of US Commercial Pot Industry

John Lord a Pioneer of US Commercial Pot Industry

Former Waikato dairy farmer John Lord never really wanted to sell pot. It just sort of worked out that way. Now, one of Denver’s early pioneers of commercial marijuana growing and sales is among…

Books that Shaped Author Hannah Tunnicliffe

Books that Shaped Author Hannah Tunnicliffe

New Zealand-born author Hannah Tunnicliffe, a self-confessed nomad, who has lived in Canada, Australia, England and Macau, writes the blog Fork and Fiction, about food, family and books. With the publication of her third novel…

Meet Salad Saviour Chef Peter Gordon

Meet Salad Saviour Chef Peter Gordon

Salads can be limp, boring and vinegary if the wrong chef made the dressing but, according to Whanganui-born Peter Gordon, author of new book Savour, there’s more to salad than sad leaves of iceberg lettuce. Upstairs…

Bianca Andrew Wins London Song Prize

Bianca Andrew Wins London Song Prize

Wellington-born mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew, 26, has won the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize for her performance of Hugo Alfvén’s “Skogen sover” and Hugo Wolf’s “Nimmersatte Liebe”. According to the Independent’s Michael Church, who attended the…

Dan Carter Helps French Club into Cup Final

Dan Carter Helps French Club into Cup Final

Dan Carter has rebuilt himself again, helping French club Racing 92 to the Champions Cup final on 14 May and proving the pain of rehab is worth enduring for continued success, the Observer’s Eddie…

Helen Clark Launches Campaign to Lead UN

Helen Clark Launches Campaign to Lead UN

New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark has begun her campaign to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, saying in Paris that, “peace really matters to women”. Clark has led the…

Violinist Amalia Hall Wins Young Artists Comp

Violinist Amalia Hall Wins Young Artists Comp

Auckland violinist Amalia Hall, 27, has won the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition, taking both the string section and the overall award. Hall received cash prizes of £2500, and concert opportunities with the…

Off Stage with Rihanna Tour Dancer Lance Savali

Off Stage with Rihanna Tour Dancer Lance Savali

Wellingtonian Lance Savali, 24, is a back-up dancer for pop queen Rihanna’s Anti World Tour, which will take him around the US and Europe. This latest gig follows what has been a whirlwind year for…

Book Returned to Epsom Library 67 Years Late

Book Returned to Epsom Library 67 Years Late

A woman has brought back Myths and Legends of Maoriland by AW Reed to an Auckland library 67 years after it was due to be returned. The book was checked out by a girl in…

Mils Muliaina to Kick off in American PRO League

Mils Muliaina to Kick off in American PRO League

Helping kick start American rugby is former New Zealand fullback Mils Muliaina who played 100 tests for the All Blacks and who will play for San Francisco in the five-team league PRO Rugby tournament,…

Game of Thrones Star Joseph Naufahu Never Loses

Game of Thrones Star Joseph Naufahu Never Loses

Game of Thrones star, New Zealand-born Joseph Naufahu, 38, talks with People magazine about the problems of speaking Dothraki, and about fighting in his underwear. Naufahu, who made his debut as Khal Moro in the…

John Metcalfe Assembles Talent for Live Shows

John Metcalfe Assembles Talent for Live Shows

Visionary composer, producer, violist, guitarist and arranger New Zealand-born John Metcalfe will perform a series of live shows, coming to Stroud’s SVA in Gloucestershire on 21 May. For these shows Metcalfe has assembled an incredible…

Fiona Pardington’s Art Earns Top French Honour

Fiona Pardington’s Art Earns Top French Honour

New Zealand photographer Fiona Pardington has been named a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls at a ceremony held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Pardington…

Keeping up with Broods

Keeping up with Broods

Life is moving fast for Nelson sibling duo Broods, Georgia, 21, and Caleb Nott, 23, whose popularity seems to be gaining momentum daily. Recently, they’ve been selling out headlining tours and sharing stages with…

Annea Lockwood River Installation Flows to Glasgow

Annea Lockwood River Installation Flows to Glasgow

New Zealander Annea Lockwood, who grew up with nature thanks to her father’s love of mountaineering, brings her aural installation Sound Map of the Housatonic River to Glasgow on 7 May, reports UK arts…

Emilia Wickstead Dazzled by WWI Ships

Emilia Wickstead Dazzled by WWI Ships

The Great War’s liberating effect on womenswear is often overlooked. Aimee Farrell, writing for the Financial Times meets the designers – including New Zealand-born Emilia Wickstead – now redressing its sartorial legacy championed in…

Nicholas Afoa Joins Lion King in West End

Nicholas Afoa Joins Lion King in West End

Aucklander Nicholas Afoa will join the cast of the West End Lion King production in the role of “Simba” from 10 May at the Lyceum Theatre in London. Afoa made his stage debut as Simba…

Hayden Paddon Wins Rally of Argentina

Hayden Paddon Wins Rally of Argentina

New Zealander Hayden Paddon, 29, has kept French world champion Sebastien Ogier at bay to win the Rally of Argentina for his first world rally championship success. The Hyundai driver, tipped as a future world…

Justine Campbell Performs They Saw a Thylacine

Justine Campbell Performs They Saw a Thylacine

New Zealand-born actor Justine Campbell (pictured left) and Australian Sarah Hamilton recently performed their award-winning play about survival and extinction, They Saw a Thylacine as part of The Joan’s 2016 Brave New Work season…

Entrepreneur Derek Handley Advocate of Drug Support

Entrepreneur Derek Handley Advocate of Drug Support

New Zealand entrepreneur Derek Handley, who was at April’s Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), where Associate Minster of Health Peter Dunne was a speaker, insists…

All Blacks South Africa Rebel Tour 30 Years On

All Blacks South Africa Rebel Tour 30 Years On

It has been 30 years since the All Blacks rebel tour forced a split in the New Zealand public, Huw Richards writes for ESPN. “The match between the New Zealand Cavaliers and the Junior…

Planner Darryl Sargant Solving Calgary’s Sprawl

Planner Darryl Sargant Solving Calgary’s Sprawl

Darrell Sargent, Calgary’s coordinator of citywide planning, hasn’t lived in the Canadian city long, but the New Zealander says he understands one of the city’s most pressing problems. “Calgary is like Christchurch in that they…

Anthony Mosse Looks Back at Stellar Swimming Career

Anthony Mosse Looks Back at Stellar Swimming Career

New Zealand Olympic medallist Anthony Mosse, who was born in Hong Kong, is profiled in the South China Morning Post. Mosse, 51, now working for Virgin America in San Francisco, talks about the events…

Rory Fallon’s Ice Cream Business Hits Plymouth

Rory Fallon’s Ice Cream Business Hits Plymouth

Bristol Rovers football player Rory Fallon’s award-winning ice cream business The Cowlick Creamery is setting up its trike on the Plymouth waterfront just in time for the arrival of the first boats sailing into…