Blog Archives

Photographer Frances Melhop Winters in Silver City

Photographer Frances Melhop Winters in Silver City

New Zealand born photographer and illustrator Frances Melhop, voted one of the World’s 200 Best Advertising Photographers 2009/2010 by Lürzers Archive, will bring her skills and talents to the Resident Artist Program in Silver…

Ben Stokes Smashes His Way into Record Books

Ben Stokes Smashes His Way into Record Books

New Zealand-born cricketer Ben Stokes’ “stunning” 258 runs for England at Newlands in Capetown broke a host of records in early January, including the second-fastest double century, and helped raise the spirits of flood-hit…

Fiji Appointment for Prof Nigel Healey

Fiji Appointment for Prof Nigel Healey

Professor Nigel Healey has been appointed the new vice-chancellor of Fiji National University (FNU) with the New Zealander, who is currently the pro-vice-chancellor and head of the college of business, law and social sciences…

Adventurer Captures NZ’s Untouched Beauty

Adventurer Captures NZ’s Untouched Beauty

Professional photographer, Belgian-born Johan Lolos, 28, travelled through New Zealand for one year exploring and photographing its beauty. His images have attracted more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. “After my year travelling in…

Ben Franks up for London Irish Challenge

Ben Franks up for London Irish Challenge

Ben Franks, 31, knew what he was getting himself in for when he joined London Irish. The double World Cup winning prop from Christchurch received far more lucrative offers from French clubs, but he…

New Zealand’s Lavender Farms Inspiration for Novel

New Zealand’s Lavender Farms Inspiration for Novel

Research for her first novel Jakob’s Colours took British writer Lindsay Hawdon and her two young sons to the Land of the Long White Cloud and its fragrant lavender fields, reports the Independent. Hawdon writes…

Lesley Vanderwalt’s Mad Max Work up for BAFTA

Lesley Vanderwalt’s Mad Max Work up for BAFTA

If the hair and makeup from the post-apocalyptic science-fiction film Mad Max: Fury Road looks out of this world, it very well might be, according to the Los Angeles Times. That’s because hair and…

Choreographer Parris Goebel Born to Dance

Choreographer Parris Goebel Born to Dance

If you were one of more than 500 million recent YouTube views for Justin Bieber’s song “Sorry” and were dazzled by the dancing, know that the moves originated from the mind of New Zealand-born…

Pat Deavoll in Training for Tirich Mir Ascent

Pat Deavoll in Training for Tirich Mir Ascent

New Zealand mountaineer Pat Deavoll, 56, is planning ahead to 2017 when she will climb Tirich Mir (7708m), the highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayan/Karakoram chain. Ahead of that, she will…

Manu Bennett and Jed Brophy Take up Noalath

Manu Bennett and Jed Brophy Take up Noalath

In a Shannara Chronicles “Behind the Scenes” MTV video, New Zealanders Manu Bennett, who plays the druid Allanon, and Jed Brophy, demon king Dagda Mor, reveal their thoughts about the made-up language entitled Noalath…

Australian Travel Show Dedicates Episode to Capital

Australian Travel Show Dedicates Episode to Capital

Wellington’s “amazing culture, incredible creativity, and beautiful food” was recently showcased to one million Australians on Explore TV, which aired in January on Channel Nine across Australia. During an episode dedicated to Wellington,…

Measuring the Anzacs for Online Database

Measuring the Anzacs for Online Database

Researchers at Waikato University are calling on the public to help create an online database of all the New Zealanders who served during World War One for a project called Measuring the Anzacs. Volunteers are…

Everyone’s Listening to Nadia Reid’s Debut

Everyone’s Listening to Nadia Reid’s Debut

Singer Nadia Reid’s highly rated debut,Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs is included in the Guardian’s annual roundup of “The Albums We Missed” column. Reviewer Michael Hann says: “It took 24-year-old New Zealander Reid seven…

Barnie Duncan’s …him a Living Thriving Piece of Art

Barnie Duncan’s …him a Living Thriving Piece of Art

“New Zealander Barnie Duncan has created an unusual yet intriguing piece of art that is somewhat unpleasant in a refreshing way, and yet able to draw in the audience with subtlety … in a…

James Bertram’s Mao Zedong Letter Sold at Sotheby’s

James Bertram’s Mao Zedong Letter Sold at Sotheby’s

A letter from Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong sent to British Labour leader Clement Atlee and typed by New Zealand-born journalist James Munro Bertram, has sold at Sotheby’s for £605,000, more than…

Scott Kelly Creates Flags for Star Wars Galaxy

Scott Kelly Creates Flags for Star Wars Galaxy

New Zealand-born Scott Kelly, an advertising art director based in London, has spent “way, way too long” designing flags for 103 planets in the Star Wars universe. Kelly has created flags for planets featured not…

Marlon Williams Debut a Rolling Stone Favourite

Marlon Williams Debut a Rolling Stone Favourite

Marlon Williams’ solo debut was one of the albums that defined the year, according to Rolling Stone Australia, which includes the self-titled debut in their 50 Best Albums of the Year list. Rolling Stone writes: “The…

Lyttelton Is Banking on Time

Lyttelton Is Banking on Time

When the port town on Lyttelton was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, a time bank – the first of its kind in New Zealand – helped the community harness the resources to rebuild. Time banking…

Helen Clark Says Living Standards of 2 Billion Better

Helen Clark Says Living Standards of 2 Billion Better

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), led by New Zealander Helen Clark, says that 2 billion people have lifted themselves out of low human development in the last 25 years. The Human Development…

Pataka Taonga Returned to New Plymouth

Pataka Taonga Returned to New Plymouth

Five intricately carved storehouse carvings have been returned to New Zealand after 150 years buried in a swamp and 40 years exile in Europe. They are the Motunui epa and once were almost sold off…

Andrew Nicholson Breaks round the World Record

Andrew Nicholson Breaks round the World Record

New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, a former Olympic speed skater, has cycled around the world in 123 days breaking the world record set by Englishman Alan Bate by two days. Nicholson, 45, a part-time gym instructor…

Maggie & Rose Kids’ Club Opens in Hong Kong

Maggie & Rose Kids’ Club Opens in Hong Kong

Exclusive private children’s club Maggie & Rose, founded in Kensington, London by New Zealander Maggie Bolger (pictured left) and Briton Rose Astor in 2007, has opened its doors in Hong Kong. The aim of the…

Dan Carter BBC Overseas Sports Personality of 2015

Dan Carter BBC Overseas Sports Personality of 2015

New Zealander Dan Carter has beaten tennis champion Serena Williams and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to take the title of BBC Overseas Sports personality of the Year. The Paris Racing 92 fly-half was crowned World…

Robin Hammond Portraits Some of TIME’s Best

Robin Hammond Portraits Some of TIME’s Best

Two of New Zealand-born photographer Robin Hammond’s images from his Where Love is Illegal series have been included in a list of TIME magazine’s best portraits of the year. The photographs, one of which made TIME’s…

Lorde’s Second Chapter Is about to Begin

Lorde’s Second Chapter Is about to Begin

Lorde, in Marques’ Almeida, poses together with American singer and actress Zendaya, 19, in Vogue magazine’s January 2016 issue for a “Be Yourself” spread which includes athletes, artists, writers, dancers and models. “As fashion, following…

Jemaine Clement the Protagonist

Jemaine Clement the Protagonist

New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement’s performance in the “not quite rom-com” People Places Things “is understated, often characterised by the type of deadpan wit familiar to fans of his breakout HBO series Flight of…

Where to Find the Best Meat Pies in NZ

Where to Find the Best Meat Pies in NZ

“The mystical New Zealand of contemporary cinema is replete with hobbits and talking trees. But the real New Zealand is rich with leaf-lard crusts containing the unctuous delights of braised mutton, minced beef, and…

Bruce Russell’s Plum Sauce a Breakfast Charmer

Bruce Russell’s Plum Sauce a Breakfast Charmer

Back in March 1992 in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, The Dead C vocalist Bruce Russell and his wife Kate McRae entertained Siltbreeze record label owner Tony Lax over breakfast where they enchanted him with a…

Louis Schulz One of Turner Prize-Winning Assemble

Louis Schulz One of Turner Prize-Winning Assemble

A collective of 18 young architects called Assemble – one of whom is New Zealander Louis Schulz – has become the first group of “non-artists”, and the youngest, to win the annual £25,000 British…

Charlie Smith Trades in Wedding for Dream Sail

Charlie Smith Trades in Wedding for Dream Sail

Former ITV weather presenter and model New Zealander Charlie Smith, 27, and her fiancé, who goes by the name, Captain, 34, made the choice to sell their house and put their wedding plans on…

Where Chef Margot Henderson and Family Dine

Where Chef Margot Henderson and Family Dine

New Zealander Margot Henderson, chef of London’s beloved Rochelle Canteen lets Lucky Peach magazine in on the south London spot, Canton Arms where she and her family unwind. “ serves the sort…

On the Waiheke Wine Trail

On the Waiheke Wine Trail

When you land in New Zealand, the wine is closer than you think according to Lori Rackl, a freelance journalist writing for the Los Angeles Times. Rackl begins her vineyard tour on Waiheke Island…

Mark King Photographs the Pristine Pre-Railway

Mark King Photographs the Pristine Pre-Railway

New Zealand-born photographer Mark King, 41, has used state-of-the-art lasers to show how a controversial planned high-speed railway in the UK will cut through the countryside. King’s photos show two laser beams replicating the track…

Marvel Gives Lydia Ko Comic Book Treatment

Marvel Gives Lydia Ko Comic Book Treatment

Lydia Ko, 18, might as well be a super hero, according to Korea Times correspondent Brian Han. That’s why Marvel teamed up with ESPN to give the New Zealand golf champion the comic book…

Brain-Eating Rose McIver Owns TV Role

Brain-Eating Rose McIver Owns TV Role

New Zealander Rose McIver, star of iZombie, one of the Los Angeles Times’ best new television shows of 2015, is “incognito as a coroner’s assistant, find the space between Veronica Mars and Buffy the…

Karen Walker Hits The Slopes

Karen Walker Hits The Slopes

A surprise return to snowboarding has prompted New Zealand designer Karen Walker to reconsider the beauty of old-school ski suits. Last winter, Walker’s seven-year-old daughter convinced her to strap into a snowboard for the first…

Legions of Fans Greet Author Lang Leav in KL

Legions of Fans Greet Author Lang Leav in KL

Best-selling poet and author Lang Leav’s cult following of devoted fans from all over the world, began with her poetry being shared by millions on Tumblr and eventually culminated with the publication…

Mark Inglis Looks Back at the Top of the World

Mark Inglis Looks Back at the Top of the World

In Hyderabad, India to give a talk to the students of Woxsen School of Business, the first double amputee to climb Mt Everest, New Zealander Mark Inglis said the best decision he ever made…

Long-legged Arachnids Go to Battle

Long-legged Arachnids Go to Battle

Entomologists from the University of Auckland have found that harvestmen, Pantopsalis cheliferoides, which live in the wet forests of the North Island, are the first animals found to have different types of weapon in…

Christchurch an Absolute Delight

Christchurch an Absolute Delight

Disembarking in Christchurch after a TranzAlpine rail journey through “knockout” landscapes, Economic Times reporter Charukesi Ramaduri says that though there are signs of the devastating earthquake of 2011 everywhere, it is equally clear Christchurch…

Jess Johnson’s Wurm Haus an Otherworldly Experience

Jess Johnson’s Wurm Haus an Otherworldly Experience

New Zealand-born artist Jess Johnson’s new exhibition, on at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is arresting – a series of geometrical, pastel-toned psychedelic prints that bring to mind fantastical worlds and video games….

Great Food and Beer Intersect in Wellington

Great Food and Beer Intersect in Wellington

“Like Melbournians, Wellingtonians take their food and drink culture extremely seriously,” Jason Lim reports for Forbes. “The city is said to have more restaurants, bars and cafes per capita than New York. “Wellington is blessed…

Virgin’s Tom Mockridge Talks New Challenges

Virgin’s Tom Mockridge Talks New Challenges

New Zealander Tom Mockridge, chief executive of British cable group Virgin Media, talks with the Financial Times about broadband, News Corp and why UK football television rights need a big shake-up. Mockridge is so habitually…

John Metcalfe Blends Influences on Sycamore

John Metcalfe Blends Influences on Sycamore

One-time member of post-punk band the Durutti Column, composer, arranger and viola player New Zealand-born John Metcalfe has written “Sycamore,” which draws on the disparate influences of minimalist composer Steve Reich and the electronic…

Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty

Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty

New Zealander Rachel Hunter, once one of the world’s most-photographed supermodels, is now on a quest to discover the secrets of lasting beauty, great health and extraordinary longevity in diverse cultures around the world,…

Works by Susan Te Kahurangi King a Miami Must See

Works by Susan Te Kahurangi King a Miami Must See

The booth of Auckland artist Susan Te Kahurangi King is one of seven must-sees at this year’s Art Basel Miami, according to New York’s Observer. “It’s impossible to pick a favourite, but it will be…

Jess Murphy’s Kai Cafe Making Fans

Jess Murphy’s Kai Cafe Making Fans

Kai Cafe and Restaurant was opened by New Zealander Jess Murphy and her Irish husband, David in 2011, with a simple formula – high-quality produce, preferably organic or wild, sourced locally and cooked intelligently….

New Zealand a Majestic Set for Shannara Chronicles

New Zealand a Majestic Set for Shannara Chronicles

MTV’s new fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles is set in the future but features elves and gnomes and promises plenty of old-fashioned adventure all filmed in the town of Kumeu, in New Zealand’s scenic…

Norman Harris – Not Bad for an Old Jogger

Norman Harris – Not Bad for an Old Jogger

New Zealand-born sportswriter Norman Harris, organiser of London’s Sunday Times National Fun Run, and quite possibly the inventor of the word “jogger”, has died in Britain. He was 75. Harris worked as a sports reporter…

On the Road with Strictly Dancer Brendan Cole

On the Road with Strictly Dancer Brendan Cole

Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing star, New Zealand-born Brendan Cole breaks off from a journey to Blackpool to speak about this year’s show and his new tour, which will call in to Dorset early next…

Fighting the IS Publicity War

Fighting the IS Publicity War

New Zealander Janna Hamilton, who has worked for Oxfam in the Middle East and Africa, largely with Syrian refugees on the Jordanian and Lebanese borders, argues in an opinion piece for the New Zealand…

Tiny House Fits Lily Duval to a T

Tiny House Fits Lily Duval to a T

A home is not just a building, it’s also a state of mind. For Christchurch woman Lily Duval, 28, it meant creating a charming, cozy space out of her self-built 14sqm tiny home, where…

Compliments on Nadia Reid’s Extraordinary Debut

Compliments on Nadia Reid’s Extraordinary Debut

New Zealand singer-songwriter Nadia Reid’s Look for the Signs is an “extraordinarily assured debut”, Guardian reviewer Kitty Empire writes. The track Call the Days “suggests an Antipodean Laura Marling, a talented 24-year-old with a preternatural…

Artist Gary Yong Sand Bags Dubai Beach

Artist Gary Yong Sand Bags Dubai Beach

New Zealand-born street artist Gary Yong has been in Dubai participating in the UAE Innovation Week, which saw him place 1600 bags of sand along Jumeirah Beach Residence’s open beach for a piece he…

Why New Zealand Shouldn’t Be a State of Australia

Why New Zealand Shouldn’t Be a State of Australia

The Australia liberal senator Ian Macdonald has caused a media ruckus joking that New Zealand should become Australia’s “seventh and eighth state”. Guardian correspondent Eleanor Roy, who is “half Aussie, half Kiwi”, explains that…

Golfing Star Lydia Ko Picks up Another Trophy

Golfing Star Lydia Ko Picks up Another Trophy

Eighteen-year-old Aucklander Lydia Ko has scooped the US$1 million LPGA Tour jackpot and has been named the women’s LPGA Player of the Year, becoming the youngest in its 49-year history to do so. Ko retained…