All Aboard on a Tech Trip
Setting out on a New Zealand adventure to test technology, travel and entertainment on the road, air and rail, Forbes contributor Andy Robertson aims to avoid insulating he and his family “from the thrill…
Blog Archives
Man from the Deep
Thirty-two-year-old New Zealander William Trubridge, holder of 15 freediving world records, knows intimately the literal depths of the planet’s waters, Matthew Link writes for The South China Morning Post. “With no…
King-Wall Named Principal Dancer
Ty King-Wall, 26, from Katikati has been named the latest – and youngest – 12th principal artist of the Australian Ballet. The company’s artistic director David McAllister said he was certain King-Wall would make a great…
Change of Character
“Each city seems to have its own character and voice; each community has a completely different attitude to life,” Huffington Post freelancer Karen Edwards writes in a blog describing her recent trip….
Exports Soar to China
New Zealand’s food and beverage sector is experiencing a boom with demand from Asia, particularly China, New Zealand’s second largest export destination country, buying $2.9 billion worth of products. The Investor’s Guide to the…
Parisian Architectural Exhilaration
New Zealand-born architect Brendan MacFarlane, one half of Paris-based firm Jakob + MacFarlane, has had his hand in redesigning the French capital’s docks. The New York Times includes the Docks of Paris…
Hard to Fathom
“Stand humbled” at the exhibition ‘Whales: Giants of the Deep’, a show which originated at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and is now on at the American Museum…
US Talkshow Appearances
“Our next guest has been compared to everyone from Amy Winehouse to Pink. Here to perform from her new CD, Gravel and Wine. All the way from New Zealand, please welcome Gin Wigmore …”…
Alongside Her Idol
Top-ranked amateur golf player in the world, New Zealander Lydia Ko, 15, partnered with American professional Michelle Wie at Mission Hills Country Club in California, where the first major of the women’s…
Integrating Sound in E-books
New Zealand-based company Booktrack is redefining reading in its traditional sense by synchronizing sound to e-book reading in much the same way that movies synchronize sound to images, chair of New…
New Territory
New Zealand could adopt Maori names for its two main land masses after the New Zealand Geographic Board found that “North Island” and “South Island” were not official names under legislation, despite their common…
Nga Kupu Aroha Epilogue
Once you put something out there you just don’t know who will pick it up and where it will go. Since its birth in 2004 Nga…
Shot at Movieland
The New Zealand company behind Queenstown’s Shotover and Hukafalls jet boat tours is collaborating with Italy’s theme park Movieland in Verona to create a one-of-a-kind ride with a theme based on the…
Win on Strings at Windsor
A violinist from New Zealand, Benjamin Baker, 23, has won the Windsor Festival International Strings Competition (WFISC), held in the Waterloo Chamber of Windsor Castle, beating off finalists Marisol Lee from…
Cycling Through Spectacular
It’s a stunning experience to pedal 310 kilometres of the Alps 2 Ocean trail from New Zealand’s highest peak to the Pacific Ocean, writes Andrew Bain for The Sydney Morning Herald. “Alps 2 Ocean…
Sneak Peek at Smaug
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson has given his fans a sneak online preview of the next Hobbit installment, The Desolation of Smaug. Enthusiastic and barefoot, Jackson gave a little masterclass in Middle-earth filmmaking and…
All in One
“As much 50s rockabilly as dubstep devotee, there is no middle ground with the unique Mr Moon,” Gregor Hollerin writes for The Extra. New Zealand-born Moon’s debut album – Here’s Willy Moon…
It’s the Joy that Always Wins Out
New Zealand mountaineer George Lowe, the last survivor of the 1953 British expedition that conquered Everest, has died in Ripley, England aged 89. Hastings-born Lowe played a crucial part in the party’s success, displaying…
Making a Splash
Sixteen-year-old Takapuna Grammar student Ella Yelich-O’Connor, who goes by the stage name Lorde, is included in the “March 2013 playlist: Sweat” on news site RYOT. “Cerebral, self-evaluative and weaving in and…
Scrimp No More
New Zealand’s favourite breakfast spread, Marmite has returned to supermarket shelves for the first time in over a year, after shortages caused by the Christchurch earthquake. “You’ve rationed, you’ve scraped, you’ve survived marmageddon – and…
Strength to Strength
“Early signs suggest will bend toward something even more mysterious, beautiful, unsettling and satisfying than the mysterious, beautiful, unsettling, satisfying thing it is from the start,”…
Little Bit Ahead of Everyone
Lynda Topp, one half of New Zealand’s beloved comedic country music duo, The Topp Twins, has made history as the first-ever lesbian to appear on the cover of New Zealand’s weekly Woman’s Day magazine….
On the Path to Self-sufficiency
Lead singer of Echo Park-based band NO Bradley Hanan Carter was just one of 2500 bands performing in Austin at this year’s SXSW festival hoping to snare the attention of approximately…
On the Way to His NBA Dream
Seven-foot-tall Rotorua-born Steven Adams plays basketball for the University of Pittsburgh. “A 19-year-old with size-19 shoes, inhabiting a new world, enjoying a pit stop on the way to his NBA dream.” A “compelling” story…
Biblical Proportions
In his column for the UK Sunday Times, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson writes: “If you were God and you were all-powerful, you wouldn’t select Bethlehem as a suitable birthplace for your only child…
Everything is Not What it Seems
“It is typical of and visualise a pregnant 12-year-old girl walking into it up to her neck, the central image of what…
Top Chef in Washington
This year’s Embassy Chef Challenge held in Washington D.C. went to the Embassy of New Zealand’s chef Nathan Bates, who won all of three award categories in this two-part contest, making the trifecta win…
Leader of the Pack at Google
New Zealander Craig Nevill-Manning, Google’s engineering director in Manhattan, was the impetus behind the company’s decision to hire a cadre of engineers in New York, and he led an exodus to Chelsea from what…
King of the Hill Returns
New Zealand racing legend Rod Millen “conqueror of Pikes Peak – the world’s ultimate hillclimb event, is one of those rare men who competes in cars that he conceived and built.” Millen, “a firm…
We Love Visitors
New Zealand, along with Iceland, has been judged the world’s friendliest nation for tourists, according to the “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” released by the World Economic Forum, which ranked 140…
Focus on Liveability
Auckland inspires strong feelings in the editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine, Tyler Brûlé. “Dear Auckland,” Brûlé writes, “I realise it’s less than 96 hours since we parted company but I can’t stop thinking about the…
Stirring Up the US Market
“Challenging older, slower companies is all in a day’s work to many technology start-ups – and nowhere more so than in New Zealand,” says dual Canadian/New Zealand citizen Andrew Ferrier, currently the chair of New…
Absolutely the Real Deal
Christchurch-born teenager Scott McLaughlin, 19, continues to impress with slick showing in Albert Park V8 Supercars Challenge warm-up. McLaughlin, a Garry Rogers Motorsport driver, was impressive in the opening practice sessions of the Challenge…
Novel Makes Longlist
Emily Perkins’ novel The Forrests has made the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 longlist. The prize, known formerly as the Orange Prize, honours a work of fiction written in English…
Wartime President
New Zealand-born actress Stephanie Paul stars as the as the Palin-esque president of the United States, out to save the world in the German-Finnish-Australian thriller Iron Sky, which premiered in Berlin on 11 February….
Flipping out in a Biplane
“New Zealand offers just about every adventure activity you can think of – and many more you’ve likely never even considered,” Elissa Richard writes for Yahoo News Singapore. “Ever wanted to be a pilot? Or…
From Digital New York
Film director and writer New Zealander Anna Wilding writes on ‘Digital Hollywood and the Role of Content Creators’ for Herald de Paris. Having attended the recent Digital Hollywood Media Summit in New…
Rising Star of Artisan Dressmakers
New Zealand fashion designer Emilia Wickstead – “already one of the best-kept secrets in the upper echelons of London society” – has been recruited by Selfridges as a bespoke tailor for the department…
Backing Pies in NY
Nine years ago, New Zealand entrepreneur Gareth Hughes started Down Under Bakery (DUB) Pies in Brooklyn, New York. With his shop now selling 5000 items a week, Hughes is looking to expand and he’s…
Get Off the Beaten Track
New Zealand travel specialist for Condé Nast Traveler, South Island-based Jean-Michel Jefferson, offers video tips for trips throughout the country and insights into recent tourism trends. “We’re seeing much more family and multigenerational travel,”…
Equality for Economic Progress
Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Zealander Helen Clark, said the UN must not backtrack on women’s reproductive rights and that women must have access to health services. Speaking…
Bell Does Battle
Stuntwoman and actress New Zealander Zoë Bell, 34, headlines a “sly subversion of the women-in-prison genre”, Raze, which is playing in the ‘Midnight Section’ as part of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival,…
Doing It for Themselves
“If you are a working woman, you would do well to move to New Zealand,” according to The Economist, who have compiled their own “‘glass-ceiling index’ to show where women have the best chance…
Cable Sector Reflections
“As Neil Berkett prepares to depart the stage, the man who has arguably been the most successful CEO in UK cable said he was immensely proud of what has been built at…
Britain Gets a Health Lesson
Midlands Health Network in New Zealand is exploring how best to tackle the problem of the country’s ageing population. Midlands Health Network chief executive John Macaskill-Smith explains in the Guardian how Britain’s…
Making Music in Two Worlds
“Being a native of Auckland, singer-songwriter Simon Spire has had a foot in the door of two places since his transition to New York City,” The Aquarian Weekly’s Alessandra Donnelly writes….
Vinyl at Length
New Zealand sextet The Phoenix Foundation feature in the Guardian’s ‘New Music’ section this week, “return with a bittersweet first taster of their 80-minute long new album, Fandango.” “‘Damn the zeitgeist,…
Downton Appearance
World-renowned New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is scheduled to appear on the popular British period soap opera, Downton Abbey. Producers of the show announced that Te Kanawa will appear as a guest…
Beyond the Edge
The epic story of the first known ascent of Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay is to be made into a 3D feature by award-winning New Zealand documentary maker Leanne…
Bird-watching Masterpieces
Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans is recommended as a “must have for those with an interest in the birds of New Zealand or in bird…
Empowering the People
Lyttelton’s Harbour Co-op, which features in the March issue of Monocle, is a company wholly owned by its customers. “While New Zealand has a strong history of co-operatives, a consumer-owned food-retail…
Southern wild
Mount Cook and the Mackenzie Country feature in the March/April issue of the Australian Geographic. “Mt Cook lies within the Southern Alps, a series of mountain ranges stretching along the entire South Island. The…
Militant on the Mainland
“It sucks to be a possum in New Zealand,” according to The Atlantic’s Rachel Gross. “Cars swerve to hit you. Guns point toward you. People feed you little green pellets that taste like cinnamon;…
Painting our Failings
New Zealand artist Mark Cross exhibited part of his collection produced over the past 15 years on the Florida-based Projeckt30 online gallery through March. In his statement Cross says: “Oscillating between…
Amongst the World’s Best
Three New Zealand hotels are included in the 2013 Travel + Leisure compendium of the top-rated 500 hotels around the globe with The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs taking the No 16 spot…
Ned Going Gangbusters
“Brent Marris’ The Ned Waihopai River, made in Marlborough, has become the wine equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, a word-of-mouth bestseller, its name passed from school gate to dinner table to book group,…
