Blog Archives

Mobile Muscle Power

Mobile Muscle Power

Auckland Bioengineering Institute’s Biomimetics Lab scientists are developing “wearable energy batteries” capable of converting human movement into battery power. These would be light, soft, form-fitting, stretchy materials with mechanical properties that match human muscle….

Wall of History up for Prize

Wall of History up for Prize

Wellington’s Gibson Group is up for a global award for its 12-metre multimedia touchscreen display “Wall” designed to tell Copenhageners — and let them add to — the story of their city. The multimillion-dollar,…

NZPA To Close After 132 Years

NZPA To Close After 132 Years

New Zealand Press Association Chairman Michael Muir said the board of the 132-year-old agency has ordered a review to determine whether it could keep operating, and that NZPA would be closed within six months….

Elfin Airs For McKenzie

Elfin Airs For McKenzie

Former Conchord, Wellingtonian Bret McKenzie, is joining the cast of Peter Jackson’s epic The Hobbit as the elf Lindir from Rivendell. McKenzie previously played an elf nicknamed Figwit in The Fellowship of the Ring…

Don’t Mention Reconditioning

Don’t Mention Reconditioning

“Mention the words rest, reconditioning and Rugby World Cup in the same sentence to New Zealanders, and they are likely to break out in a cold sweat,” New York Times reporter Emma Stoney writes….

New Zealand Cradle for League

New Zealand Cradle for League

According to this year’s Australian NRL media guide, which lists the birthplace of each first grade and Toyota Cup player, New Zealand has overtaken Brisbane as a cradle for rugby league top-graders, with 67…

Winners at Caples in NY

Winners at Caples in NY

Draftfcb New Zealand was named the top winner and most awarded agency in Australasia at the 33rd annual John Caples International Awards held in New York on March 24. Draftfcb NZ picked up eight…

Anthropologist Of Avant-Garde

Anthropologist Of Avant-Garde

Inglewood-born artist Michael Stevenson is exhibiting at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art through June 19. Stevenson, who is based in Berlin, has been described as an ‘anthropologist of the avant-garde’. This exhibition is the…

Afghanistan Made Light

Afghanistan Made Light

Founder and CEO of Kabul-based renewable-power firm Sustainable Energy Services Afghanistan (SESA) New Zealand-raised Tony Woods says helping the poor was never his primary goal; he came to the energy business —…

Life of the Party

Life of the Party

New Zealand caterer Margot Henderson (standing) is profiled in the Spring/Summer issue of The Gentlewoman, a new British biannual style magazine. The restaurant founded by Henderson is called the Rochelle Canteen. It’s set in…

To Curb Or Not To Curb

To Curb Or Not To Curb

New Zealand is among several regions in the world where geese are in the crosshairs, Renata D’Aliesio writes for The Globe and Mail. “As the population of Canada geese continues to increase, so does…

Recording Four Letter Words

Recording Four Letter Words

New Zealand musician Simon Spire, 28, is forging a career on both sides of the globe simultaneously. Spire has lived in New York since 28. His second album, Four-Letter Words is due to be…

Te Ruki Kawiti

Te Ruki Kawiti

“In an English fort the ditch is deep, and outside the defences; in a New Zealand pa the ditch is shallow, and inside the palisades.  In an English fort, the ditch is made to…

Stones Analogies Welcomed

Stones Analogies Welcomed

Sam McCarthy, one half of Auckland duo Kids of 88, tells The Huffington Post’s Mike Ragogna the “whole ‘88’ thing sort of summed up the kind of cultural references and the bizarre things we…

Brooklyn’s NZ Pie Man

Brooklyn’s NZ Pie Man

New Zealander Gareth Hughes owns the Dub Pie Shop, in New York, an Antipodean oasis, where lattes come second on the menu to flat whites, good old Kiwi meat pies fill the pie warmer…

Versatile Move

Versatile Move

Auckland Blues versatile back Jared Payne is moving to Ulster on a three-year contract where he will play at either wing, centre or full-back. A former New Zealand Under-21 international, Payne made his Super…

Flyer Up for Sale

Flyer Up for Sale

The 12-year-old steam locomotive Kingston Flyer is being offered for sale on auction site Trade Me. With the locomotive come two beautifully wood-panelled passenger carriages, a kitchen van, several goods wagons, almost nine miles…

Zowie Likes Left-Field Types

Zowie Likes Left-Field Types

Electro pop star Aucklander Zowie — who opens Katy Perry’s shows in Australia and New Zealand during May — talks to MTV Australia about her idol Michael Jackson and about her debut album set…

Remembered Always

Remembered Always

The Prince of Wales has joined a congregation of some 19 — mainly made up of London-based New Zealanders — at a Westminster Abbey memorial service for the victims of February’s Christchurch earthquake. At…

Not All Sweetness and Light

Not All Sweetness and Light

“The beautiful island nation of New Zealand hides something ugly beneath its lush exterior, hundreds of its children under the age of 16, some even as young as 9, are alcoholics,” Pamela Wallace reports…

Star Rising in US Car Industry

Star Rising in US Car Industry

“Dan Ammann’s meteoric career track began with a call from his native New Zealand,” Detroit Free Press business reporter Chrissie Thompson writes. “We’ve got somebody very special whom we think should spend some time…

Mooloolaba First Place

Mooloolaba First Place

Whangarei-born Nicky Samuels has won the Mooloolaba Triathlon ITU World Cup event beating a strong international field taking her first victory at this level. Samuels led from the start of the second-stage 4km bike…

Global Merino Expert

Global Merino Expert

Icebreaker owner and CEO Jeremy Moon hated wool as a child. “I had to wear it as a kid and it was my nightmare — itchy, heavy and prickly. It sucked.” In 1994, a…

Bold, Courageous and Anarchic

Bold, Courageous and Anarchic

Te Aroha-born actor and co-founder of London’s Common Stock theatre group Frank Whitten, who died in February at the age of 68, was “a giant beanpole of a man who only seemed to open…

Air New Zealand: Fit To Fly

Air New Zealand: Fit To Fly

Richard Simmons gets you fit to fly in Air New Zealand’s in-flight safety video.

Jimmy Choux a Winning Freak

Jimmy Choux a Winning Freak

Hastings jockey Jonathan Riddell “is actually making some money after years of racing for scraps,” Andrew Eddy writes for The Age. Earlier this month, a cheque of $65, was deposited into his account after…

Air New Zealand: Crazy About Rugby

Air New Zealand: Crazy About Rugby

Air New Zealand show’s their crazy about rugby in their latest safety video.

Auckland’s Own Nantucket

Auckland’s Own Nantucket

“Once a hippie haven where forested blocks sold for a few quid, Waiheke is today dotted with multi-million-dollar holiday homes and slick cellar doors (although it remains a firm favourite with artistic types),” The…

Slaying the Cricket Giants

Slaying the Cricket Giants

The Black Caps head into the semifinals of the World Cup after beating South Africa by 49 runs at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Man-of-the-match Jacob Oram took two brilliant catches and captured…

Celebrities Love Taylor

Celebrities Love Taylor

“The fashion event of the week was definitely the celebration of designer Rebecca Taylor’s second boutique in New York’s Meatpacking District,” according to the Examiner’s Shea Peters. “Despite rain, snow, sleet, and slush celebs…

Easy On the Planet

Easy On the Planet

Sisters Andrea and Robin McBride’s eco.love is the first carboNZero Cert™ winery in the world; the pair tell American sustainable business innovator Paul Smith how it can be, coming all the way…

Deborah Wai Kapohe: Pokarekare Ana

Deborah Wai Kapohe: Pokarekare Ana

Deborah Wai Kapohe performs Pokarekare Ana.

Pokarekare Ana

Pokarekare Ana

A beautiful rendition of the much loved song, Pokarekare Ana.

Inviting Gods Into the Theatre

Inviting Gods Into the Theatre

“With a stunning combination of ceremony, ritual, dance and theatre, ,” will have its US premiere this week at the downtown Los Angeles’ Million Dollar Theater. Samoan…

One and only Topp Twins

One and only Topp Twins

Lynda Topp, one half of the “one-of-a-kind” Topp Twins, talks to Susan Cole of Now Toronto about the pair’s career and how they rode the wave while keeping their values intact. “It doesn’t matter…

Trading Dairy for Baht

Trading Dairy for Baht

New Zealand’s high quality food and beverage industry is responsible for market growth in Thailand, according to acting New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Thailand Thanadej Trakulyingyong. New Zealand’s food industry, in particular dairy products,…

Focus on Food

Focus on Food

The Gascoigne Associates-designed Japanese restaurant Cocoro in Auckland features on the World Interior Design Network site. “The interior décor features large squares of woven charcoal and chocolate carpet that resemble subtle tatami-style matting. All…

Snoop and Rico Salute Sun

Snoop and Rico Salute Sun

Air New Zealand’s mascot Rico has teamed up with US rapper Snoop Dogg to produce a music video for the airline. Rico, whose controversial antics promoted Air New Zealand’s Skycouch, joins Snoop, who dons…

One Courageous Dolphin

One Courageous Dolphin

Moko the dolphin, who resided at Mahia Beach for two and a half years from 27 to September 29, has been included in a Time magazine Top 1 list of history’s most courageous animals….

Hobbit Production Rolls

Hobbit Production Rolls

Production has now begun on Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Hobbit, set in Middle-earth 6 years before The Lord of the Rings. Not an earthquake, a health scare, a labour conflict, financial concerns…

Just Like Everybody Else

Just Like Everybody Else

“The world’s best rugby player” Dan Carter talks exclusively to The Telegraph about how he fled for his own safety during last month’s earthquake in Christchurch, and about how he helped the city in…

Opportunities for Growth

Opportunities for Growth

Business between New Zealand and India has reached nearly $87 million in the past two years, with India now New Zealand’s 1th largest market. Coal has led the list of trade items with India…

Delicate Design Hangs in Berlin

Delicate Design Hangs in Berlin

New Zealand-born designer and ceramicist Jeremy Cole’s porcelain Aloe Blossom suspension lamp hangs in the living room of German writer and producer Peter Schlesselmann’s one-bedroom flat in Berlin’s Tiergarten. The lamp has…

Breakers Beat the Kings

Breakers Beat the Kings

Star shooter Kirk Penney netted 26 points for the New Zealand Breakers against the Sydney Kings in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), with the New Zealand team winning 91-86 in Auckland. Both sides…

Children Rule On Big Screen

Children Rule On Big Screen

Children’s television series, The Tribe, which was first produced in New Zealand, is being developed into a film in the United States. According to Variety, “Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop has already agreed to tackle…

Century-Old Tradition To Go On

Century-Old Tradition To Go On

The All Blacks may continue to perform the haka at international matches after coming to an agreement with the tribe that created it, Ngati Toa Rangatira. There had been fears their chanting days were…

Royal Visit Lifts City’s Spirits

Royal Visit Lifts City’s Spirits

The scale of damage caused to Christchurch by last month’s earthquake is “unbelievable” said Prince William when he visited the city at the start of a tour of New Zealand. The prince walked through…

Tighthead Replacement for Ulster

Tighthead Replacement for Ulster

Auckland-born tighthead John Afoa has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract which will see him join Ulster in the autumn as soon the World Cup ends. Afoa is a direct replacement for 31-year-old Springbok BJ Botha…

Taiwan Looks to Closer Relations

Taiwan Looks to Closer Relations

The number of Taiwanese visiting New Zealand has increased by 4 per cent since Wellington granted Republic of China passport holders visa-free privileges last year, Taiwanese representative to New Zealand Elliot Charng said. New…

Volunteers Abroad in Pacific

Volunteers Abroad in Pacific

New Zealand’s Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) is expanding its programme in the Pacific re-establishing relationships with Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati, taking the number of Pacific countries it works in to seven. VSA chief executive…

Great Voice of Stories

Great Voice of Stories

New Zealand scriptwriter Graeme Tetley, whose body of work included films Vigil, Ruby & Rata, Bread and Roses and the Aramoana depiction Out of the Blue, has died in Wellington, aged 69. A script…

Erakovic Wins Title in Mexico

Erakovic Wins Title in Mexico

New Zealand tennis No. 2 Marina Erakovic won her 1th ITF singles title in the final of the US$25, ($NZ34,) Irapuato Challenger tournament in Mexico on March 14. The 23-year-old, ranked 287 in the…

Good Place To Be a Girl

Good Place To Be a Girl

New Zealand is the best place in the Commonwealth to be born a girl, according to a study undertaken by Plan International and the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS). New Zealand took the top spot…

Motivated to New Heights

Motivated to New Heights

New Zealand-born Dylan Hartley has received a lot of stick in the Six Nations but, instead of snapping back, England’s hooker tells The Independent’s Chris Hewett how he’s been motivated to hit new heights….

One-of-a-kind Parrot

One-of-a-kind Parrot

The kakapo, Strigops habroptilus, also known as the owl parrot, is the Guardian’s “Mystery Bird” this week. “This stunning but rare species is so unusual that it is the only member of its genus…

Fabled Serenity Endures

Fabled Serenity Endures

Despite the tragedy of February’s catastrophic earthquake, New Zealand still delivers sublime travel experiences, writes Chris Leadbeater for The Independent. “Since 1884 has played a role as a lone token of man’s…