Kiwi Heroines Meet in New York City
They’ve taken the music and book worlds by storm and now Lorde and Eleanor Catton are sharing some bedtime reading. Lorde, real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor, and fellow Kiwi Catton caught up in the Big Apple…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Life on Board Ship a Daily Adventure into the Wild
For the past 24 years, New Zealand mountain climber Greg Landreth and Canadian photographer Keri Pashuk have been living on a sailboat, travelling thousands of nautical miles into some of the coldest and most…
Bespoke Diamonds for the Jet Set Available at the House
Rihanna, Madonna and Carine Roitfeld love New Zealand-born designer Jessica McCormack. But there’s only one way to buy her show-stopping jewels, the Telegraph explains, and that’s the old-fashioned way: visit her shop. Popstar Rihanna bought McCormack’s…
Aussies Envious at NZ’s Hot IPO Market
There are not many things in which New Zealand enjoys a marked superiority to Australia. Rugby and … It’s a short list. But for the last year, the trans-Tasman economic powerhouse has been casting…
Businessman Buys up Rights to Lennon’s Solo Recordings
New Zealand businessman Sir Douglas Myers has secured the rights to John Lennon’s music and some early Beatles records, he says in an exclusive interview with the Herald on Sunday. Meyers owns Downtown Music, a…
Adams on the Cusp of NBA Superstardom
New Zealand basketball sensation, Steven Adams, is causing big waves in his debut NBA pre-season games for the Oklahoma City Thunder (OCT). Some are calling for the rookie to be elevated above the starting…
Beyonce: NZ Tourism Ambassador
New Zealand got unparalleled international exposure from the recent tour by Beyonce, arguably the biggest music star on the planet at the moment. Whether posing for an Instagram with a Kiwi fan, promotion of…
Cambridge Cycle Path Has a Mind of Its Own
Hamish Scott’s “glowing, seemingly self-aware bike path” is being tested in Christ’s Pieces park in Cambridge. The New Zealander’s “Starpath” is a type of solar-enhanced liquid and aggregate made by UK-based Pro-Teq Surfacing, which…
Plans Afoot for Animated Comedy Set in NASA Office
Academy Award winner Wellingtonian Bret McKenzie, 37, is creating an animated workplace comedy for Fox set in the world of NASA, according to TV Guide. McKenzie will executive produce the untitled show he came up…
Days of Grey Meat and Three Veg Are Behind Us
Founder of Kent’s Moons Green Charcuterie, New Zealander John Doig, agrees with London delicatessen owner, the trend-setting Antonio Cardoso about promoting British farmers and too that charcuterie is a slow-pace, long-term income for them. Doig,…
We’ll Never be Royals – Clark
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark appears to have taken teenage pop sensation Lorde’s lyrical sentiment – “We’ll never be royals” – to heart. In comments following a meeting at Clarence House in London with…
All Black Greatness to be Tested
The mantle of greatness hangs easily around this year’s unbeaten All Blacks as they prepare for a tour of Japan, France, Britain and Ireland. Not that you would know it from the demeanour and…
Rare Chinese Carved Rhino Horns Sale Makes Auction Records
A pair of very rare 19th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horns has sold for a record $797,300 Auckland-based auction house Webb’s – 454 per cent above the estimate of $125,000 – $150,000. The…
Every Hour on Holiday Another Gorgeous Spot
After a two-week winter holiday in New Zealand, Washington couple Nikki Magaziner Mills and her husband Keith Mills tell the Washington Post in a readers travel column that pictures cannot do the country justice….
Perth Breakfast Host Turns His Alarm Clock Off
After more than four decades hosting Perth’s mix94.5 breakfast show, New Zealand-born radio announcer Fred Botica, 66, will be able to have a sleep-in ahead of a new shift in the afternoon drive program. Botica…
Curating the Authentic at the Paris Art Fair
With the International Contemporary Art Fair in Paris celebrating its 40th year, director of the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) New Zealander Jennifer Flay discusses the past, and the quality of art…
Grand Theft Auto Five Developer Requests NZ Audio Input
New Zealand-based technology company Arvus Digital has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto Five (GTA5) developer RockStarNorth used its unique audio technology High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) to AES/EBU digital audio converter the HDMI-2A. Arvus…
Photojournalist Awarded Grant for Condemned
01 November 2013 – New Zealand photojournalist Robin Hammond, 38, is the recipient of this year’s W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography, a US$30,000 prize in support of his…
Taking His Own Passions into New Sydney Role
Senior curator at the Christchurch Art Gallery Justin Paton has been named as the new head of international art at the Art Gallery of NSW and will take up the position in January. Paton has…
Young Soccer Player off to Flying Start in US
Aucklander Nicolai Berry, 19, is a freshman midfielder for the University of Buffalo (UB), and amid his transition to a new culture in the United States, Berry has excelled on the pitch, according to…
Coffee Revolutionaries Educate the Locals in Lyon
New Zealander Roz Morris James and her French partner Sadry Abidi, owners of Cafe Mokxa, are spearheading a slow but steady coffee revolution in France’s second biggest city, Lyon. Their 29 square metre…
Kiwi Making YouTube Waves with ‘Royals’ Cover
As Lorde goes from strength to strength, covers of her number one song ‘Royals’ are sprouting like mushrooms on YouTube, and now a second Kiwi is finding fame with his take on the world…
Postal Service to Reduce Deliveries from 2015
With more people emailing their correspondence rather than popping it in the mailbox, New Zealand Post will deliver mail as infrequently as three days a week to most customers from June 2015. The…
Talented Generation of Welsh Stars Mean Coach Could Stay
Wales coach New Zealander Warren Gatland, 50, has hinted he may stay with the “golden generation of stars” beyond the 2015 Rugby World Cup, according to WalesOnline. Gatland’s current deal with the Welsh Rugby Union…
World-First Footpath Lights up the Way
New Zealander Hamish Scott has had offers from all over the world for what could be the future in street lighting – glow-in-the-dark footpaths, which light up when the sun goes down. London-based Scott approached…
Sonny Bill Faces the Fear
Vulnerability, fear and palpable humbleness are not qualities normally associated with sporting star, Sonny Bill Williams. But in an interview with The Guardian, the footballer and occasional boxer opens up about recent and historic…
New Zealand Features in Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2014 Lists
Two New Zealand destinations have made their way into two Lonely Planet Top Ten list,s part of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014. Auckland features in the top ten cities in the world to…
BMX Canyon Leap Just Felt Right so He Sent It
Footage of New Zealand BMX sensation Kelly McGarry’s 20 metre leap, complete with backflip, across a Utah canyon gap has gone viral. The incredible stunt won Nelson-born McGarry, 31, the hearts and…
Hobbit Global Fan Celebration Event Planned
Director Peter Jackson has announced plans to preview footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at a “global fan celebration” on 4 November that will be simulcast in theatres and feature…
Letting Go of NZ Essential for Artists
If artists get a chance to leave New Zealand, says Thom Powers, co-founder of The Naked and Famous (TNF), then they must seize the opportunity. Los Angeles-based Powers is in the US with TNF…
Tramp the Past with Milford Anniversary Heritage Walk
The Milford Track is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a Department of Conversation (DOC) guided commemorative heritage walk to be held between 31 October and 3 November so that participating trampers may have…
Walker and De Mey Are the Fashion Business
New Zealander Karen Walker has been named as one of the world’s most influential designers by leading industry website The Business of Fashion. Walker was one of 118 designers included on the site’s annual Bo500…
Introspective New Album for LA-Based Singer
New Zealand-born singer and songwriter, Los Angeles-based Ted Brown has released his second album, An Unwide Ride; “an elegantly spare and tenderly introspective record”, recorded at Roundhead Studios in Auckland. In 1993, Brown…
Oscar Foreign-Language Submission a Battle of Wills
Based on the novella Medicine Woman by Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand’s 2014 foreign-language Oscar submission, White Lies (Tuakiri Huna) is a period drama about three women drawn together in conflict. David Rooney, reviewer for the…
Kiwis: Half a Century of Points Not Good Enough
Much sterner tests lie ahead but the New Zealand Rugby League team delivered an encouraging start to its defence of the World Cup with a 50-0 romp over the Cook Islands. The one-sided win…
On the Trail of Colour in Hokitika
For those “following the trail of the world created” in Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, the Telegraph suggests ten great things to do in Hokitika. Included in the list is a cycle…
McKenzie Stars in Austenland Though More a Brontë Man
Bret McKenzie, 37, one half of the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, stars opposite Jane Seymour in the new romantic-comedy Austenland, which opened in the UK in September. “I’m not a crazy Jane Austen…
Repatriation of Lost Ancestral Remains
A tattooed preserved Maori head, or toi moko, and skeletal remains, koiwi tangata, discovered in the anatomy department at the University of Birmingham, are being returned to New Zealand. University staff said the ancestral items…
Aotearoa Casts Its Shadow on the Clouds
“There is a playful antagonism between the inhabitants of New Zealand’s two islands, North and South,” Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton writes for the Guardian in a story about growing up in New…
Move to the Sunshine Has Rejuvenated Golfer
Queensland Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Hamilton-born Jim Cusdin, 28, credits a move to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast for revitalising his golf career. It was somewhat of a risk he says, but…
Nearly Naked Aussies Almost Pull One Over Nude Blacks
New Zealand blushes were spared in Dunedin, as the Nude Blacks narrowly edged an invitational Australian side in the annual naked rugby contest in the country’s southern-most city. To coincide with the Bledisloe test…
Lydia Ko Goes Pro: Teen Golf Sensation Makes Announcement With Help From Israel Dagg
Kiwi golf prodigy Lydia Ko has finally announced she has turned professional – but to mix things up a bit she has done so through a YouTube video and Twitter. A two-time winner…
Taxpayers Put Wind in Team NZ Sails
Taxpayers have thrown Emirates Team New Zealand a lifeline, courtesy of the Government’s “bridging investment” of NZ$5 million, to fund another bid to win the America’s Cup. The syndicate had sought NZ$6.1m but Economic…
Musket Room Cellar Tips for Future NZ Classics
23 October 2013 – The sommelier at New York’s first restaurant showcasing haute New Zealand cuisine, The Musket Room suggests we start cellaring future New Zealand classics before the rest of the world catches on. Erin…
Lorde’s Bid for the Big Time
Lorde makes it into the New Yorker this week, the subject of a profile by contributor and music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, who conducted several conversations with the 16-year-old about, amongst other things, how important…
Degrees Available in Healing with Humour
New Zealanders considering a career as a professional clown will now be able to earn a certificate, diploma or full Bachelor of Arts in Medical Clowning. The qualifications are scheduled to be launched in…
Katherine Mansfield Interacts with Google
Google commemorated the birthday of writer Katherine Mansfield on 14 October with an interactive doodle on its homepage, marking the 125th anniversary of the New Zealander’s death in Fontainebleau, France, aged 34. The first
Booker Winner Sells Luminaries to Spooks-maker
The makers of the critically acclaimed Spooks TV series have bought the rights to Eleanor Catton’s Booker prize-winning novel, The Luminaries. Catton, at 28-years the youngest ever Booker winner and her 832-page book the…
Leap to Victory at the Boekelo in the Netherlands
New Zealand eventer Lizzie Brown, 25, has claimed the biggest victory of her career, winning the 2013 Boekelo CCI3* in the Netherlands, ahead of veteran rider Sir Mark Todd. Brown, who is based…
Dixon Does It Again Claiming Third IndyCar Title
New Zealander Scott Dixon has claimed his third IndyCar championship, regardless of a fifth place finish at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Dixon won the title by 27 points over Power teammate Helio…
US$120 Street Stall Bargains Worth US$500K
It was not quite the million dollar masterpiece found in a garage but a New York-based New Zealand woman has potentially netted herself artwork worth half a million dollars – and it only cost…
Bledisloe Cup Whitewash with Win over Wallabies
The All Blacks have maintained their 100 per cent record this year, beating Australia at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin 41-33 to seal a 3-0 Bledisloe Cup whitewash, the BBC reports. Having clinched the…
Men of a Certain Age Rile Booker Winner
Sexism in the literary world is thriving, Man Booker prize winner Eleanor Catton says. The youngest-ever winner of one of the world’s most prestigious writing award says her book, The Luminaries, received a “bullying”…
Kiwi Drought Hits Choc-lovers
The price of Christmas chocolates look set to surge as the cost of key ingredients – including New Zealand milk – squeezes manufacturing margins. Milk powder prices have risen 50% in the year to…
Winter Wonderland for World’s Best In-Training
“Every August, the world’s best snowboarders come to work on big-air and physics-defying tricks in this tiny town hidden by mountains and surrounded by sheep,” New York Times reporter Joe Drapes writes. “The athletes…
Kiwis Make Accounting Sexy
The accounting software industry is not known as the sexiest business sector. But New Zealand cloud accounting software provider Xero is, Reuters reports, bringing spice and drama to the world’s greyest profession. “Oh, yeah, we’re…
