Geothermal Goodness
“When I first see Shane Beattie engulfed in clouds of steam, sweat running in rivulets from beneath his white chef’s cap,” Wanda Hennig writes in an article for South Africa’s Independent Online, “he looks…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Another Kind of Edge
President of the Mongrel Mob’s Napier chapter Rex Timu is one of a number of gang leaders rejecting violence and urging members to embrace mainstream values. Speaking over a hot chocolate in the cafeteria…
Qualifying for English Squad
Dannevirke-born Rangi Chase, 25, has been named Super League’s Man of Steel as the competition’s best player, ahead of inclusion in England’s Four Nations train-on squad. The Castleford star has opted to qualify for…
Sprinting for World Cup Status
Top New Zealand road cyclist and seven-time Tour de France veteran Julian Dean, 36, will join new Australian team GreenEDGE for the 2012 season. “With the quality of the team named, I’m confident we’ll…
Swinging Up the Ranks
New Zealand’s Danny Lee, 21, the 2008 US Amateur champion, has won the WNB Golf Classic for his first second tier United States Nationwide Tour title, beating former Georgia star Harris English with a…
Sick Paddling Earns Gold
Rotorua paddler Sam Sutton, 23, is still the fastest extreme kayaker in the world, defending his title with a new course record of 55.84 seconds at the Adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World…
New Zealand a Travel Success
New Zealand has won five awards at the 18th World Travel Awards in the Australasia category, with Air New Zealand voted as the region’s ‘leading airline’ and Wellington International as ‘leading airport’….
Nothing of the Golden Girl
A pre-True Blood Anna Paquin stars in the recently-released Margaret as 17-year-old Lisa Cohen, a senior at an upper West Side private school. The New Yorker’s movie editor Richard Brody writes that Paquin “brings…
Mystical Oscar Entry
Samoan-language feature The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is New Zealand’s first-ever entry into the best foreign-language film category for the 84th Academy Awards. New Zealand Film Commission CEO Graeme Mason said: “The…
Tempting Players Back Home
“New Zealand’s incredible dominance of rugby league in recent years is paving the way for a second team to enter an expanded NRL competition,” Daily Telegraph sports editor-at-large Phil Rothfield says. “Exactly 10…
Warriors Prepare for Battle
The Warriors have touched down in Sydney in preparation for Sunday’s NRL grand final having defied the odds to win against the Storm last weekend. Despite claims the team is favoured to win the…
Danger for Native Dolphins
New Zealand’s Hector’s dolphin population has fallen from 30,000 to around 7000 since nylon gillnets came into use in the 1970s while subspecies Maui’s dolphin is seriously threatened with numbers falling to fewer than…
Squared to Power of Awesome
Neil Finn’s “Kraut-inspired” Pajama Club recently performed a special set on Later With Jools Holland enlisting Ladyhawke on drums. Pajama Club also features Sharon Finn, Sean Donnelly and Alana Skyring. The band…
Handsome Encore
Christchurch-born baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes (right) performs with Australian David Hobson at the Perth Concert Hall on 29 October as part of their “encore” national tour. During a lunch where the conversation ranged from…
Provoking Perfumed Luck
Aucklander Isaac Sinclair is New Zealand’s sole perfumer and one of only 500 official perfumers worldwide. Sinclair, who grew up in Laingholm and Blockhouse Bay, trained in Milan and found his olfactory feet in…
Hawaiian Duet
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performed “a range of songs from the Baroque to Rachmaninoff, accompanied by friend and accompanist, Professor Terence Dennis” in a benefit concert for the Hawaii Opera Theatre in late September….
Whimsical Wannabe Snat
“Behind the tomfoolery, the chap who appears to have stumbled off the set of Withnail and I is making some of this year’s boldest music,” Guardian reviewer Dave Simpson writes about Connan Mockasin’s Manchester…
Caro to Direct Callas
Wellington-born film-director Niki Caro will assume writing and directorial duties for Callas, a film about the life of legendary opera star Maria Callas based on Alfonso Signorini’s book Too Proud, Too Fragile, according to…
Laminating in China
Auckland-based construction giant Fletcher Building Ltd has announced it is to build a new laminates plant in China through its Formica Group unit. Formica, which designs and manufactures laminates, would build its second China…
Restitution of History
France will return some 20 mummified heads of Maori warriors still held by its museums back to New Zealand at a ceremony in January. The restitution follows a four-year political struggle which ended in…
Eyeballing for Laughs
New Zealand award-winning comedian Sam Wills, 32, has drawn comparisons with Harpo Marx and Mr Bean, “though he is grungier and livelier than both” according to the Guardian’s Brian Logan who interviews Wills about…
Wondering About Kaitangata
Margaret Mahy’s Kaitangata Twitch is reviewed on the Guardian’s children’s book site, a site “by kids, for kids”. “The Kaitangata Twitch is an earthquake that happens regularly,” Bookworm 88 writes. “The island of Kaitangata…
Parallel Computing Hotbed
New Zealand could be a hub of expertise for parallel computing — “the future of computing” — according to software director at chip maker Intel James Reinders. Parallel computing is when software uses multicore…
Revelling in Rugby Fervour
“International commentators have revelled in New Zealand’s embracing of the , calling for the small nation to get a chance to host again — regardless of the financial drawbacks for the International…
Masterpiece Rereleased
Peter Jackson’s “masterpiece” Heavenly Creatures has been reissued on DVD and Blu-ray and is re-reviewed by the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw who says watching Jackson’s “masterly, formally daring, and superbly acted drama” was again, a…
Testing Theories of Existence
New Zealand and Australia are working together to build the most powerful radio telescope ever constructed, the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The international consortium behind the project — 67 organisations in 20…
Return of the Storm Petrel
DNA evidence has confirmed that the tiny New Zealand storm petrel bird, thought to be extinct for more than 150 years, is still alive, meaning its comeback eclipses that of other “extinct” birds like…
Milestone Made at Eden Park
“After being awarded a special commemorative cap for becoming the first man to reach 100 All Black caps, captain Richie McCaw told over 60,000 fans at Eden Park that now French demons have been…
Rather Unsettling Logic
“Twentysomething” New Zealand musician Connan Mockasin is on tour in the United Kingdom playing gigs in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Brighton. The Guardian includes London-based Mockasin in its website’s ‘This week in live…
More Presence than Santa
Warriors cult hero Manu Vatuvei averages more than 70m a game from inside his own half, providing the type of quick play-the-balls that ignite Warriors marches upfield. “ arguably the most powerful man…
Great Things Take Seasons
New Zealander Mark Burry is executive architect of the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona and part of a project that needs no completion date according to the Guardian’s Jonathan…
Soccer Challenges the Union
“You don’t have to follow rugby to know that the national team of New Zealand, the All Blacks, are the undisputed kings of this sport,” Wall Street Journal reporters Lucy Cramer and Jonathan Clegg…
Sharing the Medals
Linda Villumsen, cycling for New Zealand, earned silver in the elite women’s race against the clock at the 2011 UCI Road Championships in Copenhagen, while New Zealand cyclist James Oram won a silver medal…
Desert Diplomats Draw Closer
The New Zealand Embassy in Riyadh recently played host to a special meeting of 100 trade and investment leaders from the Saudi Arabian business community including New Zealand businessmen who live in the Kingdom….
Top of the Podium for Dixon
New Zealand speedster Scott Dixon driving for Ganassi Racing, has won the IndyCar Series’ Indy Japan 300 mile auto race at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi. And if there’s one word that describes Dixon…
On the Beach in Devonport
Auckland artist Kirsty Nixon is staging a solo exhibition of 15 iconic beach and coastal paintings at Devonport’s Art by the Sea Gallery from 8 October to 27 October. Nixon paints warm…
Rock ‘n’ Roll Running
Papakura-born athlete Kim Smith, has broken her personal US all-comers record winning the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in 67:10, seven weeks out from the ING New York City Marathon. “I knew I…
Lucerne Greens Up the Dry
Farmer of the Year Marlborough lamb and beef producer Doug Avery was a guest at the Queensland Agforce conference in September giving Australians tips on drought proofing their properties. The ABC’s Landline executive producer…
Notes For the Animals
Christchurch-born soprano Hayley Westenra, 24, talks to the Daily Mail’s Jon Wilde about hiring Victoria Beckham’s minder to deal with stalkers and reaching notes only animals can hear. “Certain animals will prick up their…
Baronial City Still Impressive
“A plan for was laid out on paper in Scotland and given the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Dun Eideann,” The Independent’s Adrian Mourby explains. “There were high hopes of this port settlement,…
Elevating Comfort Food
“In the global landscape of New York City dining, New Zealand is underrepresented,” The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Lancaster writes. “Chef Mark Simmons, best known for a stint on the fourth season of Top…
Comparing Notes in Casper
Aucklander Donna Thompson (right) has been writing to Wyoming woman Peg Scott since she was 12-years-old. The pen pals finally met 46 years later over breakfast at Sherrie’s Place in Casper, Wyoming. At school…
Sensitive Golfing
In the space of three weeks this winter, Cape Kidnappers Golf Course was honoured as the most environmentally sensitive golf course in New Zealand, and by GOLF Magazine as the 33rd ranked golf course…
Pass Mark Against Blossoms
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has given his team a pass mark following their 83-7 thrashing of Japan in the Rugby World Cup Pool A match on 16 September. Henry said the…
Seriously Shaken
“By the standards of global hipness, New Zealand – where local food is a way of life and you’re as likely to see a beard on a farmer as on a barista – has…
Scrumptious Colours in NY
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor was aiming for something “modern, ethereal and angelic,” at this month’s New York Fashion Week where Taylor previewed her spring 2012 collection. The angelic part was evident in filmy…
Fashion Blogging Self Love
New Zealander Gala Darling, 27, is making a big name for herself as a fashion blogger and is one of only ten to fly to Barcelona in October as a guest of…
Lit Up on Coconuts
The electricity demands of New Zealand territory Tokelau will soon be met by renewable energy sources. Tokelau’s leader Foua Toloa has announced that by the middle of 2012, 93 per cent of Tokelau’s electricity…
Time to Read the Tome
Hamilton Doctor Who fan and author of the ultimate guide to the time traveller’s adventures Jon Preddle began work on his two volume epic Timelink: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Continuity of…
Five Trophies at Five Nations
New Zealand has won five trophies at the inaugural Five Nations Wine Challenge, judged in Sydney. Each of the five nations – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina – was represented by…
Film on the Ground in LA
Film New Zealand and Wellington post production outfit Park Road are joining forces to open a Los Angeles-based office. From 2012, head of marketing at Park Road Post Production Vicki Jackways will represent the…
Mutual Love of the Outdoors
New Zealand-based active-lifestyle clothing company Icebreaker – one of a number of new international fashion and fashion-related retailers operating in Canada – opened a store in Vancouver this year, attracted largely by British Columbians’…
Dorsal Fin Encounters
“Kaikoura is not a name that trips off the tongue when you list those lucky places that offer encounters with nature and a touch of luxury,” The Independent’s Jonathan Lorie reports. “But this township…
Big Doses of Epinephrine
“If careening downriver at 50 miles per hour in a boat that came within inches of jagged cliff walls hadn’t woken me up and floating backwards through a swirling rapid named Toilet hadn’t elicited…
Aim and Fire Over Canada
A sniper cell from New Zealand was one of 27 teams taking part in the annual Canadian International Sniper Concentration at Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown. Captain John Bourgeois, the officer in charge of…
Worldwide Audience Wowed
“New Zealand were impressive in spots as they got their Rugby World Cup off to a winning start,” according to the Guardian’s Barry Glendenning who gives an in-depth minute-by-minute analysis of the All Blacks…
