Bet on the Baa Blacks
The town of Methven (population 1200) recently hosted a sheep-race, which saw two teams of eight “professionally trained” sheep speed round the local pub and over barrels at speeds of over 40kmp/h. Organiser and…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Eblack strummer wins
New Zealander Mason Maddox or “massi4h”, a member of the 2009 eBlacks team, has won a gold medal at the World Cyber Games Asian Championship in Singapore. Maddox won gold competing on the Xbox…
Pastry Mad In The Bay
Aucklander Alka Patel has taken the New Zealand pie to the streets of San Francisco, selling the pastry goodness at Stonestown farmers’ market. “I sold out of everything both days,” Patel told SFoodie, including…
On display in Venice
The work of New Zealand artists Judy Millar (above) and Francis Upritchard (below) at the 53rd International Venice Biennale is beautifully showcased in a photographic essay by Ronnie Peters on his blog RonnieWorld. “Artist…
Stellar young talent
Eleanor Catton, 24, has been praised in the first international reviews for her novel, The Rehearsal, receiving rave write-ups in influential publications The Scotsman, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Tom…
In Praise of Hard Work
Radio New Zealand has received a Gold Medal at the recent New York Festival Radio Awards for its documentary on the life of Mount Everest conqueror, Sir Edmund Hillary. The medal went to ‘It’s…
Supernova discovery
Oxford dairy farmer Stuart Parker, 37, had been scanning the North Canterbury skies through his telescope for 15 years searching for a supernova before finally coming across one – now named SN2009GJ – on…
Straight to the point
Two hard-hitting, ‘in your face’ anti-speeding campaigns from Colenso and Saatchi & Saatchi — who were both awarded Bronze Lions at the recent 2009 International Advertising Festival in Cannes
Everyman’s House
Artist Dick Frizzell’s Haumoana home ‘Faraway’ – “a sky blue, maritime-themed house that is surrounded by an olive grove, an orchard and a flower and vegetable garden” – features in the real estate section…
Unbeatable on the Thames
New Zealand have beaten the British at the five-day Henley Royal Regatta winning gold in four finals. New Zealand won the head-to-head clashes 3-2, Mahé Drysdale getting revenge for the 2007 final against Alan…
Pakiri Paradise
Horse-riding on a secluded North Island beach is one of the activities included in the series and accompanying BBC book Unforgettable Things To Do Before You Die; examiner.com reporter Jenna Voigt decides to complete…
Piecing life together
Mt Maunganui artist and jigsaw puzzle creator Royce McClure, 53, was in India this month assembling a 25,000 piece puzzle he designed for a Lipton Tea promotion. A veteran of over 180 puzzles and…
Bedroom Dealings
Westport couple Wayne Saggers and Kathy Wahrlich sold their bed and threw in six-bedroom historic Stone House in an online auction on TradeMe for $302,600 to an Aucklander named, Mike. The package, which had…
Jet back to Oshkosh
Christchurch inventor Glenn Martin, 49, will make another appearance, albeit without his Martin Jetpack, at this year’s EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to report on the progress of his personal flying machine, to give…
Online generation bridge
Auckland City Libraries and the New Zealand Chinese Association Auckland Inc. have joined forces to develop the first New Zealand Chinese digital communities website, which will be launched at the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas…
Front row seat for Kirk
Former Fairfax boss and All Black great David Kirk is the newly appointed executive chairman of the Pacific Equity Partners-owned Hoyts cinema group. The move, which will also see Kirk invest his own money…
Sting in UK market
Family-owned business Nelson Honey is seeking approval to market its bee venom honey in Britain, claiming the product alleviates the symptoms of arthritis. Britain’s Food Safety Authority has to approve the marketing of any…
On the rocks
Minus5 creator Craig Ling has opened another ice bar, this time in Stillwater, Minnesota. “Patrons looking for something really cool will now be able to don a parka and gloves and step into an…
Hell has no borders
New Zealand fastfood chain Hell Pizza will open 30 franchises throughout Ireland by 2016. The first Hell’s Pizza was launched in Dublin earlier this year, which made Ireland the fifth country to open a…
Currant discovery
A recent study lead by Roger Hurst of the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research (NZIPFR), has discovered that blackcurrant extract improves athletic performance. The findings, which were published in the American…
True Colours
The oldest moa feathers yet discovered and their DNA are providing New Zealand and Australian scientists with clues to the plumage of the giant bird – perhaps not unlike a giant chicken and speckled…
Creators and Destroyers
The history and breathtaking landscape of New Zealand’s first national park, Tongariro (which dominates the middle of the North Island) is subject to an in-depth analysis by travel writer Mel White and photographer Stuart…
Little Island Paradise
Waiheke Island, in the North Island’s Hauraki Gulf has placed 6th in the 2009 list of the ‘World’s Best Islands to Live On’ by Islands magazine, and is praised in particular for being emigration-friendly…
By Hook or by Hudson
Christchurch car enthusiasts Tony and Lynnette Mallard are touring the United States in a 1934 Hudson making their way toward the Detroit suburb of Pontiac and the 100th anniversary celebration of the Hudson Motor…
Emerging from underground
New Zealand music icons The Bats and The Clean both release new albums this year and in “anticipation of this sudden surge in Antipodean creativity, rang up the Bats…
Take a Seat
Wellington-based office seating and furniture company, Formway Design has featured recently in Fast Company, Time and The Wall Street Journal for its work on the Generation by Knoll office chair — a…
Accolades for Catton
Wellington author of The Rehearsal (Victoria University Press, NZ and Granta, UK) Eleanor Catton, 23, has won the UK’s Betty Trask Award worth £8,000. Sebastian Faulks presented £60,500 in prize money to twenty-one writers…
Redhead Hopes She Has
New Zealand native Rachel Paget, 37, is competing in the American reality television show She’s Got the Look hoping for a win and a photo spread in Self magazine, a contract with Wilhelmina, and…
Back for More
Rugby great Jonah Lomu, 34, is to join French third division side Marseille Vitrolles. And Lomu hopes that, together with fellow new boys Alain Hyardet, Isitolo Maka, Julian Vulakoro and David Gerard, he can…
Icy Kicks
Queenstown’s annual week-long Winter Festival saw mountain bikers tear down Coronet Peak’s slopes, near-naked bird people leap into a freezing Lake Wakatipu and cross-dressing men in heels sprint toward victory in a drag race….
Moral repatriation
More than a dozen mummified Maori heads could be returned to New Zealand once a French bill is approved by the Senate in Paris. “The Maori heads that are still dispersed in European and…
Hot in the Isles
Ladyhawke played to a packed audience, including The O.C. A-lister Mischa Barton, in the John Peel Tent at this year’s Glastonbury Festival on June 28. “Pip Brown and her band played a charged set…
Abstract-minded
New Zealand-inspired prints by American artist and solarplate expert Dan Welden feature in an exhibition at Adelphi University, Garden City, with some of the paintings evoking those of Colin McCahon. Both artists use abstraction…
Rising Star
Christchurch-born singer Boh Runga is the “next singer-songwriter to keep your eyes on” according to music site Top40-charts, which goes on to describe LA-based Runga’s latest solo album Right Here as “strongly reflective of…
Antipodeans reminisce
New Zealanders flocked to London’s Clapham Common to celebrate all things pineapple lump and barbeque over music and sauvignon at the three-day Toast festival. The welcome ceremony was hosted by former All Black Zinzan…
Lover of Words Passes
Respected literary scholar and Professor Terry Sturm, who played a leading role in placing New Zealand literature at the centre of the academic curriculum and was awarded a CBE in recognition of his services…
Holiday With Gradient
At 2797m, Mt Ruapehu is the North Island’s highest peak with the largest area of patrolled skifield in the country on the Whakapapa side, and on the Turoa, Australasia’s longest vertical rise of 722m….
Two men and a bear
Teddy, a short film directed by New Zealanders Christopher Banks and produced by Andy Jalfon, screened at the recent San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. The 13 minute film is about the romance and…
Being a Sport
When interacting with New Zealanders “bone up” on the intricacies of how rugby and cricket are played, expect the dialogue to be frank yet friendly, and don’t broach topics like religion, the nuclear arms…
Oaks from iPods
New Zealanders John and Sarah Lewis, directors of London-based company AcornHQ, are encouraging iPhone and iPod owners to offset carbon emissions associated with the devices by making a small donation to an oak…
Blacks Triumph
The Junior All Blacks have won the IRB Toshiba World Junior Championship beating England 44-28 in Tokyo, retaining the title won last year in Wales when they thrashed the same team 38-3 in the…
Arrivals Soar
New Zealand saw the number of Australian tourists exceed the one million mark for the first time and the total annual immigration increase to a two year high, Statistics New Zealand has reported. The…
iDYLLIC
The New Zealand designed iPAD is an eco-friendly prefabricated building and one of “six of the best in the world” according to the Independent on Sunday. After producing the pioneering Bachkit in 2000, the…
Phenomenal in Peoria
Auckland athlete Kim Smith, 27, who is based in the United States, has won the 36th annual Steamboat Classic 4-mile women’s race in Peoria, Illinois, running the third fastest four-mile in history. Covering the…
Point of Pride
The All Whites have secured their first ever point at a FIFA tournament in the South African Confederations Cup. Though goal-less for all three matches played, the New Zealand team — dressed in black…
Western Scenes
The West Coast’s Bruce Bay is “windswept, isolated and utterly beautiful” where travellers “have left their mark on the beachfront with small cairns of smooth rocks carefully balanced on boulders which line the shore,”…
With Gratitude
Thanks be to New Zealand for giving the UK butter and for the might of Sir Keith Park writes The Financial Times’ Miss Moneypenny. “New Zealand’s dairy farmers deserve support for coming to the…
Near Perfect North
The Bay of Islands “is not only South Pacific-beautiful, it has been an important crucible for New Zealand’s human history”. That history begins with arrival from the north in sea canoes of the fierce,…
Taking the mickey
The Age finds literal mirth in New Zealand’s “quirky” place names travelling from the North Island town of Waipu, through several of the “whaka-” and on to Shag River, Pigroot and Cape Foulwind. “Also…
Goodbye on the Ganga
Auckland yoga instructor Karla Brodie bid farewell to her husband Mitchell Samuels on the Ganga River, Varanasi in what The Times of India described as a “poignant meeting of the East and…
Commission reviewer
Director Peter Jackson will lead a review of the New Zealand Film Commission alongside head of screen business at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School David Court. Jackson will examine the 30-year-old legislation…
Cooper the Wallaby
Tokoroa-born Quade Cooper, who recently played his first Test as a Wallaby, knows rugby’s brutal side says Greg Growden of the Brisbane Times, and growing up in the North Island timber town, it was…
Cheerful Change
New Zealand is home to some very happy British expatriates according to a NatWest International survey of 2,000 Britons living abroad. And though a long way to go to start a new life, workers…
42 x 42
Director Niki Caro is one of 42 creatives signing up for the 42Below vodka-instigated ONEDREAMRUSH campaign, which will see each individual create a 42 second film based on a dream they’ve had. Caro…
Sultry Sookie
“It’s no secret at Self, we love True Blood. Anna Paquin’s emergence as a sex symbol — and the onscreen (and off-screen!) heat between her and costar Stephen Moyer — has made HBO’s…
From Lush Pasturelands
“Make it New Zealand lamb every time!” encourages British celebrity chef Delia Smith from her official website. “When treating friends and family to luscious barbecue lamb recipes or feeding the family during the week,…
