History Maker Remembered
International archery associations and Olympic committees have paid tribute to Neroli Fairhall, who has died aged 61. Fairhall won a gold medal in archery for NZ at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Pedalling Their Wares
NZ features in a New York Times guide to “less-pedalled wine regions to please the palates of cyclists.” Writer Stefani Jackenthal recommends Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago for their respective viticultural and scenic pleasures. Her picks…
Card Sharks Revealed
Swimming with the Devil Fish, Des Wilson’s timely history of the British poker scene, gets a great review in the Guardian. “While the US market is saturated with poker manuals and ghosted autobiographies, the…
A Place in the Sun
Granta editor, Ian Jack, writes about Katherine Mansfield’s convalescence in Menton for the Guardian. Menton, a resort town on the French Riviera, was renowned for its curative sea air in the early 20th century….
Return to Peak Form
Commonwealth Games medallist and Olympian, Greg Henderson, marked his return to form with a convincing win at the inaugural Commerce Bank Reading Cycling Classic in Philadelphia, USA. Riding for the Health Net-Maxxis team, Henderson beat Uzbekistan’s Sergey…
Poi Reaches New Audience
The traditional Maori poi has surfaced in Penticton, British Columbia. 22-year-old Penticton native, Donalee Davidson, teaches poi classes in her home city and tours the world performing her own interpretation of the art. “You…
Rowing World Comes to Waikato
NZ has secured the hosting rights for the 2010 World Rowing Championships. The event will be held at Lake Karapiro in Cambridge, Waikato, with Hamilton acting as the official host city. Lake Karapiro previously hosted the championships…
Next Generation Public Transport
NZ bus design company, Designline, has developed a prototype electric commuter bus powered by renewable fuel. American firm Alchemy Enterprises Ltd is producing the magnesium-based fuel, which it created with the help of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs…
Global Roaming
Auckland-based company RoamAD has secured another major international contract, providing a high-speed wireless network to the Italian university city of Bologna. The free wi-fi network is the first to be deployed in the historic centre of a…
Big fish, little fish
Bic Runga talks about her new album, Birds, her “secret little country,” and being a big fish in a small pond in The Guardian. The biggest selling solo artist of all time in NZ,…
Wellington a Global Talent Magnet
A Cato Unbound essay by Richard Florida – The Future of the American Workforce in the Global Creative Economy – uses the Peter Jackson led Wellington film studios as an example of “a profound shift in…
Top Dog,Top Bloke
Former Air NZ CEO, Ralph Norris, graces the cover of June’s Australian Financial Review Boss magazine. The lengthy profile is devoted to his new role as head of Australia’s Commonwealth Bank – the first major interview the…
Inspiration Not Imitation
Nike turned to Maori Moko for inspiration in their latest major ad campaign, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Air Jordan basketball shoes. Created by Wieden + Kennedy (NYC) art director Robert Rasmussen, the striking ads show Michael…
Career Pinnacle for Inglis
NZ mountaineer Mark Inglis has made history by being the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mt Everest. Inglis lost both legs to frostbite in 1982 while trapped in blizzard…
Alternative History 101
Historian Gavin Menzies recently visited NZ to promote his controversial bestseller 1421. One of the most contentious theories in the book is that NZ was mapped and settled by Chinese 3o0 years before…
Career High for Cunningham
NZ’s up-and-coming Indy racing star, WadeCunningham, pulled out a thrilling win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Freedom 100 event. The 21-year-old led all 40 laps, setting an average speed record of 295.48km/h
Fast Inductee
Kiwi legend Burt Munro is one of nine new members selected for induction into Ohio’sMotorcycle Hall of Fame this year. The Invercargill native set a land-speed record on his customised 1920 Indian Scout at…
Prime Coverage at Chelsea
The 100% NZ Garden won a silver medal at the gardening world’s most prestigious annual event – the Chelsea Garden Show. The garden was inspired by the West Coast of Auckland, and features a black sand beach…
Highest Honour for Top Brass
Retired Air Marshal Bruce Reid Ferguson, NZ’s former Chief of Defence Force, has been awarded Singapore’s highest military honour. The Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang Tentera, or Distinguished Service Order, Military, was awarded to Air…
Knock Off Drink Par Excellence
Charlotte Observer wine critic, restaurant owner Catherine Rabb, gives US readers the low down on NZ Sauvignon Blanc. “Restaurant work is a hot, sweaty business. At the end of a long night, my favorite wine is…
Clarke on Clarke
Australian news magazine, The Bulletin, featured a lengthy interview with John Clarke in its May 23 edition. The NZ-born wry humourist, who has lived across the Tasman for the last 30 years, is described…
Zespri Strikes Gold
The Zespri phenomenon has been featured in online marketing magazine Reveries. NZ lost its domination of international kiwifruit sales as far back as 1989, when countries such as Italy, Spain, Chile, South Africa and France starting producing…
Dubai Calling
Two New Zealanders are at the forefront of a massive property boom currently happening in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates is spending £140 billion to transform the city into an ultra-modern capitalist powerhouse, the business…
The Deal’s Not Just Big, it’s Massive
New York based company, Massive Inc, of which Wellingtonian Claudia Batten is a part owner, has been sold to Microsoft for up to $US 400 million. Founded four years ago, Massive Inc pioneered a…
Maritime Mystery Nearly Solved
American archaeologists have discovered four 18th century ships off the coast of Rhode Island, New York, one of which could be Captain Cook’s Endeavour. Cook commanded the Endeavour on his famous 1768-1771 voyage to…
Savvy Marketing
Monkey Bay is officially the number one selling NZ Sauvignon Blanc in America. Released two years ago, Monkey Bay is an affiliate of the Nobilo Wine Group. Senior winemaker Alistair McIntosh cites a number of factors…
Baigent Down But Not Out
The Guardian interviews NZ born writer and historian Michael Baigent – “the man who sued Dan Brown and lost.” Baigent co-authored The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail with Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln….
Power Couple
Hamilton-born Nicole Colovos has been appointed joint design director of Helmut Lang with husband Michael, making her the first Australasian designer in history to head a major international fashion label. After fashion editing at…
Essential Design from the World’s Edge
Essenze, the distribution partner for some of NZ’s best known designers, has partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi to present a comprehensive exhibition at the ad agency’s New York headquarters at 375 Hudson St. Entitled ‘The Edge…
Weldon in Class and on Screen
NZ raised novelist Fay Weldon has signed on to teach creative writing at Brunel University, as part of the UK institution’s new MA course. The prolific writer of bestsellers including Puff Ball, Praxis and…
Spotlight on ’85
The Rainbow Warrior incident is back in the news, with convicted French agents Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart seeking to legally bar TVNZ from screening previously unseen footage of their Auckland District Court appearance….
Grimm scholar’s big find
Renowned NZ Germanist, Professor Alan Kirkness, who retired from Auckland University in 2004, played a key role in the discovery of nine new books by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. The hand-annotated volumes of…
Best Western
Leading US travel site, Frommer’s, featured a lengthy write-up on the South Island’s spectacular west coast – “where there’s more to see and do than there are residents.” The writer’s comprehensive holiday includes a…
Coming of age Keisha
Castle-Hughes is to star alongside Toni Collette in the upcoming Australian black comedy Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger. Castle-Hughes plays a 13-year-old Jewish girl struggling to fit in both at school and at…
Vampires invade Auckland
Vampire film 30 Days of Night is the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in NZ. Based on a horror comic book series, 30 Days of Night is set in Alaska where locals…
All the Right Numbers
Hawera-born Wayne Gould, the New Zealander behind the international Sudoku craze, features in Time magazine’s Time 100 for 2006. The list of “men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our…
Dining With Giants
Canterbury University Professor of Philosophy and Arts & Letters Daily founder, Denis Dutton, was invited to the White House Press Correspondents’ Annual Dinner, as a guest of The Washington Post. The black tie event – a celebrity…
An Outside View
The latest book by acclaimed British author, Jenny Diski – On Trying to Keep Still – opens with her visit to NZ in 2004 for the NZ International Arts Festival’s Writers and Readers Week….
On show in Soho
Out From Down Under and Beyond: an Exhibition of Fine Art from Australia and New Zealand is currently showing at the Agora Gallery in Soho, New York. Helga Windle (pictured) from Buller, West…
Career ready for take off
Departure Lounge, the latest novel by Auckland writer Chad Taylor, has garnered praise abroad for its cool, noir aesthetics. The Sydney Morning Herald calls Taylor “impressive,” while the review by Washington Post senior critic,…
Double Honour
Former Wellington Evening Post photographer Melanie Burford is the first NZer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Burford was part of the Dallas Morning News team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for…
Asia-Pacific High Flyer
New Zealander, now Singaporean resident Simon Israel has secured his place in the upper echelons of Singapore’s business community with his appointment as the first non-Singaporean Director of state holding and investment agency Temasek. Temasek’s US $60…
Flux flexes its global muscle
Auckland-based Flux Animation has signed a $US5.7 million contract to work on the eagerly anticipated Singaporean children’s series, Master Raindrop. Flux joins Singapore’s Big Communications and German television company Yoram Gross-EM on…
Badge of Gold for Nancy Wake
Wellington-born Nancy Wake, 94, now living in a London rest home, has been awarded the NZ Returned Services Association’s highest honour, the RSA Badge in Gold, as well as life membership for her work…
ABs at the Top of UK Game
Former All Blacks Carlos Spencer and Justin Marshall lead the nominations for the Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA) player of the year award. Described by The Independent as godlike and “the union game’s answer to Diego Maradona”,…
Top of the world
Former NZ Treasury official, Graeme Wheeler, has been appointed one of two managing directors at the Washington DC based World Bank. Wheeler, along with former finance minister for El Salvador Juan Jose Daboub,…
Starlet with Edge
Kiwi actress Emily Barclay (In My Father’s Den) has the starring role in Suburban Mayhem, an Australian film currently screening at Cannes. A very black comedy, Suburban Mayhem revolves around an amoral young…
One to Watch
Debbie Tanner claimed the first major victory of her career at the 26 ITU Ishigaki World Cup triathlon in Japan. UK veteran Michelle Dillon and fellow Kiwi Samantha Warriner came second and third respectively….
Too much too soon?
The release of United 93 – the first Hollywood film about 9/11 – has sparked controversy in the US, as well as further afield in NZ. Directed by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday,…
Impeccable balancing act
Anna Paquin is back in the news with a spate of new film projects nearing release. A Times profile, reprinted in The Australian, charts her “impeccably navigated career path,” from The Piano to her…
Potential for History Making
Dame Silvia Cartwright has been confirmed as a judge on the upcoming Cambodian war crimes tribunal. NZ’s Governor General headed a list of seven judges submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from which Cambodian…
Te Rapa creams the opposition
Cream cheese from Fonterra’s Te Rapa site won a silver medal at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin; its 97.55 out of 100 score less than half a point behind the winner….
Up the Nile in 80 Days
Two New Zealanders and a Briton have redrawn the map of Africa by following the Nile River to its true source – something no explorer in history has managed before. Lake Victoria was generally believed to…
Brian Barratt-Boyes
Internationally acclaimed New Zealand pioneering heart surgeon Brian Barratt-Boyes has died aged 82. Educated at Wellington College and Otago University Medical School, Barratt-Boyes battled against bureaucracy for more funding and staff to do what…
Little Snail vs. Big Business
NZ environmental groups are at war with Solid Energy over the power company’s intention to mine the only known habitat of the endangered brown snail, Powelliphanta Augustus. The entire snail population, believed to total just 800-1000, is…
Liquid Gold
One of NZ’s most respected wineries, Waiheke Island’s Goldwater Estate, has been sold to the NZ Wine Fund for $10 million. The Wine Fund, which also purchased Marlborough’s Vavasour Wines in 2003, is predicting combined sales this…
