Orchid Can-do
Volunteers at the new International Orchid Centre in Florida will “communicate their enthusiasm for orchids and an attitude of ‘Hell, if I can grow them, you can too’,” says American Orchid Society director of education, Kiwi…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Everybody Wants a Piece of You
“New Zealand has given us plenty of stuff. Russell Crowe, Crowded House, Maori bouncers who scare the crap out of you. They can have it all back if they will only let us have…
Ambassador Goes Nutty
“I love New Zealand and New Zealand has been a warm and just an extraordinary experience,” says former US ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun, returning to the States to take up pecan farming.
Here with Lee Majors
NYNZer Brendan Donovan scores Best Cinematography award for his short film Here at the Angelciti Film Festival LA and his star Lee Majors wins Best Actor at the Santa Monica International Film Festival. Majors…
Edge Unity
“There are no two countries in the world that are closer historically, culturally and economically than Australia and New Zealand,” stated Australian PM John Howard on a friendship visit, claiming a “relationship that has substance and durability…
Judgement in Paradise
Retired New Zealand Appeal Court judges Sir Maurice Casey and Sir Ian Barker lead the judicial charge for democracy in Fiji.
Compudigm is Watching You
Wellington compu-data wizards Compudigm nominated for prestigious 2001 Computerworld Honours (Smithsonian). The nomination recognises the “spectacular success” of Compudigm’s Telstra Sydney Olympics Project.
Fine Drinking
Palliser Estate Sauvignon with “real intensity, poise and class”. “Brilliant reds” are “the undiscovered splendors of New Zealand”. Wine of the week: Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Oil and Ice
New Zealand micro-biologist Jackie Aislabie is working on an international effort to fight oil-slicks in pristine Antarctica.
Circus Life
New Zealand Olympic gymnast David Phillips has given up the competitive grind for life as a circus performer.
Bad Bird
“Even in New Zealand there are sheep farmers that lose stock to wildlife, namely the Kea, a large native and protected parrot. It may seem incredible, but it’s true.”
Protest Flotilla
“The people who live around the Japanese reactor that the plutonium is destined for don’t want it, Australians and New Zealanders don’t want their seas being used to transport it and Pacific Islanders are vehemently opposed,” says…
Flying High
The contemporary kite industry is still riding the buzz generated by New Zealander Peter Lynn’s 80’s creation, the kite-powered buggy.
Science Star
New Zealand planktonologist Allison Joy Haywood is one of ten international recipients of a UNESCO-L’OREAL Fellowship for developing research talent.
Lamb OK
I will buy in New Zealand lamb, but I won’t buy anything else says a British butcher feeling the pinch of foot and mouth.
Environmental Energy
A proto-type has been built for New Zealand’s first alternative power plant, using water to power a dual-cell hydrogen power station designed to supply energy to a timber company.
Furry Love
Wellington residents disturbed by amorous possums engage in chemical warfare to keep the peace.
Great Spinner
New Zealand-born Clarrie Grimmet’s 216 wickets from 37 tests earned him a place in Australia’s pantheon, despite a rift with the big man of Australian cricket.
Kiwis in Oz
Taking the edge to the world, Russell Crowe and former Australian Channel 9 boss, now Telstra board member Sam Chisholm are examples of Kiwi excellence that “will always float to the top”.
Fleet of Foot
Ex-New Zealand detective Cheryl Fleet now runs international tours catering to women on journeys of adventure and renewal.
Classical Stirrer
“By instinct a man of the left and no respecter of reputations,” influential Cambridge Classical scholar Professor Robert Coleman “brought from his native New Zealand a suspicion of the great English institutions and took delight in expressing…
Gene Genie
Edge Gene Therapist and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Jefferson Medical College Philadelphia Matthew During, releases a first and major step forward in the prevention and possible treatment of stomach cancers through a technique involving oral doses…
Living Well
Buzzy Auckland hits the big time, ranked 7th best-living city world-wide. Wellington also cruised high, beating London, Paris and New York at 23rd equal.
View From an Ass
Masterton man Geoff Roder will fight for his right to watch the drive-in from his donkey.
Natural Edge
New Zealand’s innovative network of marine reserves are seen as a prototype for international action to preserve the health of the ocean.
Crowe’s Upward Flight
Future films Flora Plum and John Nash biopic will “stretch Crowe to show the extent of his capability and range”.
Urban Vine
Fast-food outlets and urban life now surround Babich Wine’s Henderson vineyard, but Joe and Peter Babich go on producing fine westie wine.
One Neil
Neil Finn tours the UK and Ireland later this year in support of his album One Nil. His current mini-tour is rarking it up in London: “This one-off gig felt like a party where…
Travel Bug
Travel is at the top of the spending list for young UK professionals. Exotic New Zealand is among the choicest destinations on offer.
Adventure on Air
The mini-series of the Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race, run in the South Island last November, will air on the Discovery in late April, showcasing some of the New Zealand’s toughest terrain.
Garageland sale
Auckland indie-poppers Garageland team with UK distributors foodchainrecords to release Do What You Want Stateside. PDF Copy
Argument Success
The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team carried their point, finishing sixth at the World Schools’ Debating Championships in Johannesburg.
Intimacy and success
New Zealander Kerry Fox wins Silver Bear (best actress) at the Berlin Film Festival for her “searing and explicit” performance in Intimacy, winner of the Golden Bear for best film. Fox was unable to…
Altogether a delight
The new Museum of Scotland launches itself with Altogether a Delightful Country, a display focusing on immigrant Scots in Otago.
Tolkien Talk
‘I’ve never met or worked with a director with a more comprehensive artillery of qualities for a big project like this than Peter Jackson. Someone should give him a medal pretty damn quickly” -…
Sydders Running
The Sydney Half-Marathon turns ten. Back in 1996, New Zealand woman Nyla Carroll won the women’s section so fast the official nearly missed her dash over the finish line.
Hollywood outgrows itself
Gladiator, filmed in Morocco, Malta and the UK, directed by a Brit, scored by a German and “sexed up by the hottest New Zealander on the planet” is a new breed of block-buster, a…
Making Waves
“Where once New Zealand seemed bent on shrinking the public sector to anorexic proportions, it is now pumping it full of new blood. New Zealand has a long record of setting global trends. It was first…
Down Right Funny
“I’m sure New Zealand has its own sense of humour. I know so, because I once wrote a preview of the rugby world cup for a satirical magazine here, a piece which represented what I hoped…
US Feels the Edge
The US needs a fillip if it is to maintain inventiveness and compete with up-and-coming centres of innovation like New Zealand.
No talk, just sex
Intimacy is a smouldering film about a man who is living in a basement in south London who has a sex affair with a woman at his place every Wednesday afternoon. They don’t talk,…
Snow Queen
New Zealand snowboard star Juliane Bray crowned world champ at Japan’s World Cup Snowboard.
Capital Style
“Deregulation and the cosmopolitan tastes of a new generation of globe trotting Kiwis have transformed Wellington from a gray town for civil servants into a cultural haven with a thriving cafe scene, a budding movie industry, a…
Big, Bad Bird
“A San Francisco Zoo employee was injured yesterday when a 5-foot tall bird native to New Zealand tore into his leg with its powerful claws … The animals are found in the rain forests of New…
Face the Message
New Zealand tech-designers LifeFX’s Facemail programme spreads the word about a deal with major photo company Kodak.
Into the Black
New Zealand leads the pack in debt reduction, cutting government debt from 65% of GDP in 1993 to 31% in 1999.
