Speedway Floor Manager Puts on a Good Show
New Zealander Steve Brandon, based in Northampton, is a freelance floor manager, and when thousands of speedway fans flicked on to Sky Sports Two last week, he was one of a small army of…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Blair Peach’s Alleged Killer Identified
The fight to bring to justice the British police officers believed responsible for the unlawful killing of New Zealand schoolteacher Blair Peach has been given impetus with the publication of a new pamphlet examining…
Kiwis hailed as heroes after burning car rescue in Canada
A New Zealand couple passing by a burning vehicle defied emergency services and are now being hailed as heroes. Kiwi couple Stephanie Saxton and Buddy Harwood were on their way to Whistler, British Columbia, when…
New Zealand Immigrant Numbers On the Up
“One in four people living in New Zealand was born outside the country, according to figures released last month from the 2013 census of New Zealand’s 4.5 million people,” the Economist reports. “That is an…
Model A a Meat-and-Potatoes Car Says Enthusiast
New Zealander Mike Breed is secretary of Langley’s Pacific Model A Club in British Columbia, owns six Model As, and is one of the city’s “principal gurus of Model A vehicles”. Breed restores, shows, and…
Astronaut Tweets Picture of NZ from Space Station
A German astronaut has tweeted a stunning picture of Banks Peninsula from space. Dr Alexander Gerst, who has a Masters in Earth sciences from Victoria University, is traveling aboard the International Space Station. “Nice…
Urgent Protection Needed to save Maui’s Dolphin
New Zealand has been urged to save the last 55 remaining Maui’s dolphin – one of the world’s rarest creatures – as they are on the brink of extinction and are expected to die…
Kiwi’s Ancestors Now Said to Hail from Madagascar
New evidence shows that if the emu was the kiwi’s cousin, then Madagascar’s elephant bird was it’s sibling. Speculation continues as to the origins of New Zealand’s diminutive kiwi, new research now links the bird…
Callaghan Chief Star Witness in Terrorist Trial
The head of Callaghan Innovation, Mary Quin, has told a New York court about her abduction by Islamic radicals connected to “handless hate preacher” Abu Hamza al-Masri in Yemen. Quin later confronted Abu Hamza…
Nigella Melts the Hearts of Wellington Commuters
Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, 54, was in Wellington filming an advertisement for Porirua-based chocolate manufacturers Whittaker’s. Lawson has been the face of the company since 2012. The cookbook queen looked like she was melting…
Feminist’s Ideas Resonating Across the World
Feminist professor Marilyn Waring, 61, has never been afraid to go her own way. She was among the few politicians included on the Weekend Herald’s much-debated Easter feature on New Zealand’s 50 coolest people – both…
Unorthodox Bubble Deflating
First it was a Forbes columnist poking the borax at the New Zealand economy; now Goldman Sachs is having a go at our property market. The Goldman report is a look at central bank…
Dolphins Protect Swimmer from Great White
A pod of New Zealand dolphins has protected a British swimmer from a Great White Shark during a crossing of Cook Strait to raise money for charity. A video of the encounter on…
Baldwin Street a Real Doozy of an Incline
Baldwin Street in Dunedin, “the world’s steepest street” is “like candy to my stunt-driver-trapped-in-a-conservative-car-owner’s body,” says Fleur Bainger in the Sydney Morning Herald. “The entire city is hilly but this particular slope is a doozy…
Our Salmon is Better
The South China Morning Post is touting New Zealand’s credentials as the next “Canada” for rich mainland Chinese seeking fresh pastures. “An influx of deep-pocketed mainland Chinese has helped New Zealand reach its highest…
Prince George’s Photo Estimated at a Billion View
New Zealander Simon Woolf may have just taken most popular photograph of the royals in New Zealand ever, having snapped the infamous photo of a smiling George cuddling up to his mother at Plunket on…
People Come and Go but Te Wahipounamu Endures
“Te Wahipounamu, the place of jade. Since 1990 this southwestern edge of New Zealand has enjoyed World Heritage recognition for its four national parks and interconnecting tracts of conservation land,” Kennedy Warne writes for…
Royal Visit Shines Global Light on Maori Traditions
News outlets worldwide have lately been splashing a bare bottom on their front pages – but it’s not what you think. Upon their arrival to New Zealand the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge received…
Irreversibly Changed Though Creatively Reborn
Like many entrepreneurs, artists, designers and other hardy residents who have chosen to stay in the city after the February 2011 earthquake, the owner of C1 Espresso Sam Crofskey was determined to…
Australian Film Industry Pioneer a Mentor to Many
New Zealand-born filmmaker David Hannay, who has died aged 74, will be remembered as one of the pioneers of the modern Australian film industry, a passionate cinephile, mentor and loyal friend. Hannay entered the film…
Remembering Sixties Country Star Houston Wells
The life of Houston Wells, sixties country singer, is celebrated in the Independent this month. Wells, born Andrew Smith in 1932 north of Newcastle upon Tyne, lived on the shores of Lake Taupo until…
Vibrancy of Kuala Lumpur Fascinates Former Aucklander
Managing director at Kuala Lumpur-based Orchan Consulting, Craig Selby, 40, is fascinated by the changes taking place in Malaysia since he moved there nine years ago. “The places near where I live have become a…
NZ Ranked #1 for Social Progress
A Washington-based think-tank has found that New Zealand is the most socially advanced country in the world. US-based non-profit The Social Progress Imperative, whose advisory board is led by Harvard economist Professor Michael…
New Zealand Speak Clarified
Australians are carrying around a dark secret according to the Australian’s Ben Groundwater, and that is that they actually like New Zealanders. And Groundwater, “at least, kinda loves them.” “Forget the forced sibling rivalry, most…
Farmers Uprooting to Tasmanian Dairy Paddocks
A wave of New Zealand farmers are being wooed to Tasmania’s dairy scene, where milk production is rising helped by a record price from processor Fonterra of $6.64 a kilogram for milk solids this…
For the Times We Live in, NZ the Best Country to Be
New Zealand “is absolutely the best country in the world for the times we’re living in”, according to former Seattleite, speculator and business consultant Chris Eyerman. When Eyerman, his wife Kelly, and their young twins…
New Guernsey Energy Role for New Zealander
Guernsey-based New Zealander Paul Wright, who has lived on the island for the past 17 years, has been hired as finance director of Guernsey Gas, Jersey Gas and Manx Gas and will be involved…
Setting up Practice in a Nice Part of the World
New Zealand veterinarian Allan Rapley, 63, moved to North London’s Highgate Village in 2012 to transform an antiquarian bookshop into his own live-in practice “in a nice part of the world”. The father-of-five and his…
Teen Environmental Animation Premiers at US Festival
A short film by 16-year-old Nastasha Bishop has had its US premier at the prestigious Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC at the weekend. As the Washington Post notes, the festival is misnamed. These…
The Female Punchline: Don’t Ask that Question
A little bit of comedian Michele A’Court dies when she is asked this question: Are women funny? A’Court is asked this question so often that deep inside her, nestled somewhere near her heart, is…
Interest Mounting in Abandoning Playground Rules
Swanson School principal Bruce McLachlan’s unconventional approach to playground rules is making waves around the world with school administrators and parents as far away as the United States and the United Kingdom asking how…
Getting Away from It All on the Coromandel
The New Zealand way of life, our “fondness for corrugated iron” and how we hang our laundry out to dry, are some Antipodean oddities which charmed a visiting American who was shown around Bill…
China Ties with NZ Get Closer
China has announced that for the first time it will allow direct trade between the renminbi and the New Zealand dollar, only the fourth currency permitted to do so. The move further strengthens the…
It happened in NZ first: Oceanic Apocalypse
At first it was dismissed as a freak event. In 1998, a mass of jellyfish carried by the tide into Big Glory Bay, Stewart Island, became pinned against the netting of salmon farm pens:…
Ngai Tahu Investments Pay off
For generations, the Ngai Tahu tribe resembled many other indigenous people around the world: impoverished, virtually landless and experiencing a steady erosion of its language and culture. However, Ngai Tahu have now turned their situation…
New Zealand Stays 4th in the Women in Work Index
13 March 2014 – New Zealand has held on to fourth place in this year’s PwC Women in Work index; ranking higher than Australia (9th) and far higher than America (16th) and the UK…
Tracing Maori Ancestry for Worldwide Family Tree
Over the past year, Gisborne’s Ngai Tamanuhiri has been participating in the National Geographic’s Genographic Project working closely with Oceania’s genographic principal investigator Lisa Matisoo-Smith who is helping the iwi learn more about their…
NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’
British BBC readers overwhelmingly support New Zealand ditching the last official remnant of its colonial past. A referendum will be held at this year’s election on whether to change the flag, which features the…
Overland Journey in a Balloon for the World’s Kids
Hot air balloon pilot Andrew Parker, 30, is attempting a four-year overland journey across more than 100 countries, in which he aims to raise awareness and US$1 million for the UNICEF Flying…
Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound
New Zealand will export a research flock of sheep to Saudi Arabia this year under a breeding project aimed at bolstering the kingdom’s livestock supplies, according to the National. Pregnant ewes and lamb will…
New Zealanders Fight to Pull Back Kakapo from Extinction
7 March 2014 – New Zealanders are pulling out all the stops to save the nation’s second most favourite bird, the kakapo – a friendly, flightless, green feathered parrot that teeters on…
New Crustacean Species Could Unlock Secrets of the Deep
Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have discovered a new crustacean species in the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand, that may unlock the secrets of the deep sea. NIWA…
Egg of Bird Thought Extinct for More than a Century Found in NZ
For the first time, New Zealand scientists say they have found an egg on Little Barrier Island of an endangered bird that had been presumed extinct for more than a century. The storm petrel is…
Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand
Prince George will take part in his debut public engagement next month when he accompanies the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to New Zealand, Kensington Palace has announced. The Prince, who will be…
Air NZ Soars Above Qantas
The last time Air New Zealand invested in the Australian aviation market, the airline required a Government bail-out to stave off bankruptcy as its subsidiary Ansett fell apart. This time round, it’s Air New…
Kiwi Whisky Judged One of the Greats
A top-shelf tipple from the planet’s southern-most country has been named as one of the world’s best by a global whisky expert, Jim Murray. The flagship 21-year-old South Island Single Malt has been adjudged…
Friends Bid Farewell to an “Outstanding Human Being”
Auckland-born television personality and former model Charlotte Dawson who has died in Sydney, aged 47, was “outrageous, outgoing and outspoken”, said sports presenter Ben Fordham, who worked with Dawson at Channel Nine. “More than anything…
Restoring French Colonial Ruins in Southern Cambodia
Chris Connop, a 57-year-old New Zealander with a degree in engineering and a background in horticulture and construction, says he stumbled into his current occupation – restoring and rebuilding Kampot architecture in Cambodia –…
Learning to Stand Upright in New Zealand
Historically, geographically, culturally – there are many points of comparison between New Zealand and its neighbour to the west, Australia. But there are notable differences. Victoria University’s Professor Harry Ricketts examines migration in New…
Fledgling Party Giving a Voice to New Zealanders Living Overseas
An estimated one million New Zealanders living overseas will become a serious political force if the newly formed Expatriate Party of New Zealand gets its way, says the Guardian. Based in Perth, the party says…
Eric Tracey UK New Zealander of the Year 2014
Eric Tracey has been named the UK New Zealander of the Year 2014 at the New Zealand Society’s Waitangi Day Charity Ball held in London. Announced by the High Commissioner for New Zealand the Rt…
One Summer This Fearless Man Drove off the Luftwaffe
Keith Park was one of the great heroes of World War II, yet years later, when Peter Robb came across the laconic New Zealander, his contributions had still to be truly recognised. Robb recalls…
New Zealand Exports to China Are Soaring
Thanks to an ever-increasing demand for milk powder, New Zealand’s exports to China rose 45 per cent last year superseding Australia as New Zealand’s top export market for the first time on an annual…
Rare Red Panda Cubs Open Their Eyes to the World
Rare red pandas, one of Asia’s most threatened species, have been born at Auckland Zoo as part of a global management plan. The two cubs, born on 3 January, each weighing about 100 grams, were…
The World Could Do with More Helen Clarks
4 February 2014 – Ranked 21st most powerful woman in the world, Helen Clark, 63, New Zealand’s Prime Minister for nine years, and now head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), gives Telegraph…
Toddler’s Golf Swing a Match for Tiger’s
A New Zealand toddler has just placed third in an international competition for junior golf swings. William Tye, who modelled his golf swing on Tiger Woods after watching a video of the famous athlete,…
