Tag Archives: New Zealand

Idyll

Idyll

Vogue Living (Australia) visits the gardens of the exlusive Huka Lodge, designed by Suzanne Turley. “With brilliant green lawns punctuated by conifers, native trees and sub-tropical plants, the serene garden of New Zealand’s Huka Lodge encapsulates nature’s…

Scandanavia Cleans Up

Scandanavia Cleans Up

NZ was ranked 19th best place to live according to the UN Development Programme’s annual quality of life survey. The report looks at issues such as life expectancy, per capita income, educational opportunities, and…

Gold, Silver and Bronze Fern

Gold, Silver and Bronze Fern

All-comers finished in the green and gold shadow of Australia, but New Zealand completed a successful Commonwealth Games campaign, finishing a credible 5th on the medal table, with 11 golds in rugby sevens, cycling (Sarah Ulmer…

“No Place at the Table … but a Good Deal Across the Counter.”

“No Place at the Table … but a Good Deal Across the Counter.”

NZ representative Paul Cotton responds to Greg Sheridan’s criticism of NZ’s independent defence stance in The Australian (20/7). As Cotton avers, “It doesn’t seem that the Kiwis are suffering too much from just being a ‘very,…

Pacific Protest

Pacific Protest

Yachts containing more than 50 protesters from NZ, Australia and Vanuatu confronted a ship carrying nuclear waste through the Tasman Sea from Britain to Japan. According to Greenpeace, the cargo contained enough nuclear material for 50 bombs,…

Snell Still Streaks Ahead

Snell Still Streaks Ahead

Sebastian Coe reminisces about the grand days of athletics, when athletes focused on ambitious all-round feats. For a middle- distance runner, “no championship season was complete without a tilt at the 800m-1500m double.” He cites NZ legend…

Clean and Green: Even Out of the Lab?

Clean and Green: Even Out of the Lab?

“The clean green reputation of NZ – an image worth millions, according to the environment industry – is under threat.” The GM issue continues to divide NZers, rearing its head in  the fields of economics, agriculture, tourism,…

Haka Mancunian Style

Haka Mancunian Style

New Zealand athletes received a special welcome on their arrival at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. After getting the green light from the Maori Minister of Education, students from Tarvin Primary School (Cheshire) performed an enthusiastic haka…

Greatest Games’ Moments

Greatest Games’ Moments

An Observer run-down of the 10 greatest Commonwealth Games’ moments gives two spots to NZ achievers. No. 4: one of the finest middle distance races run, the 1974 1,500m race between John Walker and Tanzania’s Filbert Bavi…

NZ Press-ganged In The Australian

NZ Press-ganged In The Australian

Greg Sheridan, using some sobering cliches, gives his views on the trans-Tasman relationship: as well as comparing NZ to Tasmania he invokes ghosts of ANZUS past and our “unreliable” unwillingness to join Australia in Pax-Americana, as reasons…

Queenstown on Cruise Control

Queenstown on Cruise Control

“Adrenalin, who needs it?” John Westbrooke discovers the secret to an enjoyable Queenstown holiday for over-60’s, recommending cheese-tasting, wine tours, and gondolier rides over the ubiquitous bungee jump. Not an extreme sport in sight!

“She’s a Go-getter and a Good Chap”

“She’s a Go-getter and a Good Chap”

Georgina Beyer interviewed in the Independent in the wake of promoting Georgie Girl in Sydney. A mass of contradictions – “she might judge a sheep show one day, march in a gay pride parade the next”…

Cell Growth

Cell Growth

London-based NZ biochemist Dr Peter Shepherd was honoured for his groundbreaking work on the causes of type-2 diabetes at the London Biotechnology Network (London, Oxford and Cambridge) biotechnology excellence event in London. Shepherd was joint winner of…

“In a Faraway Land …”

“In a Faraway Land …”

“… the left prospers.” According to British Labour MP Austin Mitchell (author of The Half-gallon quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise) writing in the ‘Observations’ section of the New Statesman. “New Zealand stands out in the blue horizon”. says…

Celebrations on Ice

Celebrations on Ice

NZ and US scientists in Antarctica recently celebrated the centenary of the first midwinter stopover by British explorers. Fun and games included swimming naked in an ice hole and hurling a (frozen) turkey in Scottish Highland-style games….

Alan Brunton: Mystic Gold From the Edge

Alan Brunton: Mystic Gold From the Edge

NZ performance artist Alan Brunton (57) died while touring Europe with his Red Mole theatre troupe, ” NZ letters of its one truly iconic radical figure.” Coming to prominence in the late 70s as…

To Ge or Not to Ge?

To Ge or Not to Ge?

As the ethical, economic and emotional problem of how to approach GE shapes to be a central issue in the upcoming NZ election a high profile group has formed to argue for caution and the extension…

Luck of the Irish?

Luck of the Irish?

Michael Campbell rose to 16th in the world rankings and received a timely boost before the upcoming British Open by winning the European Open and half a million Euro winner’s cheque. But the Maori-NZer with the…

Airborne Frodo-philes

Airborne Frodo-philes

“They can visit Lothlorien They can smell the smells and see the sights that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee felt.” After months spent ferrying cast and crew around NZ, Milford-based Glenorchy Air is now offering Tolkein…

Surfing on the Web

Surfing on the Web

Sailor Graham Dalton (older bro of Grant) has set up an educational website where children can watch his yacht “Hexagon” circumnavigate the globe as part of the Around Alone race yacht race beginning 15th September. Hexagon was…

Gondwanaland Farming Co.

Gondwanaland Farming Co.

Trans-Tasman dairy giants Bonlac Foods (AUS) and Fonterra (NZ) have merged consumer food lines to create a new company – Australasian Food Holdings Pty Ltd (AFHL). AFHL will incorporate leading brands including Tip Top, Mainland, Ferndale, and…

Voice of Rugby’s All-time XV

Voice of Rugby’s All-time XV

Great rugby commentator Bill Mclaren names his all-time greatest XV for The Times. Featuring three All Blacks: the “New Zealand totem” Colin Meads, the legendery skills of Zinzan Brooke, and “one of the great international captains” Sean…

Where Are the Kingswoods?

Where Are the Kingswoods?

The PMs of NZ, Australia and Canada, all of whom look to the Queen as head of state, were (apparently) extended “the minimum of courtesy” at her mother’s funeral. Seating plans, travel arrangements, and entry times…

iEdge

iEdge

The SMH tries to find the code behind the icon-making, convention busting, award winning (but secretive) Apple design team after, for the fourth year running, Apple takes out the British Design and Art Direction Association’s top award…

Rogernomics Resurfaces

Rogernomics Resurfaces

He engineered some of the most radical and controversial reforms in New Zealand history, where efficiency clashed with social affect, and Roger Douglas is still a believer, giving his tuppence worth on the English health system in…

Poi Eh?

Poi Eh?

New to New York: Village Voice features an “industral performing arts collective” remixing Dante’s Inferno using flaming poi. “Poi are a Maori tradition, and backpackers often try spinning on the beaches of Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand….

Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water

“In my native NZ, a rain-free day is a small miracle, so my sodden soul soars when I feel that dry heat and behold those azure skies.” Desert-worshipping Kiwi Amanda Jones chronicles her Chilean adventure…

God Defend Your Freeland

God Defend Your Freeland

“This is your country and you have the power to change it and uphold all that is good and right. I am saddened to know that many do not vote and still complain about America…” Although…

Advance New Zealand Unfair

Advance New Zealand Unfair

Lead paragraph to Australian Yachting editorial: “What is it with New Zealanders? Not only do they bash us at rugby (both literally and metaphorically) and regularly make off with the Melbourne Cup, they also have the hide,…

Chop Till You Drop

Chop Till You Drop

NZ axemen Jason Wynyard and David Bolstad came out ahead in the points race at the 8th Annual Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival in Memphis, Tennessee. Over 72,000 people attended the Festival, with the Stihl Timbersports stage…

No Dodo

No Dodo

New Scientist features the Kakapo’s claw-back from the brink of extinction: “What’s green, nocturnal, looks like an owl, smells sweet and fruity, and makes strange noises from growls and “skrarks” to metallic “chings” and deep resonant…

Postcard-spotting?

Postcard-spotting?

Lynn Barber leaves the trains at home and follows the postcard route through godzone, finds it to be “truly paradise” but also close to 100% boring. “To appreciate NZ you need to be all the things…

Best Haul

Best Haul

Ironically for Lynn, NZ was once again voted “Best Long Haul Country” over Australia, Cuba, Japan, Thailand et al by Guardian and Observer readers – they must have got off the bus and visited at…

Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot

Volcano enthusiasts were recently treated to a bonanza 500 kilometres north east of New Zealand. They discovered three new hydrothermal fields along the Ring of Fire which marks the boundary between the earth’s Australian and Pacific…

Domination

Domination

“It is apparently not enough that New Zealand have just waltzed away with their third successive World Sevens Series title. So complete was their domination of the Emirates-sponsored London leg of the International Rugby Board’s season-long tournament…

Young Man and the River

Young Man and the River

Fly-fishing enthusiast Andy Pietrasik raved about his recent trip to the rivers of the South Island. Following his guide up the river in search of fish made him feel like “Ernest Hemingway’s shadow,” so perhaps…

Bus-class High Flyer

Bus-class High Flyer

Kiwi Ray Webster is Chief Executive of pioneering no-frills airline Easy Jet. Touching down in the market in a big way Webster works by the mantra that, “Airlines are about people, not about airplanes and airports.”…

Canterbury Crusaders Find Rugby Holy-land

Canterbury Crusaders Find Rugby Holy-land

“New Zealand’s Crusaders put up a persuasive case as world rugby’s champion provincial team with their unbeaten sweep through the Super 12 series” … sealing the tournament with a dominant 31-13 win over the ACT Brumbies. Earlier the…

IT – NZ Untapped

IT – NZ Untapped

Columnist for leading US IT Industry zine InfoWorld raves after visiting NZ, “New Zealand is a marvelous country populated with some of the most talented people in computing. Part of the irrational exuberance [of the dot…

Possum Fur-y Unfashionable

Possum Fur-y Unfashionable

”I should break your other bloody arm.” At a Prada party Daily Telegraph fashion editor, Hilary Alexander, famously incurs the wrath of a PETA activist Dan Matthews for wearing a possum-fur sling. ”I was…

Model Animal Behaviour

Model Animal Behaviour

An economic model developed by Massey University-based resource economist Dr Robert Alexander and postgraduate researcher Chris Fleming, could improve our understanding of how to help endangered species.  By determining how much money particular how much money particular…

Zespri Patriotism

Zespri Patriotism

In a fascinating 2-part feature the LATimes slices open the Kiwifruit and looks at the history of NZ’s No.1 horticultural product, from poor crop protection: “Even without a patent, the trademark “kiwifruit,” if copyrighted, could have become the…

Windbreakers

Windbreakers

NZ’s belching animals: Kiwi scientists have worked out how to reduce greenhouse emissions from cow emissions. “Lowering New Zealand’s methane emissions is necessary if the antipodean country is to meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol,…

New Zealand: Closer to the Edge

New Zealand: Closer to the Edge

Independent editor at large Janet Street Porter finds she can’t get close enough: “No wonder I’ve been back to New Zealand three times in three years. Sod the 20-something hours in the plane; the end result…

For the People

For the People

Don’t cry for me Argentina. The BBC looks at the progress of KiwiBank: ” New Zealand, more often famed for its sheep population than its financial sector, is attempting to shake-up its banking system with a…

Utopia: Wild at Heart

Utopia: Wild at Heart

“The grandeur of this place is so extreme it makes you want to dive right into the heart of it”, Aotearoa-NZ is May cover country of one of the world’s most prestigious travel magazines, National Geographic…

Rugby Sevens World Champions

Rugby Sevens World Champions

New Zealand won the World Rugby Sevens series title for the third consecutive year, wrapping up the series with a convincing 29-5 victory over South Africa in the Malaysia Sevens final. Said coach Gordon Tietjens: “I am…

From Sea to Sea: Kipling’s Landscapes

From Sea to Sea: Kipling’s Landscapes

Biographer David Gilmour finds chronicler of British imperialism Rudyard Kipling has an affinity for the edges, “his favourite landscapes were in adverse angles of the Pacific (New Zealand and British Columbia) and in opposite corners of the…

Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

CNN reports on revivified NZ and Australian interest in the memorial of ANZAC Day and it’s importance to trans-Tasman relations: “Tens of thousands of Australian and New Zealanders arose before dawn on Thursday to pay their respects…

Superyacht Supremos

Superyacht Supremos

“New Zealand is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest centres for superyacht construction, with its low-cost high-tech designs.” Alloy Yachts is the world’s 2nd largest manufacturer of superyachts: advantages that make the sailing smooth include…

Business Class Destination

Business Class Destination

New Zealand is ranked the fourth best place to do business in Asia, according to prominent think tank – the Economist Intelligence Unit. The rankings took into account 70 factors, including political risk and corruption, key…

Soft edge scenery?

Soft edge scenery?

BBC adaptation of Arthur Conan-Doyle’s dinosaur romp The Lost World: shot “against the glorious backdrop of New Zealand’s South Island … New Zealand offered diverse landscapes in relatively easy conditions. “New Zealand has a…

Nanotech NZ – Solutions from the Small?

Nanotech NZ – Solutions from the Small?

Front-running nanotechnology expert, NZ-born Michael Kelly, (technology professor, University of Surrey), recently visited Wellington’s MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. Kelly is optimistic of edge innovation in the field, “There are a whole range of problems which…

Bryan Drake Remembered

Bryan Drake Remembered

New Zealand-born baritone Bryan Drake has died in London aged 76. A “fine musician with an equable temperament and warm personality”, Drake will be particularly remembered for his long association with Benjamin Britten and his…

Kiwi to Head Biggest British Milk Plant

Kiwi to Head Biggest British Milk Plant

A veteran of New Zealand dairy industry projects, Steve Satherley, will be at the controls when Britain’s single biggest milk manufacturing plant starts pumping its first milk in England next month. Mr Satherley as operations manager for United…

Bacchic and Bucolic in NZ #2

Bacchic and Bucolic in NZ #2

The Guardian’s ‘Superplonk’ column discovers the flavour of New Zealand in a six-week wine tasting trip. Highlights include the “superb, tannic tenacity and layered fruit” of Delegat’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1999, and the “racy, complex, finely textured…