Tag Archives: New Zealand

Ali-Khan Do It

Ali-Khan Do It

New Zealand born McGill (Canada) student, Sarah Ali-Khan, wins Quebec Athletic Excellence Award for All-Canadian Track and Field.  

Dog Eat Cat World

Dog Eat Cat World

Felines are unwelcome at Macquarie Island. New Zealand cat-hounds are cleaning them up.

International Treasure

International Treasure

Enterprising techno-toy hounds have devised a use for hand-held GPS systems: geocaching. 120 caches have been laid in 31 states and 13 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile.

Pain Buster

Pain Buster

Dr Abbey recommends New Zealander Robin MacKenzie’s Seven Steps to a Pain-Free Life to tame the back pain of Chicago.

Senior Junior

Senior Junior

Anne Martindall (86), former US Ambassador to New Zealand and long-time companion of Sir Toss Woollaston, returns to college to complete her degree. “I believe in finishing what you start,” says Martindall.

Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour

Bus till you bust with Magic Travellers Network, winners of  “Best Scheduled Transport” in the 2000 NZ Tourism Awards.

Honey Cures Tummy

Honey Cures Tummy

New Woman confirms a “traditional New Zealand cure”: eating manuka honey to banish stomach ulcers.

Edge of a Lonely Planet

Edge of a Lonely Planet

“New Zealand values its independence and is not afraid to take on the world,” states the latest Lonely Planet, labelling New Zealand the place for adventure, coffee and wide open spaces.

Kiwi in the House

Kiwi in the House

Kiwifruit-based products from Evolu rate with Estee Lauder, Chanel and Givenchy as a key product line at the House of Fraser, Oxford Street’s newest beauty arena.

Unprivate Moments

Unprivate Moments

“Keep a diary online and you’re exposed to Mom, Dad, potential employers, and strangers in New Zealand with strong opinions about the way last night’s date should have been handled.”

Fat Tax

Fat Tax

Proponents of the New Zealand “Brain Drain” myth complain about income tax, but the government has so far rejected calls for a “fat tax” on butter, cheese, meat and milk.

Gulf Rugby Shock

Gulf Rugby Shock

The Arabian Gulf 7s team are rather daunted by the thought of meeting New Zealand at the World 7s Series. “When I heard the draw I was lost for words,” said Arabian coach Darryl Weir. …

One mammal, One Moniker

One mammal, One Moniker

New Zealand is to be included in an Asian flora and fauna database aiming to reduce confusion caused by species with more than one name.

Forbes Gets a Bargain

Forbes Gets a Bargain

Forbes Global have included New Zealand company The Warehouse Group in their 2000 list of Best Small Companies: “Dynamism is all about growth and profits; in our opinion these 300 are among the best the world has…

Clean Green Methane

Clean Green Methane

While some countries battle automobile emissions, New Zealand scientists at the Rumen Microbiology Unit, Palmerston North, are working on producing a gas-less sheep. It’s a tricky business though: “There’s no point in getting rid of the methane…

Disease Beaten

Disease Beaten

Polio has been eradicated in the Western Pacific, which stretches from China to New Zealand to French Polynesia.

Healing Touch

Healing Touch

A new London centre devoted to the study of the “healing touch” is “an outpost of a university in New Zealand whose ideas are based on feng shui and other Oriental philosophies.” Could tight…

Macpac Knack

Macpac Knack

Macpacs made their reputation being hauled up and down New Zealand mountains. They’re also good for gentle English country walks.  

Murderball Awe

Murderball Awe

New Zealand collected the Bronze at Sydney, impressing with their toughness along the way. “These are the hard men of the Paralympics. New Zealand’s heavily-tattoed Curtis Palmer emerged unscathed from a high-impact collision that sent him somersaulting…

Lamb-blasted

Lamb-blasted

The WTO ruled in favour of New Zealand in the appeal against US tariffs on our lamb. The Prime Minister was pleased with the result, but said “ideally, you don’t want to be taking your best…

Our Cup Overflowed

Our Cup Overflowed

The America’s Cup generated NZ$640 million in economic activity. Competing syndicates spent $149.2 mill, nearly matched by $118 mill from super-yacht spectators.

Indomitable Down Under

Indomitable Down Under

A young Bangladeshi expresses his respect for the Black Caps: Chris Cairns is “at his magnificent best”; Roger Twose is “that wily customer”, and the whole team displayed “the indomitable spirit of the team from Down Under”.

Wright for the Job

Wright for the Job

The Indian cricket team is looking for a new coach and former New Zealand opener John Wright seems to be the man for the job. The final appointment will be announced before the team’s November tour…

Big Cheese

Big Cheese

Juliet Harbutt, self-described “brash, open, jolly New Zealander”, founded the British Cheese Awards to “preach the Gospel of cheese”.

A Little to the Right…

A Little to the Right…

New Zealand entrepreneur James Sampson is launching a live sex site based in Christchurch. Viewers will be able to issue instructions to the workers.

Kiwi-Pom Oggie Oi

Kiwi-Pom Oggie Oi

Ron Knox, originally of England, now New Zealand, introduced the stadium-filling “Oggie, Oggie, Oggie, Oi, Oi Oi” chant to the ockers. “I wonder if they will send me a gold medal,” says Ron.  

Say Fish

Say Fish

Mi’kmaq Indians look to New Zealand’s lead on fishery settlement deals. “Strong, tradeable property rights in fishing can be powerful economic and environmental force,” argues this article.  

Avvid Attention

Avvid Attention

New Zealand Government Departments can talk to each other with maximum efficiency, thanks to AVVID, “one of the  largest end-to-end IP telephony networks in the world.”  

Against the Grain

Against the Grain

New Zealand scholar Aurelia Mulgan’s The Politics of Agriculture in Japan launches a “brutal assault on antifactual strategies such as rational-choice theory, but also brusque rejection of social science as science”.

HRH Touchdown

HRH Touchdown

The Queen will visit her farthest-flung domain in October, 2001. Her visit will provide “an opportunity for New Zealand to mark the impending Golden Jubilee of the Queen’s Reign”.

Conner Cautious

Conner Cautious

Dennis Conner will be in Auckland contesting the Cup in 2003, but he sure isn’t feeling complacent: “There’s so much depth of talent in New Zealand…They’ll still be difficult to beat, ” he told the NY…

Choice Joyce

Choice Joyce

Leilani Joyce, New Zealand #1 since ’97, didn’t drop a game on the way to becoming British Open Champion and World Squash #1. “The plan was quite simple,” says Joyce of her final game against England’s…

Eco Edge

Eco Edge

“Politicians have got used to being told by their clever advisers and focus groups that the environment isn’t sexy. It doesn’t lead to votes. But that’s where the leadership thing comes in. If politics is merely about…

E-e-e-e-readiness

E-e-e-e-readiness

Kiwis are on to it online. This has been confirmed by a Vic University study that lists NZ among the top four countries in the world for e-commerce and connectivity. The edge has the world’s fastest…

What Goes Around Comes Around

What Goes Around Comes Around

Hans Schwarz, an Austrian now living in NZ, sailed to Melbourne in 1956, to attend the Olympic Games. He threw a bottle into the ocean, with a note for a “dusky Pacific maiden”. Now, in a typically…

Dr MacDiarmid and His Fantastic Electric Plastic

Dr MacDiarmid and His Fantastic Electric Plastic

New Zealand’s Nobel duo becomes a trio; Masterton-born and Wellington-educated chemist Alan MacDiarmid has joined Ernest Rutherford and Maurice Wilkins as a Nobel Prize (chemistry) laureate. MacDiarmid and his two colleagues discovere conductive plastics which have been…

Cullen a Keeper

Cullen a Keeper

Christian Cullen has resisted overseas contracts to concentrate on winning the World Cup for New Zealand in 2003 (which will be held in Australia and New Zealand). “The World Cup is the only thing I haven’t won…

Repair Bill

Repair Bill

New Zealand vet Deborah Saunders describes the revolutioary bill-binding putty she used on Deidre the duck: “it’s nice and hard and keeps the two parts of the bill together and well supported”.

MurderBall

MurderBall

Wheelchair rugby, “Murderball” as it’s known by the players, is the only full contact wheelchair sport at the Paralympics. New Zealand is ranked second, behind the USA.  

Fine Vintage

Fine Vintage

1978 was a good year for wine in New Zealand. That’s when John Simes, now winemaker at Mission Hill in Okanagan, Canada, began his career. The Kiwi is one of the “trained and experienced winemakers” imported to…

High Stakes

High Stakes

Christchurch Casinos Limited and international affiliate CryptoLogic have debuted Kiwi Casino on the net. Punters drop their dollars surrounded by “the exotic sub-tropical rainforests of New Zealand”.

Edge into Growth

Edge into Growth

Canadian design guru Bruce Mau created “An incomplete Manifesto for Growth” in 1998. “The oddest thing I heard was that a New Zealand company had used the manifesto on its website,” says Mau.

The Gravy Train Will Now Depart …

The Gravy Train Will Now Depart …

Some members of the Penang Municipal Council enjoyed a recent trip to Adelaide, but not everyone got to go. Those who missed out launched a protest campaign, ending in a working paper being prepared on the…

V Good

V Good

New Zealand company Frucor, dominant in the NZ and Australian energy drinks market, feels V ready to compete with international behemoth Coca-Cola. “We believe we can grow the market fivefold in Australia,” says CEO Mark Cowsill.

LA Love

LA Love

The LA Times runs a triumvirate of New Zealand travel features: Compact New Zealand, Wellington and comment from Fabio, King of Hearts: “They have the most amazing lakes. They’re huge and as deep as the mountains are high”.

Miracle Flightless

Miracle Flightless

Since 1984, New Zealand has undergone “the most comprehensive economic reform programme undertaken by any OECD country in recent decades”. Not all the results have been bright: “Looking back over the past 15 years, you would have…

Election Blues

Election Blues

American academics laud MMP: “When New Zealand had its first PR election in 1996, the first Asian citizen was elected, and Pacific Islanders and indigenous Maoris tripled their representation.”

Kiwi Water Winner

Kiwi Water Winner

The gold medal in women’s 470 sailing class at Sydney went to Australia – with a Kiwi doing the work. New Zealander Jenny Armstrong teamed up with Barbara Stowell, originally from Zimbabwe, to win Australia’s 50th medal.

Fishy Dispute

Fishy Dispute

The science of salmon conservation is muddy, but, as New Zealand’s introduced salmon show, the king of fish is an adaptable beast.

Kiwi Coach Conquers in Rowing Eights

Kiwi Coach Conquers in Rowing Eights

The Olympic eights were taken out by the British for the time in 88 years and it was a Kiwi who pushed them to their win. The team cited Harry Mahon, their assistant coach, as a…

NZ 3-D LCD

NZ 3-D LCD

Images on your monitor create the illusion of depth, but remain flat. Now a Kiwi company, Deep Video Imaging, has created a new kind of double-skinned monitor which delivers true depth of field and allows the display…

Kissin Pad Goodbye

Kissin Pad Goodbye

New York-based New Zealander, restaurateur and business partner of Sir Terence Conran, Joel Kissin, sold his four-storey townhouse at 53 West 68th Street for US$7million. His new home is “is opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is…

A Long Way to Deliver a Letter

A Long Way to Deliver a Letter

Jules Brown from The Observer takes a scenic trip up the stunning Whanganui river on some rather usual transport – a mail bus.

Ski Bunny Finds Roads Funny

Ski Bunny Finds Roads Funny

Amy Chavez of Japan visited the NZ recently to ski. She found some of the mountain roads a little too close to the edge for comfort.

Ultra Careful

Ultra Careful

Sarah Buckley, a New Zealand-trained family doctor looking into pre-natal care, has produced research that challenges the safety of ultra-sound scans routinely performed on pregnant women.  

Seeding Change

Seeding Change

New Zealand scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research have been collaborating with their Australian and British counterparts in experiments that may hold the answer to global warming. By adding extra iron to the…