Bold theatre. Fresh dance. Mana Māori. Ahi Kaa.With a vision to light up your heart and minds with theatre and dance from Maori artists. Join us, in Te Whanganui-a-tara, at the head of the fish, Te Ika a Maui, Wellington. Across four iconic theatres, over four weeks. Six shows, six companies. A dynamic, breathless and spellbinding journey – this is the Ahi Kaa. In te reo Maori, Ahi Kaa is most commonly translated as ‘home fires’. Ahi Kaa AK Festival 2015. Under the stars of Matariki – world class theatre and dance will premiere. Read more here.
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The future of business travelThe future of travel includes keyless entry to hotel rooms and virtual reality goggles so people can check out distant hotel rooms without leaving the office. The days of scrabbling around with bits of paper to fly around the world are over, according to Tandem Travel's Systems Development Manager, David Petrie. Already smartphones, along with a range of apps, are helping busy people sweep through airports, bypass the
check-in desk at hotels and get around unfamiliar locations. Read more here.
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Māori-Aboriginal link a key in tourism awardA Māori tourism company based in Sydney which recently won an award, says its relationship with indigenous Australians was key to it being recognised. Kotahi Tourism's Poihakena Tours won the 'Heritage Tours and Multimedia Award' at the National Trust New South Wales Heritage Awards earlier this month. The director of the organisation said his company is humbled to receive the accolade, particularly as it was the first time it had been nominated. But Hohepa Ruhe says his company's success derives from the agreement they had with Sydney's local aboriginal people. Read more here.
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Paddlers going with the flowThe crowds setting forth to paddle a remote stretch of the Whanganui River just keep growing, Department of Conservation services manager George Taylor says. Numbers have doubled since he began work there in 2007 and the facilities are holding up, though toilets at John Coull Hut and Tieke Kainga have to be pumped out twice a season. The Whanganui Journey now has an online booking system, and the number of people on the water can be counted. Read more here.
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Congratulations #1Pacifica Restaurant in Napier won the Best Regional Restaurant award in the Cuisine Good Food Awards this week. Whitebait Restaurant in Wellington won the award for Best New Restaurant. Read more here.
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Congratulations #2Cliff Curtis has won best actor prize at the Seattle International Film Festival for his lead role The Dark Horse, which was named best film. The film, directed by James Robertson, tells the story of Genesis Potini, an East Coast man who turns around the lives of local Maori children by teaching them the intricacies of chess.
Read more here.
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Rotorua: Adventure playground"It's the stinkiest stinky in the whole world," says the 3-year-old as she pinches her nose for dramatic impact. She tends to do drama quite well, especially during those fetching 3-year-old episodes, but she was right. It was pretty whiffy. Still, that was why we were in Rotorua. We were a
family looking for a few challenges and the Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland was certainly challenging our senses. Read more here.
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