'Brainless' stunt by NZ 'idiots' a global sensation

BART DINGER

HIGHLY UNORTHODOX: A Cambridge resident trims the top of his hedge with a ride-on lawnmower.

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The tale of the Cambridge man who trimmed his hedge using a ride-on mower strapped to a crane has gone worldwide.

The Waikato Times has received emails from as far away as Connecticut, in the United States, and the United Kingdom commenting on the stunt.

The story received about 73,000 hits on the stuff.co.nz website the day it went up, making it the most viewed story for Tuesday and most of Wednesday this week.

Some negative responses have been received, with one writer commenting that "this is the sort of stupidity that puts New Zealand at the bottom of the safety ratings in the world".

Another labelled the people involved "stupid, brainless, idiots" who should be prosecuted.

But the wife of the man riding the mower said they had received no negative comments at all.

"I think people are happy just to see that Kiwis are still keen to give anything a go and that Kiwi ingenuity is alive and kicking," she said.

The woman, who did not want to be named, was fascinated at people's interest in how they had trimmed their hedge. "We've all had a great laugh out of it and are still laughing.

"These are basic boys who hatched a plan to get the job done with the tools they had at hand.

"We can assure you that there were definitely no instructions on the mower to exclude their great plan."

However the method might have been a little different had a woman been involved, she said.

"But I think good on them for tackling what could have been a very boring and tedious job.

"This kind of thing is pretty typical, you just never know what you are going to see next around here. This is the Waikato after all."

- © Fairfax NZ News