’Rings’ actor says clean Kiwi ‘Middle-earth’ is a farce
TOURISTS are shocked to discover New Zealand’s ‘‘Middleearth’’ is dirty and polluted, says a Lord of the Rings star who is now a leading high-end tour operator.
Actor Bruce Hopkins – who starred as Gamling in Sir Peter Jackson’s trilogy – says he’s always honest to tourists when asked about the real New Zealand: ‘‘I am pretty open about it, we ain’t no land of milk and honey.’’
To mark 15 years since the release of the first Rings movie, director Jackson last week spoke up for New Zealand’s reputation, saying the country ‘‘is and will always be the real Middle-earth’’, but Hopkins is particularly concerned with the impact of dairy farming on waterways. ‘‘You wouldn’t even think of dipping your big toe into some of these places.’’
Hopkins became a tour guide after attending LOTR fan conventions overseas and realising many fans planned to travel to New Zealand.
Increasingly, he became dismayed by showing tourists a country which was anything other than ‘‘100% Pure’’.
Although tourists were still stunned by much of the country, many were surprised by the intensification of dairy farming, he said.
‘‘I’ve always thought that I am so glad that I live in a country that is so far removed from the rest of the world, that is our greatest asset and we are in danger of screwing that up majorly.’’