Awesome Adventures of an Immigrant

By Art Zegelaar

The author is a new-comer to New Zealand. In the footsteps of Abel Tasman the author might have thought New Zealand to be a Dutch Colony!

Life in the far North soon revealed characteristics that proved myopic aspirations were hard at work. But the author has a contagious sense of humour. And without the fine tuned skills in English expression the inimitable style of his book adds colour and fascination to the events he describes.

I think the reader will be able to identify with some of the humorous situations and has probably met some of the officious personalities who take centre stage in a parochial community.

To read this book written from a fresh perspective should be a therapeutic exercise to some of us too cloistered in some secluded pockets of post-imperialism and should be on the bookshelf of every immigrant wishing to understand the heart beat of their newly elected country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304912275

Book preview

Awesome Adventures

of an Immigrant

Art Zegelaar

© 2006 Art Zegelaar Family Trust, All rights reserved

Images © 1991Malcolm Ford, All rights reserved

Published by Lulu Press. www.lulu.com/piano1

ISBN no.  978-1-304-91227-5

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Awesome Adventures

Foreword

The author is a new-comer to New Zealand. In the footsteps of Abel Tasman the author might have thought New Zealand to be a Dutch Colony!

Life in the far North soon revealed characteristics that proved myopic aspirations were hard at work. But the author has a contagious sense of humour. And without the fine tuned skills in English expression the inimitable style of his book adds colour and fascination to the events he describes.

I think the reader will be able to identify with some of the humorous situations and has probably met some of the officious personalities who take centre stage in a parochial community.

To read this book written from a fresh perspective should be a therapeutic exercise to some of us too cloistered in some

secluded pockets of post-imperialism and should be on the bookshelf of every immigrant wishing to understand the heart beat of their newly elected country.

Malcolm Ford, August 2006

CONTENTS

Book I

Awesome Adventures

Lifestyle

The Town Hall

Discover

Prisoner of Mother England

1001 Hit Songs of Aladdi

The Committee

Bay of Islands

Good Conduct

The Anti Community

State Highway I 

A Musical Society

Jesus Moves

Cape Reinga

Does it register?

New Zealand Closed

Paradise

Festival of Drama

S.P.L.U.S

An Organic Piano Tuner

Good Will

Awesome Adventures

The reader is informed that any comparison with

real-time characters is merely co-incidental

Word of the Author:

It was not the intention for these anecdotes to grow into a book. It was only the encouragement and feedback of many friends that made it so.

When Malcolm Ford gave permission to use the images of his imaginative sculptures as a sign of his confidence in these pages the decision was finally made to put this book into print.

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Awesome Adventures

Ok, I apologize. I was totally wrong. But I have been in

therapy, underwent extensive counselling and now I see

the light. I love New Zealanders. It is so wonderful to

just sit back and see those people getting on.

And the view on the back seat is not bad at all.

So, where then did I go wrong so awfully?

Our world is in a real bad shape and we need people

with vision to lead us out of the mess we’re in. This

vision of course should be a little bit longer than the

vision needed to complete an Essay at University. It

needs a bit longer than just the ‘two days before the

deadline to get started and when printing it of just half

an hour before the deadline the hard disk crashes.’

Admittedly, that’s not where I went wrong. I did plan.

And my planning did even put them to shame. But I was

of course wrong in assuming that they were not planning

while they were sitting back.

After all to finish first you need to keep yourselves fresh 

and start running sort of 100 meters before the finish.

With proper preparation and the others running the full

way, this still merits you a first. Proper planning that is.

There is also of course this other slight worry. The man

– let us call him Brian - who so generously invited me to

New Zealand with the promise to sell me his house

AND his piano practise.

And I know he was absolutely and totally irreproachable

because the first time I met him he asked whether I

believed in God. Upon me staying silent he made a clear

assessment and made it at least abundantly clear that he

was on the right side of things. And to confirm what

exactly that implied, he told me he had decided not to

move away after all, but he would help me to set myself

up. Just to underline that both he and God are generous

beings - making the world a better place.

Lifestyle

New Zealand has it all. Snow, Sea, Mountains, Sheep,

Sheep and lots of space. A plot of land and a house.

Who should desire more, especially since very