Dropped out in Godzone

By Ray Carruthers

Ray and Gill's light-hearted ("humorous"??)  travel book about their adventures in provincial New Zealand…
One man and his family – and their experiences "Down Under".

A new immigrant's impressions of life in provincial New Zealand (after coming from a large city in South Africa) … and there were one or two rather funny adventures, nay escapades in "Sleepy Hollow" from time to time.

 

The author and his wife contrast life in colourful, vibrant South Africa with calm and kindly New Zealand – and with large dashes of humour offer much understanding of, and sympathy with the social attitudes of the two worlds.

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REVIEW:

"DROPPED OUT IN GODZONE is an original and agreeable piece of work. The picture it gives of New Zealand- to one who has never been there- has a ring of complete authenticity. The feeling of the country is relaxed, and perhaps rather unstimulating, but we get an overall impression from the writer that he views his time there with some affection, and above all with tolerance."

This book breathes a natural humour and kindliness, which is what gives it the individual character that is so appealing.

Autobiography has a particular value as a literary form. It is a shared kind of writing and I'll continue to bang the drum. It is unusual to encounter two such different manuscripts from the same author. Both (THE END OF ... is the other book) have quality and share an easy and assured writing style that is a pleasure to read. These short books are of first rate quality."

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ray Carruthers
• Release date: Mar 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798223038450

Book preview

DROPPED OUT IN GODZONE

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by Ray and Gill Carruthers (originally published in 1994)

Our life, new beginnings in Kiwiland

Picture above A writer’s dreams

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1

OUR TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE YEARS DOWN UNDER IN NEW

ZEALAND (KIWILAND)...AND I'M STILL DAMN WELL HERE TEN YEARS LATER!

... and LOVING it even more.

A South African's and exile Kiwi's light-hearted look at life in laid-back, provincial New Zealand. Eventually life in Sleepy Hollow became so quiet that we decided to write a book about it... although there were one or two adventures from time to time.

A new immigrant family's view of rural 'Godzone' and culture shock after arriving from a large city in South Africa to start a new lifestyle ... with a rather drastic change of pace on the other side of the world. Now six years, no,. twenty-five years later, later, I take it all for granted...

and appreciate it even more.

"Nothing much happens over there. The headline in a major capital city was

'golf-ball thrown at police constable'."

- comments by British entertainer Julian Cleary on a recent visit to Godzone.

And that's in a metropolis. Just wait till he gets to Sleepy Hollow and sees

the local rag in Sleepy Hollow! *

DEDICATION:

This manuscript is dedicated to small town dwellers throughout the world. Savour and appreciate the experience out of the rat race of large cities - it is certainly something precious. I would like to thank my dear wife Gill for giving me the opportunity and financial support to indulge in the creative

endeavour of writing. You had faith in me all along - far more than I ever did. And thanks for writing a substantial part of this manuscript. You came up with the title and it was your idea

to write this work. You're certainly a very talented person! Thanks to my beloved boys, G and S, who bring me so much happiness. Seeing you grow and develop and loving you makes the journey that is life so interesting.

Especially thanks to Sleepy Hollow (where nothing much happens)* for giving me the peace of mind and tranquillity to think clearly and write. New Zealand is a wonderful beautiful country to inspire writers.

* Not true some years later. Two sensational murders in two weeks. If this can happen in SH, what is the world coming to! Also to my close friends scattered throughout the world who always said I should write a book: this is what we have been up to in recent years... so DON'T expect a letter.

I thank God, my Creator for the spark inside me which inspired me to write, and I truly believe we all have a gift, a touch of genius that lies in the human spirit, which is the spark within all of us, just waiting to be lit.*

* In some of my later and more serious works, I have developed this theme.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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Cover picture and sunset at end

Pictures (great) by my good friend, Jenny, whose photographic talents I definitely do NOT possess!

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from www.jennysphotographicjourney.wordpress.com Thanks, Jen

ray (the world’s absolutely worst photographer)

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CONTENTS Introduction

Chapter One: Arrival and Settling in Chapter Two: Early Days

Chapter Three: Consolidation and Early Impressions Chapter Four: My Business Empire

Chapter Five: The Housing Experience Chapter Six: I love to live by the Seaside Chapter Seven: Restlessness and Reflections

Chapter Eight: Some General Observations about Sleepy Hollow

Chapter Nine: Observations of Godzone by an outsider Chapter Ten: The Sleepy Hollow Sporting scene Chapter Eleven: Our varied activities

Chapter Twelve: My Experiences with some fellow Countrymen

Chapter Lucky Thirteen: Summary and The Final Word

NOTE:

The abbreviation SH is used to denote the city of Sleepy Hollow. The name is made up, but the place is certainly real. All names in this short book (other than our own ones) have been changed to avoid any embarrassment. The only embarrassment might be the authors' at writing this.

I must say that these accounts were my initial impressions and were written after about three years here. When I wrote this I was very socially isolated in writing my various books. Now another three years later, I have felt very much at home here. Whilst my initial impressions and observations have not

changed much (if at all), I have met many wonderful people here who have reached out and made me feel very

welcome.

Thank you to the good, kind people of SH who have opened their hearts to me, even though I'm a newie and will probably never be a real Sleepy Hollowite, my descendants not having arrived on the first ship to hit these sleepy shores.

INTRODUCTION:

Five years ago my wife Gill felt compelled because of a series of traumatic and unavoidable circumstances to return to her home town in New Zealand. She had been away about 15 years first doing her nursing training in another NZ city, then working in England, where she met me, then living in South Africa with 'yours truly'. I won't go into the rather bizarre set of circumstances now, because that can be the subject of another book. All I will say is that it was a very stressful time of our lives.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, I was also dragged along with our twin boys Gareth and Sean. We were powerless to withstand this irresistible force of human nature. I was shot in the posterior by an anaethetised dart and when I woke up I found myself in Sleepy Hollow. The boys were six at the time and already seasoned jet-setters around the world, unlike their poor parents. These are the

circumstances which led to our adventures into the unknown, far, far away from 'civilisation'.

This manuscript is our account of our experiences, impressions and life down under - on the other side of the world from vibrant and colourful South Africa, the beloved country. I have always lived in big cities, mostly in Cape Town... but also in London, Durban, Wellington (NZ) and also in Perth in Western Australia. So it was quite a culture shock to experience the very different and strange attitudes

of small-time provincial New Zealand. It has certainly been quite an experience to sample the atmosphere in this country town in the midst of the passionless country as New Zealand is sometimes called. Note though that they are NEVER EVER passionless about their rugby or 'footie' as it is sometimes known. Even ordinary housewives have their strong views on the scrummaging technique of the All Black front row. It has even been a great culture shock for my quiet, yet powerful wife (TT), who left Las Vegas about twenty years ago to travel the world and find me. Shame*! Poor Gill drawing the short straw! She thought she'd married an insurance executive for my money, but ended up with a penniless writer.

* Shame is a very 'Sutheffrikun expresshn', that women especially say when ogling little 'crappy' babies.

For the sake of good taste and diplomacy and so as not to offend the locals (who are offended very easily anyway and are fiercely parochial and protective of their city of 30000+ people), I will not mention my place of residence by name. Instead I will call it Sleepy Hollow in 'never-never land'. The following is a factual account of our sojourn here over the last five and a bit years...

CHAPTER ONE: ARRIVAL AND SETTLING IN.

I suppose we had rather an eventful and traumatic start to our adventure. Both Gill and I. That is only after I had been bullied and brow-beaten into submission and finally drugged like the black rhino. The container with all our worldly possessions was already on the water to a destination half-way around the world, when I started having second thoughts about this madcap adventure. What was I letting myself and the boys into? However, it turned out to be too late to stop the container (it had already been stopped once before), so I thought I had

better follow that tin can. Just like in the programme 'Squad Cars' in SA: follow that car. My token protests were silenced with a clip around the ears and a hefty kick in the shins, followed by a dart in the rear.

Gill and the boys had left about six weeks before from Johannesburg to get established. She had arrived with a bang- a real red-carpet welcome. Little did we know that one day she would go out with barely a whimper as a social misfit. No not true, really! So after much flying (about 24 hours), I arrived to see what Sleepy Hollow had in store for me. It was an exhausting and emotional trip with tearful farewells from my dear family: very long - Cape Town-Johannesburg- Hong Kong - Sydney - Auckland - Sleepy Hollow. Hong Kong where East meets West was absolutely fascinating... hordes of people looking for a bargain. Street traders open till late at night - a real shoppers paradise! They work so hard over there - puts me to shame. Lucky Westerners! One evening I was lured inside a