Arrowtown book buyer Miranda Spary continues her regular column about her recommendations for a good read and life as she sees it.
I am not sure there is anything cosier than hopping into your own bed after you have been away, especially with the electric blanket on high.
I was trying to explain to a Fijian friend about electric blankets, but he looked so sceptical, I think he thought I was just making it up.
Sometimes I have been accused of making things up, and I am the first to admit that I do suffer from exaggeration.
So to counter that, I have been practising the unheard of - checking my facts.
I was planning just to make up a little story about Jane "The Body" Turner at the fashion parade, but instead I rang her husband to get the details.
In doing so, I learnt that not only did she lose two dress sizes, but her eyesight has improved to the extent that she has noticed her husband's need to lose some weight.
The moral of the story seems to be that losing weight just causes problems for everyone, so it is probably best not to do it.
And I have certainly followed that advice - the NZ embassy staff refer to Fiji as a 5kg posting, which means that on average, you put on that amount of weight in your time there.
I only managed 3kg, but I was only there for 10 days.
Imagine if I was there for two years . . .
What I would do if I were there for two years is take up golf just so I could go and play at the new Natadola golf course - it's right on the coast looking out over the reef and utterly gorgeous.
Now - on to books.
If you've read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point you will know how fabulous an author he is.
His latest effort, Outliers is about how some people manage to achieve so much more than others.
I read it because I thought I would like to do just that.
But now I discover there is a whole lot more to it.
Apparently, and this is where I can see the hideous problem looming, you have to practise.
Our family motto is something like "If a thing is hard to do, it is probably not worth doing".
Most of the world' great success stories have invested something like 10,000 hours' effort, and I have already given up my dreams of fame and fortune.
I will have to give up my dream of even being a measly weekly columnist if I don't hurry up with this.
I just got in from my dogless dog walk with dog-owning friends, and found a snippy email.
Better dash and get this in.
Fiji is the new Europe.
See, I told you I was prone to exaggeration.
It's not at all, but it is very popular this year.
Hardly anyone seems to be making the trip to the other side of the world this year given the current economic climate.
And it is so easy to save money in Fiji - the only things you want to buy cost almost nothing - pawpaws are $F2 at the market (that's the rip-off price for tourists - the locals pay half that) and all those ridiculously delicious bananas and pineapples and mangoes are the same.
> Don't forget to email me on miranda@queenstown.co.nz if you have read something stunning or you just want to argue with me over anything.
- Miranda Spary
