Shortlisted for the Calgary W.O. Mitchell Prize.

From the author of A Paris Moment comes a tongue-in-cheek tale of one couple's quest for happiness on the other side of the globe. We all dream of escaping the boring routine of getting up, going to work, and paying the bills. Find out what happens when Gordon Cope and his wife, Linda, follow that dream-to the South Pacific. From the remote Cook Islands to the hustle and bustle of Sydney Australia, from the new agey cities of New Zealand to Perry Mason's orchid garden in Fiji, Gordon and his wife Linda search for happiness - and the best sauvignon blanc in the southern hemisphere.

Along the way they encounter a host of memorable characters:

• Sven - the Swedish biker with a body of tattoos,
• Greg - the James Cagney look-alike - whose dream is to open an espresso bar in one of Sydney's roughest neighbourhoods,
• Papa Manu - whose Cook Island-style birthday parties give new meaning to the term "party crashers",
• Lovestruck Rarotonga teens Violet and Porkchop,
• And, of course, the Wizard of New Zealand.

From taking part in a Cook Islands racquetball competition to staring down a grassfire in Australia, from chasing crazy cockroaches to ducking kooky kookaburras, Gordon Cope takes you on a rollicking adventure to the world down under. . . You won't have to be mad as a meat axe to enjoy this trip!