golfbananajam, while hunting around the www tonight I came across an interesting snippet of info. Apparently, if your Fire is version 5.3.1.1 or later you can install Google Play without rooting it.
See
lifewire website for more details. I think that this will open up more apps and stuff without risking bricking your device. If your device is earlier than this it is still possible to add Google Play without changing your OS away from the restricting Fire OS version of Android but it does require rooting to do it.
Mine is Fire 7 (9th generation) so I might have a go at this relatively safe process without getting help from my mate........ When I get an hour of time to concentrate on the task.
Rans6....................