woo hoo! today is my birthday!! but wait that means i'm another year older and another year closer to 30 than i am to 20. whats that all about? i don't like the idea of that. plus it's alot harder to explain to your parents why you must continue travelling instead of settling down and getting a job.

winter has finally hit paihia. it has been so friggin cold here. i mean like under blankets with thermals on and drinking hot chocolate cold. it's april. it's never been cold on my birthday before. i just don't know what to make of all this.

going out to dinner to the sugarboat tonight. that should be fun. it is one of the nicest places in town and i'm looking forward to it. the restaurant is actually an old boat that has been converted. it used to be kelly tarlton's shipwreck musuem. now its a restaurant.

we went out on the cape brett hole in the rock cruise on sunday which was fabulous. i was a bit hungover from the party the night before and the 4 hour cruise was exactly what i needed. sara, my flatmate from australia, was in town. we did it up in style - breakfast at cafe over the bay, the cruise, dinner at swiss cafe and drinks at 35 South. It was quite a night. and then i had to go to work yesterday. it was anzac day and everyone else had the day off but i had to work. whatever. its all good. at least i was paid time and a half.

alright. i better go. have some stuff to do before the big night out. quite looking forward to it actually.

-meg.

so people have been telling me lately that i haven't added any new photos in a while. sorry about that, but i've been trying to be a good girl and stay in and not spend any money. but i've listened to your worries and have been working hard on the photos. i hope to have a bunch of new ones up tomorrow. you see it takes a lot of effort to go out every night and have drinks with mates... no just kidding.

so things are starting to wind down here in new zealand. it's been a good year, but i'm ready to go home. ready for the next adventure. plus i can't wait to be in canada where i can have internet access at home and be online all the time and constantly updating things for you. i realize i've been a bit slack about things like travel news and travel advisories, but it's been overwhelming with all the other stuff i've been doing.

we are going out on the r. tucker thompson this weekend. it is a huge ship that is made to look like one from the old days. it should be an absolute blast. the boys have decided to dress up like pirates. that should be an adventure.

well that's it for now. i'm gonna head home so that i can get these pictures done and put up for everyone. there was a toga party last week so i have a few funny ones from that.

keep having fun in whatever part of the world you're in!

well it was one hell of a weekend thats for sure. it's been nothing but big ones lately. you see winter is coming to paihia and people are running for the hills. not literally, but its time for us transients to move on to bigger and better places.

i myself am getting ready to leave. i've been here in new zealand for almost a year now and it's time to get going. time to find a new place to settle down in. where that new place will be i'm not sure, but for the time being we are heading to canada. yup up to the freezing cold of canada. it will be, let's see, how do i put it, cold????

that's okay tho. i need a lot of work done on the canada pages so it will be good for me to be up there and have access to all the info.

speaking of which, the contest for Destinations Needed is heating up. Remember the deadline is May 1st and if you win, you get US$50. What backpacker couldn't use an extra $50. Just click here for more information...

as for me, i'm off to do some more exploring. talk to ya soon!