SUNTANNED AND SMILING

ok so
that last post was laaaame
i didn't even spell Paihia right
oops
oh well
sorry bout that

anyways
we are in paIhia now and it is absolutely AWESOME here
it's so sunny and warm and lovely
and nobody wears shoes much, just sunscreen and hats
and everybody is friendly and tanned
AND ME TOO!
i have pretty much the best tan ever
and my watch broke today cause i wore it snorkelling, and holy moly watch tan!
it's so pretty and clear and defined
i love watch tans
and i miss my watch
how will i know when to do my embarassing back excercises???

so anyways
we've done all kinds of touristy stuff here
such as lying on a plethora of different beaches
kayaking all day yesterday
sailing trip, with some swimming and some snorkeling, today
and a lot of just chillin around our hostel here, which is the coolest place that i have ever stayed
the rooms are these cute little cabiney rooms with only five beds and they are clean and colourful and smell really good
and the kitchen is this big room attached to a tv room that opens right up to outside and the doors are always open, cept at night
and there is this little shady courtyard with lawn chairs and a bbq
and there are a whole bunch of argentinian boys here who have been here for a couple weeks and have jobs and basically live here
and they are so friendly and their english is so weird because it is new zealand accents on top of argentinian accents
speaking of accents:
i basically am totally incapable of understanding people with non-North American accents
it's terribly embarassing
i can't even understand the kiwi guy that owns this place, or a scottish guy who talked to me when he saw my mtb shirt
and i was talking to some italians who are staying here and i had to get them to repeat everything (but in my defence, their english wasn't great in general... but still)
and then on top of that, there are lots of non-english-first-language people who have learned english here, so they have Kiwi accents on top of foreign accents
and basically, when they talk, Mim and I are like "ummmmm yes..... ok.... yes sure"
cause i seriously can't understand a thing
it's very embarassing

but anyways
enough about that

i saw my first preying mantis in the shower on wednesday! SO COOL!

and i have the silliest little sunburns
cause basically if you don't put sunscreen ALL OVER (Charles would have this totally under control), any little bit that you miss (ex: the insides of your ears, your hairline, your knuckles, your toes, your ankles, etc) gets buuuuurned
and then there is me who burned my fingers cooking dinner last week
and they are still peeling
haw haw haw

anywho
tomorrow we are leaving here and going up to Kataia (which is pronounced "Ka-tay-a" - which i was not told until having said "Ka-ta-ya-hee-a" about twelve times)
just for two nights
we're gonna take a tour up to Cape Reinga, which is where the Pacific ocean and the Tasman sea meet
i think
or something like that
the most northern tip of NZ
apparently their is a light house there
oooooo
aaaaahhhh

ok
must go
me and mim are drinkin tea and reading our books at the picnic table ouside the kitchen
and internet here costs a small fortune
just a small one, though
ciao for now
(i hate it when people say that)