I don't expect it to last, or be a sign of the coming of the Cup, but I am happy they're playing hard and winning the games they need to. GO LEAFS GO!

The smart decision I made during that time was to buy myself a nice watch. I went to Eaton's (if I recall correctly) and bought a Roots watch. It was more money than I'd spent on watches my entire life but I really liked it. It's now on it's second battery, and third watchband, but it hasn't missed a beat. A quality bit of craftsmanship and one that I'd like to recognise and pass along. It's far too often that we complain of bad quality gear. So thank you Roots for a great watch!

Damn wallabies think they're so good! I'll show them.

Oh well, at least we know the 'loo will be safe with him on guard.

I've yet to fall into the "facecrack" temptation and join a web of people that I'll most likely never come face to face with again. In saying that, I have also lost contact with some good mates. I shouldn't they're really lost as I've got their emails but it's more like I've lost the ability the dedicate time to catching up - that being the sad part of it all. Hopefully, I can find the balance between daily updates of what cereal I had for breakfast (trick question - I don't eat breakfast) and procrastinating too much instead of asking that ole mate of mine, what he/she is up to now and what's exciting for them?

So keep on checking in and I may have some more to say - hopefully in better style and grammar cause I reckon this is nothing less than shocking. This post has been typed like getting back on a bicycle after 5 years....and forgetting the downsides of only braking with the front caliper. Ouch.

I have been wanting to upgrade a few of the components in my brake system as I'm replacing the brake lines and when you've got the brake fluid drained you might as well do the lot. I got some quotes for parts but thought all the prices seemed a little inflated. I checked this out at several major parts supplier chains in Darwin and found the same disparity in prices. I then compared these to ebay and found much better prices.

Now I realize that ebay does allow some stores to offer better prices as they can be purely a warehouse with no physical store presence and that can cut costs on their part. In terms of car parts suppliers, most of their physical stores are giant warehouses with only the most basic sort of storefront anyways so this argument has less of an effect.

I was in Melbourne recently, so I decided to check prices there to see if shipping to the NT might have been a factor but alas the prices were the same.

In the end, I went with ebay cause it was $70 cheaper on a $170 bill which included shipping and I was also able to get a 54mm socket for use in replacing the front end bearings this season.

A much closer gap in prices and local would take it...but maybe shopping local through national chains is a waste of time....

I've also participated in my first excursion of panic buying. I'd finished work and had a beer out the front of the pub, watching the rain and winds strip branches off trees and create puddles that flowed west at one point and then were seen flowing east, 10 minutes later. I decided that I should probably pick up some supplies (mostly cause I was running low on beer and mix) so I stopped in at the local Woolies. It was quite a sight. There wasn't a ton of people there, but the evidence of constant shopping could be seen. It seemed like every stock boy/man/woman/person who could be called was frantically working to stock shelves. Not knowing what I'd like to be eating if I was forced to be stuck in a storage closet, I stuck with flavoured cans of tuna. That, and a healthy supply of long-life (needed for coffee....and cocoa-pops). I was confident of the number of cans of pasta sauce and vegetables at home, so I took the opportunity to pick up a 4L tin of olive oil for the missus - she loves the stuff and it was a great deal....not really cyclone related though.

But back to Carlos, or as he was known at that time - Tropical Low 2. He must be stoked that he finally got a name. Like a pilot getting a callsign....wonder if there will ever be a Cyclone Goose? Goose is dead Mav....(one of the few times ever that most men will cry)

So we haven't seen the full brunt of Carlos yet. He's still thinking of doing that night course through the community college and may yet reach that level 2 and maybe get a payraise as well. He's moving up in the world.

It's getting a little more windy now and there were some big gusts the other night. We lost a big palm tree that now covers the back lawn and my hopes of free bananas were dashed as the banana tree fell over as well. Why do Cyclones hate bananas so much?

Work closed today cause of leaky roofing, business closures downtown and other factors, so I'm now contemplating using my days off for a roadtrip. Not much to do in Darwin otherwise.

More updates to follow if the old interweb and suppliers hold up.

As usual, I start on one subject and digress quickly to another rant. Back to the topic at hand - Scrivets.

Didn't know they existed several hours ago, and now I can't stand'em.

A scrivet is, as some have already guessed, a cross between a screw and a rivet. A good idea but like communism, it fails in its application. They seem to be used extensively in plastic format to hold on more plastic pieces on modern vehicles.

My fight with them is on two grounds. Number one - they are rarely able to be extracted as they were designed. More often than not, a screwdriver is required, not to undo them nicely, but to pry them out of their holes viciously. A little bit of dirt is often the cause, with the result being thousands of bits of plastic shrapnel covering the workshop floor and mental fuse shortened further.

My second beef with these little fasteners is the idea they represent. Use lots of platic on vehicles and connect it all with even more plastic and more disposable parts. Now, don't get me wrong, the weight saved by using plastic has its advantages, but I just prefer something a little more old fashioned - like nuts and bolts. I enjoy taking apart pieces of a vehicle for a project and putting them back together...without having to go shopping to replace half the fasteners.

Modern vehicles are getting worse and worse to work on. A couple months ago, we replaced the OEM stereo in Nat's commodore. Took us a whole afternoon of cursing as everything required just the right amount of force to convince it to fit as it should. Force that was constantly balanced by the fear of braking some critical tab or plastic fitting. I replaced my radio in the landcruiser (a sony with a newer sony) and all it required was undoing 6 screws and 3 bolts and swapping the radio in and it was done. Might have taken 20 minutes. That's the difference between the practical metal technology of the past and modern plastic styling was of things.

As a t-shirt my Aunt used to wear in the 80's said: "You can take this job and screw it!"

For more information about the charities and causes, as well as my progress in growing back my Mo, hit up the Movember website.

Don't forget to donate.

It was a bit of a miscommunication followed by the logistics of dealing with companies half a globe away. I won't bore you with further details, but let's just say that my laziness was a partial contributor.

So what's been happening since?

Nat finished up her contract in Kakadu and is back in town, now working for Conservation Volunteers. I'm still on Mitchell St. at Duck's Nuts.

We've moved into a new place of our own (renting at least); a beatiful elevated house with a large yard for Rusty and a shaded pool out the back for us. It's important to have a little sanctuary for oneselves. There's nothing quite like sitting down under the house when it's dumping rain and reading a book or working on the Cruiser.

Sounds like something you'd enjoy? Give us a bell and come for a visit!

In Australia, it is a practice to shout your mates a round and vice versa. If it's a particularly unique combination or shout - like 3 rums, vodka OJ and a Jim Beam w/no ice (in Oz it is also assumed that in the case of most rail spirits, if it is not mentioned the mix is cola by default), then there's a good chance the barman/maid will remember it and the price. In this case, if the first person to order it was friendly, everyone else will likely be treated well. On the flip side of this, if the first person to shout your group was annoying, or impolite, you're likely to suffer from their bad first impression.

Now, this might sound like it's a little more in-depth of an analysis than it deserves, giving that hundreds of people come through a pub on a weekend, and multiple bartenders are going to be working, but it only takes a smile and maybe a few quick pleasantries to ensure you'll be getting better service than the self-absorbed idiot who is waving the $50 bill at every bartender. By the way, what is he thinking? Everyone at the pub most likely has money - people don't tend to window shop for pints and cocktails. It's nice when people have their money ready (nothing is more annoying than someone complaining how long they've waited at the bar and then not knowing what it is they want or not having money ready) but there is a fine line between holding it in your hand and waving it in the air cause we [bartenders] just don't care....for that.

Now, I haven't paid much attention to my blog lately, in both terms of updating and aesthetics. This will hopefully change in the near future as I once again have reliable access to the internerd.

For the moment, I'll just let all know that Nat and I are back in Australia again. With a job offer she couldn't resist, we gave our notices and finished work in Jasper. We packed up our lives there, sold off what we couldn't pack and travelled back 3500km to see the fam in Onterrible (it's not that terrible, but that's just what Albertans call it). Three days on the road and we got back to the 'Frew. Some quality time and then we were flying out of Ottawa to Adelaide via Vancouver and Sydney. Couldn't push it off any further cause a day earlier or later woulda meant at least $1000 more in combined airfare. Caught up with one of my best mates Adam in VanCity (too short a time) and then with our mate Dan in Sydney before arriving in Adelaide. A day and a half there with Nat's 'rents and we picked up Rusty the heeler (not initially happy to see us, but eventually happy to be part of the family again) and flew to Alice Springs. More catchin up with mates there and picking up the 'Cruiser before driving 1500km north to Jabiru so Nat could start work.

What a journey! Nothing like somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000km of travel - flying and driving, in about 12 days time. Good to finally be grounded again.

So, if you find yourself in the Top End of Australia, let us know and we'll make sure to have some cold beer ready.

Long story short, we're back in the Northern Territory of Australia - this time in the Top End. Visiting the Red Centre was great but a change is needed and our time up here was cut short last time so now we'll put down some roots and see how it treats us.

Not sure yet what's gonna keep me occupied but Darwin has a solid pub scene so I'll head there to check out some opportunities. Should have some new photos soon and hopefully finish the Yukon trip section....eventually.

Oh yeah, the Rustbucket is back and after a couple hours of her cold shoulders for leaving her for almost two years, she warmed up and was happy to get in the ute (after hopping on Qantas for her first flight ever).

Snowboarding: Marmot Basin was blessed with a ton of early season snowfall so I've been partaking in that quite frequently, racking up (to date) about 45 days of riding. I've picked things up pretty well, riding the toughest terrain Marmot has to offer and have even managed to land all types of 180's. The 360 is still pending, but I've had some close ones.... it'll come (cut me some slack, I'm not as young as I used to be).

Nat has switched to skiing this year and enjoys it much more than the snowboarding learning curve that dissuades so many. She rode her first black diamond run last week and hasn't looked back.

Yesterday, me and some mates went on a hiking adventure. The first couple hours hardly felt like adventure at the time but they were an investment with a big payoff. We snowshoed up the Signal Mountain fire road to the first campground and then swapped snowshoes for our snowboards for the way down. Near the top, the trail was wide and we were able to get in some pretty good turns in untouched powder but the lower section was more intense as much of it was overgrown and was simply a packed, straight trail descending through brush that threatened to ruin your ride if you ventured more than half a meter off of the trail. Three hours and 15 minutes up for a 35 minute ride down. Very reminiscent of the bike ride up to Mt. Fitzwilliam campground last summer.

Not a lot of excitement but it's hard to justify writing blog entries when the weather is nice and the spare time can be spent up here.

Our southbound journey continued on this day as we took a slight detour to Carcross to visit the Carcross Desert, which is one of those appearance based names cause it's not really a desert at all. It looks marginally like a desert as it sort of has dunes and does have lots of sand but in no way has the limited precipitation and humidity needed for a desert. The 'desert' is actually sand that was deposited by the remnants of several lakes from the last glacial period.

From Carcross you can continue south to Skagway or head east (as we did) to meet up with the Alaska Highway once more. We continued east until we were almost at Watson Lake and then turned southwards on the start of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. This highway travels through northern British Columbia and is surrounded by incredible mountain landscapes and very few towns or other signs of people with the exception of old logging roads and abandoned (or somewhat abandoned) mining operations.

We arrived at Boya Lake Provincial Park just before sunset and only a week before they were closing for the season. Our camp was set up on a site overlooking the lake, and it may not have been summer, but the temperature was much more comfortable than what we'd left in the Yukon. I'll run the risk of sounding like a broken record but there is nothing quite as relaxing as having your camp set up and a meal made in time to watch the sunset.

End of day twelve.