Well, almost. In the southern hemisphere a hurricane is called a “cyclone.” Cyclone Narelle formed east of northern Australia and has been slowly moving west. Last week it was Category 5 but has reduced over the days. The Silver Dawn has been sailing clockwise around Australia for several weeks. Seem both are meeting near Darwin on Sunday, 22-Mar-2026.

Today we got word the ship is only docking in Darwin for four hours and all tours are canceled. I suppose the only reason we are docking are for required supplies and perhaps crew personnel changes.

We’ve seen this coming for no less than three days, and I’m a little surprised it’s taken this long to make a decision. I’d thought there would be no reason to even get close to a cyclone’s projected track. Over the days the forecast moved Narelle further and further south of Darwin, but it’s still within the uncertainty bands.

As I’m writing this we are 12 hours out from Darwin. The weather shows no signs of a coming storm. Hopefully this will be boring.