The cyclone is now forming beyond our stern, a good place for it I guess (although I was hoping to experience some extreme weather). A rim of grey cumulous clouds stretch from 4-8 o-clock, with a dark shadowy backdrop. Rain looks heavy inside the maelstrom of humid air, with occasional sparks of lightning. We are still traveling northwest; I believe we are at 12 degrees latitude at this point. And still the weather here is calm, light 12 knots winds blowing straight into the cyclone, and a descent 3 meter swell (enough to roll the Finnmarken and make everyone on this dry ship look drunk). Today is apparently Australia Day. I day when all of the Aussie drink more than they usually do and celebrate the day that Captain Cook set foot on this continent. Cook’s “discovery” of this land provided the solution to Britain’s overwhelming crime problems. Britain now had a place where it could ship all of its convicts, since the newly forming America didn’t want them anymore. Although historically Cook had no intention of leaving his ship while navigating the eastern coast, but was forced to when their vessel the Endeavor struck the dangerous coral formations of the Great Barrier Reef.
A quick note about the stars. Orion does in fact rise in the northeast and set in the northwest, but because it’s summer here it appears higher in the sky than it did back in the days of the Straddie study last July. Still working out the Southern Cross, it’s been too difficult due to the humidity and the clouds to locate. So if you watch the constellation Orion and follow whether it’s rising of setting, and you know what season you’re in, you can technically get a rough idea of north based on where Orion is in the night sky. This would opposite for the northern hemisphere, where Orion should rise in the south. I could be full of shit but I think I’m correct.
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