Tropical cyclones can put paid to the best of plans as two travelling companions found after flying across Australia only to be told their cruise ship had cancelled a port stop due to the oncoming storm.
Cousins Fran Chandler and Helen Curry flew from Melbourne to Darwin on Wednesday to learn on Thursday their ship could not pick them up in the Northern Territory capital due to tropical cyclone Fina.
They are now in limbo, still to decide whether to fly to Timor-Leste to catch the ship or back home to Melbourne as they await more information from the cruise company.
For now they plan to hunker down in their Darwin hotel to make the most of it and ride out the storm over the weekend.
AAP caught up with them at Coles supermarket in central Darwin where they were stocking up on bottled water and other basic supplies, as were many others.
The supermarket has ordered in extra bottled water and other basics and on Thursday was reloading shelves as fast as they emptied.
Category two cyclone Fina was out at sea on Thursday but is expected to hit Darwin over the weekend with heavy rain and damaging winds.
The storm could cause flash flooding, damage property, bring down trees and cut power, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Ms Chandler and Ms Curry are "making the most of it", deciding they will ride out the storm in their hotel room with a positive attitude and beer in the fridge.
"I've always wanted to do the wet season in Darwin and now I am," Ms Chandler told AAP, adding that the cyclone sounded like it was going to be "full on".
"We're looking forward to looking out the window," she said.
Ms Curry said riding out the cyclone could be "a bit exciting actually" and an experience.
But her cousin said she was glad, according to forecasts, that Darwin would not be in the eye of the cyclone, just on the edge of it.
The travelling companions said their hotel had assured them the building was cyclone-proof.
Also at Coles on Thursday was Jan Salmon, 78, a Darwin resident for 20 years who said during tropical cyclone Marcus in 2018 her family "watched Netflix all the way through".
She told AAP she was "pretty laidback" about Fina but if it got serious her family would hunker down in the bathroom.
