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Cullen Bae

  • Writer: Julie-Anne Justus
    Julie-Anne Justus
  • Feb 23, 2021
  • 2 min read

Updated: Dec 7, 2021

(See what I did there?)


Cullen Bay is about 2 km to the west of the CBD. The heart of Cullen Bay is the marina. On one side of the marina are the mansions, each with its own mooring. We're on the other side of the marina, in the more modest apartment blocks.


Our balcony overlooks the marina and, mansion or not, we have spectacular views and sunsets. It's really quite lovely, as you can see from the few shots below taken from our balcony. Ken sits on the balcony like the king of things and makes sure that the marina is Operating as Expected, Going to Plan and Behaving Itself. The view compensates for the fact that our apartment is slightly more basic than we're used to: we don't have a dishwasher* in our apartment and the washing machine is an ageing top loader.

Cullen Bay has a little village next to the water with shops, bars and restaurants. It's very quiet during the week, being low season, but it wakes up at weekends. It's a treat to have a drink next to the water and to watch the sun set. The fish have been fed for so long that they leap winsomely into the air when they see a new punter. I am sure their diet consists of chips and leftover fish batter. High carbohydrate cannibals by association.

Darwin has a large tide differential, more than 7 metres between high and low tide. The lock in Cullen Bay marina allows boats to go in and out, on the hour, during the day. There is a rush at certain times for marine traffic to get to the lock. It's a bit like the 5 o'clock swill in historic Melbourne (or so I imagine).

I love this advice on the Cullen Bay marina website.

The Cullen Bay Marina is the only marina in Darwin that can be accessed in all tides. ... Once a month we have someone who fails to read the chart or follow our leads, and they end up on the mud banks to the east or west of the channel, not a good place to be on our seven metre tides as you will be left high and dry and relatively embarrassed.

'Relatively embarrassed'! Now let's not overstate things, chaps.


Cullen Bay is also the ferry port for Mandorah and the Tiwi Islands. We have yet to do these trips but they are in our list. The Tiwis consist of Bathurst and Melville islands, and some smaller islands. But more on that when we get there.

I've kept the best for last – Cullen Bay has its own crocodile statue. (We've noticed a theme developing in Darwin.) Welcome to Cullen Bay, maties! Tick tock! Step right this way!

* Ken (aka the king of things) says he is the dishwasher.



 
 
 

2 comentarios


rosemaryvo22
23 feb 2021

What fabulous views. It’s great that you are getting out and about and exploring the area.

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Julie-Anne Justus
Julie-Anne Justus
23 feb 2021
Contestando a

Yes, moving around to different apartments in different spots of the city has worked well (other than the mild nuisance of packing up every few weeks ... then again it keeps us living with minimal possessions). Every new location, even if it's only 500 m away, has a different micro-atmosphere. We're moving next to an apartment on the Esplanade.

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