Darwin and Cullen Bay Marina
Blue Hound
Phil Marks & Rosy Jensen
Sun 2 Oct 2022 01:12
We logged 2,200 nm from Bundaberg to Darwin in 7 weeks, and arrived in the tropical climate of Darwin on the afternoon of Saturday 1st October. Having left Bundaberg wearing woolly hats it felt like we have been through two season in the 7 weeks.
It was low tide & very windy so we anchored for the night. The tidal range here is about 8 metres so we didn't want to try our luck with the shallow entrance (plus our 2 chart options giving different depth at chart datum) to the lock and Cullen Bay Marina where we had made a booking. As the sky clouded over, and the rain arrived it was reminiscent of the French Brittany coast, with the big tides and even the sand on the beach was a Brittany colour.
High water Sunday morning and we went through the lock into the marina basin. The marina occupies less than one fifth of the basin, there are houses with private jetties, holiday apartments, & cafes around it.
Sunday evening we walked about 2 miles to Mindel Beach where there was a market with street food, a wonderful change from our deep freeze over supplied with fish! Monday morning it was the bus to Bunnings and purchase of 2 large fans to cope with our new environment.
Photos: BIMA SUCI Indonesian Military Training Vessel dressed over all, approach to Darwin, the marina basin.
