sallysetsforth

You can't spend all of your time studying - sometimes you need to get out and remind yourself that there's life away from the computer. On Saturday I pined for the beautiful day outside while I was stuck in the study, but when evening approached it was time to take a break and get some fresh air. Tim and I decided to get some dinner at Cullen Bay, but first we stopped off at the boat ramp near the Darwin Ski Club in Fannie Bay. Checking out boat ramps is a regular activity for us, especially now that we have the boat up here. We're looking forward to taking it out for a spin very soon, but decided that this boat ramp was a bit tricky to access safely. I took a couple of happy snaps while we were there:





We continued on to Cullen Bay, enjoying the view of the setting sun on the way. It's a funny old place, is Cullen Bay. A gorgeous marina, expensive housing and apartments, and a lovely restaurant and shopping strip along the waterfront. But it's dead. Or close to it, considering its amazing location. The first time I visited Cullen Bay was back in 1999, and my memories tell me that it used to be an active and vibrant place. Tim and I have been there for dinner a few times since moving to Darwin, always in the wet season. We thought the closed restaurants and lack of activity was simply a seasonal thing. But now it's the dry season, and although it's certainly busier than it was a few months ago, it's not what I remember. And some of those restaurants are still closed, now with For Sale/Lease signs on them. Despite that, there were enough people around on Saturday night for Cullen Bay to feel lived in, and we'll keep going - who knows, it may pick up a bit when the dry season is a bit further along. It's also been a long time since I've been there during the day, and it will be interesting to see how it shapes up when the ferries are running and the cafes are open. We had dinner at Buzz Cafe, an institution in these parts. The food is overpriced, but the location right on the water is hard to beat :)

 



P.S. This is my 100th blog post!!