Doctors Gully at low tide

Darwin's small enclave of Doctors Gully is steeped in a rich tapestry of fascinating history, so much so that he waters of Doctors Gully have been declared an official marine sanctuary and are protected under the auspices of the Commonweath Government.



At Doctors Gully, within walking distance of most city hotels is this unique attraction - a place where hundreds of fish come to shore at high tide to be fed by hand. It's all so very simple, yet one of the unforgettable experiences of any visit to Darwin. A small fee is charged to cover the cost of the fish feed, and a commentary is given about the species of wild fish that swim in their hundreds around the feet of the people who venture out into the shallows to feed them. Location: 28 Doctors Gully Road, Darwin, NT Contact: (08) 8981 7837.

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Doctor's Gully is named after Doctor Robert Peel, the medical officer attached to Goyder's survey party in 1869, who found water '... in a gully between Fort Point and Point Emery', thus the name Doctors Gully. The area became known by the colloquial name Doctor's Gully. This is also the site of a heritage listed area known as Peel's Well, a well which was gazetted on 19 April 1877 and provided water for the first gardens in the settlement and visiting ships. It soon became a landing point for livestock and a safe beach for careening ships. Most of the early gardeners were Chinese, with the first formal lease issued on 30 March 1875 to three Chinese settlers.

During World War II, the RAAF seconded Doctors Gully as the new northern base and headquarters for Australia s largest flying boat squadrons, the Catalinas. Two oil tanks and a pump house were installed at the back of Doctors Gully in 1943 as part of Darwin's strategic naval oil fuel supplies and to support the Catalina Flying Boat Base and RAAF Marine Section. The RAAF Marine Section first established a Marine Section Workshop at Doctor's Gully on the water's edge in Darwin near the north western end of the Esplanade in readiness for the establishment of the Doctor's Gully Flying Boat Base.

Two Oil tanks and a pump house were installed at the back of Doctor's Gully in 1943 as part of Darwin's strategic naval oil fuel supplies and to support the Catalina Flying Boat Base and RAAF Marine Section. 20 Squadron, 42 Squadron and 43 Squadron were all based at Doctor's Gully during the war.


Above: the explosion of an oil storage tank and clouds of smoke from other tanks, hit during the first Japanese air raid on Australia's mainland, at Darwin on 19th February 1942. In the foreground is HMAS Deloraine, which escaped damage.

From Doctor's Gully Flying Boat Base the Catalinas ranged far and wide in their strikes against Japanese Bases and Ports from where they exported vital minerals and oil to the factories in Japan. The RAAF Marine Section played a vital role at Doctor's Gully Flying Boat Base. The Catalina Air Crews depended upon the RAAF Marine Section boats and crews operating in a multitude of roles.

On many occasions Catalinas returning from missions could be damaged, or had injured airmen onboard who required immediate medical attention. Crash boats would accompany these aircraft to render towing assistance to moorings if necessary, or, to be immediately along side the hull to collect wounded. This close liaison between Air Crews and the Marine Section crews was a matter of friendship and pride in their professional expertise. According to the books 'Adventurous Empires' by Phillip E Sims and 'Flying Empires' by Brian Cassidy, this Qantas flying-boat came to grief at Darwin in December 1938, was salvaged and freighted back to Rochester where it was rebuilt, then eventually ended up as part of BOAC's fleet.



After the surrender by the Japanese, the men of RAAF Marine Section were kept busy with the constant flow of Catalina Flying Boats arriving, with men just released from the Japanese Prisoner of War Camps. Hospital Ships like the Oranji would pass through Darwin and RAAF Marine Section Boats crowded with Crews would greet the returning POW's. The two Catalina Squadrons at Doctor's Gully Flying Boat Base were eventually posted southwards on 30 November 1945.

RAAF Marine Section remained operational at Doctor's Gully until it was taken over by Carl Atkinson, a salvage diver in 1946. Some time later Stan Kennon, a Darwin Engineer, took over the former RAAF Marine Workshop and slipway for some time before Carl Atkinson took over the lease to expand his salvage base. Atkinson held the salvage rights to many of the wartime wrecks in Darwin Harbour including USAT Meigs, USAT Mauna Loa, SS Zealandia and USS Pery. At low tide you can see the rusted bottoms of former military barges at Doctor's Gully.

Relics from the base

Many remnants from the flying boat base remain. These include a huge rock oil tank, parts of the RAAF Marine Section workshop and the old boat ramp, with the tie up rings still intact where the Catalina flying boats were hauled ashore for maintenance work. Remains of the world's longest boom net - used during WWII to stop submarines entering the Darwin Harbour - are also visible from the shore.

Scattered around the area are numerous concrete anchor points used to tie downaircradt wings; an anchor from a Catalina; a Catalina Propeller blade one display was recovered from Darwin Harbour 50 years after it was discarded during routine aircraft maintenance. Pipework associated with the two WWII Oil Tanks is located behind the base.



One of the oil tanks has found a new life as Darwin's rock climbing gym. Now climbers ranging from beginners to advanced can practice here. Music, play maze, archery, trampolines, abseiling, Laser gun skirmish, picturesque gardens and an excellent outdoor play area make this a great activity centre.

Vietnamese refugee boats

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, many Vietnamese people set sail for Australia in flimsy traditional fishing boats. The boats were overcrowded, poorly provisioned and often at the mercy of storms and pirates. The 50 vessels (containing 2000 people) that made it were impounded when they reached Australia. Many were burned, two were beached in dense mangroves at East Arm, one was abandoned at Doctor's Gully, and two were sunk as fish reefs.