To be honest we had only a couple of days here and day one was major travel tiredz and a thunderstorm but we made it to the famous Mindl Beach Sunday market. Now we are spoiled and come from a great little market town so it has to be pretty spectacular to impress and, whilst it’s lovely, Mindl was a tad disappointing.
OK the storm light was spectacular but most of the market seemed to be food stalls we couldn’t eat from because of our respective allergies. We ended up with sushi rolls which were lobster and cheaper that tuna is at home! There were a few clothing stalls and some interesting alternative medicine things not to mention a significant number of the Larakita people trying to make their grog money by posing for photographs and begging. I spoke to some of the women (they approached me) who told me they are not happy when they are in the city drinking but its different when they are ‘out bush’ hunting. We owe these people more than an apology for what we (Europeans) have done here. Australia is not eight states, one federation but over 200 tribal territories that have existed over 65,000 years as far as we can tell. I personally learned a lot about these cultures whilst touring this great continent…. trust me you are gonna wish you knew what they know.
Darwin was the last place in Australia to be invaded. The Japanese Imperial Airforce rained bombs on the city in February 1942. If you want to hear the full story take yourself off on a harbour cruise at sunset. It’s glorious.
The ‘Gaze and Graze’ platter for two was more than enough food for us and we waddled off the boat after an entertaining couple of hours. Our host and commentator was from Croydon!
One thing I would say of the city or, more accurately, the CBD feels a little off somehow, dangerous? Can’t put my finger on it but I’d no sense of wanting to hang around there. The suburbs, in particular Parap, I enjoyed. Parap has a thriving artistic community (although we did meet Larakia people up and drinking, they were happy) with some pleasant coffee shops and interesting places to eat. It’s tropical. Being outside even for a short while was sweaty and made me long for air con! We had a small yard in the unit we stayed in and no way could I sit outside for more than 10 minutes without needing a drink and a shower. Water is so very important. It becomes an obsession.
But that’s enough for now… next stop our chauffeur driven ride to the Ghan.
ffiftypluses 