Upon arrival at Darwin we checked in at the Hilton for a much needed night of total luxury, we chatted with the locals then headed out to the Mindil Beach market. What a joy!

It’s an iconic market, think Ibiza hippy markets with didgeridoos and all things Australian. Awesome street food from all over the globe, I got my five a day in one massive very cheap fruit smoothie made to order. Bizarrely lime cost extra but well worth it, must add it to my shopping lists at home.

The market was a melting pot of locals and travellers from around the globe. Picnic baskets alongside takeaways on the beach. Old and young all mixing together, many migrated at 6pm to the beach next to the market to observe the much heralded sunset. I’ve not experienced such a private emotional moment in the presence of 100’s, the setting sun even got a round of applause as it fell from view.

What I love about travelling is that you can see groups of young men can sit and cheer a sunset, without any macho rubbish. Children can stop their games to watch mother nature at her best. Elderly couples can sit and hold hands, be assisted to their feet to pay homage to a view they may have seen 1000’s of times but never get tired of it. I wonder if anyone proposed marriage, it was that type of evening.

Applause for the final dip beyond the horizon faded away and everyone moved back to listen to an AWESOME didgeridoo rock band.Hint here for all busking and local bands wanting to sell their music, please use USB drives or maybe sell a link with password to your customers. CDs are really hard to get home in one piece and even harder to get onto a computer without a CD drive!

The following day we toured the parliament building, maybe not everyone’s choice however I really recommend it. If you find yourself there call in, as it has some fantastic historic pictures, information about the area both aboriginal and war time.

Oh and the biggest trees ever!!!

5 top Darwinian tips:

Trees

History

Mindil beach

Didgeridoos

Food