Mindil Beach Markets

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Darwin, Northern Territory(08) 8981 3454

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Darwin Sunset from the Mindil Beach Photo - Mindil Beach Markets, Darwin, Australia

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Touristy but fun

by MagdaDH_AlexH

Perth, Scotland, United Kingdom

December 10, 2010

Best of IgoUgo Darwin is famous for its sunsets, resplendent in reds and gold over the Timor Sea. Apparently, the magnificence of the sunsets is, at least partially, a result of forest-burning fires in Asia. Whatever the reason, the sunset watching is a popular ...Read more Darwin is famous for its sunsets, resplendent in reds and gold over the Timor Sea. Apparently, the magnificence of the sunsets is, at least partially, a result of forest-burning fires in Asia. Whatever the reason, the sunset watching is a popular local pastime as well as a tourist attraction of sorts and there are many spots where it takes a somewhat ritualistic character. Hundreds of people descend to the coast at sundown en-masse in order to watch the daily spectacle, and nowhere more so than at Mindil Beach Sunset Market.

The Market itself is a busy affair with hundreds of stalls, inspired by Asian night food markets. It runs throughout the Dry season (between April and October) on Thursdays and Sundays and it features over fifty food stalls, serving dishes from four corners of the globe (or at least from all over the South-East Asia), including Thai, Japanese, Indian, Indonesian and Vietnamese as well as pizza, burgers, coffee, soup and many more.

In addition to food stalls, there are hundreds of craft stalls, some of them selling simply clothing and trinkets imported from Asia, some with Aboriginal souvenirs and art, some offering services (from massage to hair braiding to spray tattoos), some collectables.

The market is as much about entertainment as about food or trinkets and clothing. Street theatre performers, buskers and musicians. Emdee, a drum-and-bass ensemble with a triple didgeridoo give it their best, to the bemused looks of families and enthusiastic tapping of the young and beautiful. The music is very groovy indeed, an excellent mixture of the modern electronics and one of the most ancient instruments on the planet, the rhythm hypnotic, the drone haunting. Soon, an Aboriginal woman - a bit worse for drink, middle aged and in a raggedy dress, and yet somehow very in tune with both the music and location - emerges out of the crowds and starts dancing in a somewhat eerie reminiscence of David Bowie's Let's Dance.

As the dusk falls, people move from the crowded area of the market itself to the beach, which quickly fills with people, children paddling, adults readying their mobile phones and cameras. Behind the dunes, the moon is full, round and silver on the purple sky above the lace of the palm fronds. Where everybody is looking, the evening sea starts to gleam; a great globe of molten gold is sinking into opalescent, Mercury-like water, with Timor in the background. Kind of. A boat passes slowly, its sails down, a shadow moving like a Balinese puppet against the fiery background. Soon, the sun is down and only undulating ribbons of red and copper and gold remain, to be replaced by the deep burgundy and purple of the cooling coals as the last rays disappear below the horizon. Close

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Touristy but fun