Judy & Brian Tour Oz: Mindil market

Showing posts with label Mindil market. Show all posts

Monday, July 9, 2018

Darwin NT July 2 - 9 2018

Has it been a week since we arrived in Darwin? Yes it has, so I guess we've both been overwhelmed by 'Darwin' time!

Oh well, what have we done with the week? Having been here a few times before, our range of activities is restricted down to things that we want to do rather than the 'must dos'.

In very rough order of appearance:

Visited a couple of new shopping centres, ostensibly to buy food but I suspect that the ice-cold air-conditioners may also have been an attraction. Yes, it's been hot-ish most days around 34ºC and not much less at night. Even our 'air' in the van has been getting a bit of a flogging.

Went looking for birds out along our favourite boardwalk into the mangroves at East Arm, but the tide was way out and must have taken the birds with it.

Mudflats. East Arm. Darwin NT

Ducked into the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery where we have idled away more than the odd hour. Cafe: Closed. Aboriginal Art: Replaced by some dreadful unfathomable thing called 'Defying Empire', which may or may not have had an Aboriginal rebellion / uprising theme. 3 major galleries: Closed. Disappointing to say the least, but I did buy a nice book to read about Escape Cliffs and European settlement history.

Not far away is Doctor's Gully, so called because the first doctor in the new Darwin settlement lived there, but now a haven for fish. They come up at high tide and you feed them bread and let them swim around your feet. Only mullet and milkfish. No Sunfish or sharks. A few rays made there appearance on the other side along with some Rajah shell ducks that live there in / on / around the rocks.

Judy feeding fish. Aquascene. Darwin NT

Aquascene. Darwin NT

Went to Mindil Thursday Night Markets. It took us an hour to get into the carpark, and even then I dropped Judy of so she could have a bit of a look. They have changed it around a bit since last time 2 years ago: less trinket shops and heaps more 'food' stalls. All jammed either side of the path, ten thousand people pushing and shoving, prices sky-high. The smell! The noise! Even Judy declared it as a dead-loss as far as markets go, and so we went.

From Mindil we wandered down around the corner to Cullen Bay and enjoyed the freshness of the night with a stroll along the uncluttered beach promenade. We were about to crossover to the dockside when we noticed we were standing outside a nice looking pizza joint called 'Eat Pizza', so we stayed and ate and generally relaxed for an hour or so.

Lured by the hype, we went to look into the Royal Flying Doctor Service museum / display opened not that long ago down on Stokes Wharf. It cost $28 per head to get in, so we were now really expectant. To say that it was disappointing would be an understatement. Basically there's nothing to see or do except read a few cards and wait interminably to view a hologram display or watch the virtual reality show. Basically we didn't appreciate it, so we left. Being on Stokes wharf has always been so relaxing: grab a table next to the waters edge and eat fish and chips and drink cold drinks and watch boats go by. Somehow we ended up inside the arcade part of the building, the drinks were warm, the food awful.

RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

RFDS plane. RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

The ghost of John Curtin, Australian Prime Minister 1941-1945. RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

Perhaps the open-air deck-chair cinema would have something interesting on over the next week or so, or then again perhaps not.

Getting a bit desperate and a lot despondent, we wandered by the info place in town. First thing we saw was a notice for a Vika & Linda concert at the entertainment centre, the very next evening. After booking cruise on Corroboree Billabong for Monday and a dinner cruise on the Cap Adieu for Wednesday, we zoomed down the road the the entertainment centre. Judy comes out all smiles with 2x tickets in hand, and only $55 each.

On Saturday, I put all my beach-walking training into action at the Palmerston Parkrun and cracked it for a 40 minute time. The run has several very steep bits in it and is basically two laps of one out-and-back segment and one of another. Just as well these things start at 7am because it was hot and humid and the air thick with the smoke from the eternal burning-off fires.

That night we went to the concert, and apart from a lame support / warm-up act, the evening's entertainment was excellent.

Yesterday we took a little drive down to the Manton Dam recreation park, which was supposed to be fabulous, only to find it a bit rough and unloved. Theoretically, one could swim here if there were no 'closed-due-to-crocodile' signs, but given the neglected state of the place, and how the water way looked perfect for these killers, we chose not to. There was evidence of a few boast being out on the lake, and we saw at least one pulling a skier, maybe the locals just like their chances, croc-wise.

Manton Dam recreation park. Darwin NT

Today we drove out to Corroboree Billabong, about 70km away, out towards Kakadu, to pickup our tour. As we approached the place it dawned on us that we had done this cruise once before, maybe 2012. Not a problem, it was a relaxing way to spend the morning and we got to see lots of birds and crocs and had a running commentary on the billabong and it's inhabitants.

Lotus leaf. Corroboree Billabong NT

Azure kingfisher. Corroboree Billabong NT

Mr Darter chasing fish. The other splashes are fish jumping. Corroboree Billabong NT

Look at that snapper! Corroboree Billabong NT

Water on a Lotus leaf. Corroboree Billabong NT

Darter drying her wings. Corroboree Billabong NT

Anyhow, that's pretty much us for last week!

Monday, July 11, 2016

Darwin 2016 Week 2

Another week gone by? Now how did that happen? Must be the laid-back no-rush lifestyle one enjoys here in Darwin.

But it's not all lounging about the pool or coffee-shopping. No, we've had a busy week.

So far we've had to go and spend some time at the Art Gallery and Museum, which included lunch, of course. It's interesting to look at the Aboriginal artworks here and compare them to those we had seen in the art galleries out in Arnhemland. These are bigger and seem more vibrant and more complex. Judy suggested that they were commission pieces rather than ones created for the travelling tourist market.

On one of my morning walks, out the back of Free Spirit CP, I found a burnt out car, probably a Commodore, and then I found another, and another; eight in total in a radius of about 500m. I took some snaps, trying to capture the mood of decay in the mist and smoke as the early morning light broke through the trees.

Old car. Holtze NT

We treated ourselves out to dinner at Crustaceans, the restaurant on the end of Stokes Wharf, where one sits next to the water and feasts on seafood. We had Scallops Mornay, a big plate each, to start with. I had the barramundi as a main, of course, and Judy went with the prawns. Quite delicious. Toward the end of the night the cruise boats start coming back and we noticed that there were a few more than there had been in past years. We might have to make a choice between our favourite, Cape Adieu, and one of these new upstarts!

Stokes Wharf is getting a bit of a facelift, or so the advertisements of television kept telling us. There is and has been for the last 5 years, an empty building at the start of the wharf, that looked like it should have been a restaurant or showroom, but never was. 'They' kept telling us how it was being remodelled to become a museum and info centre for the RFDS and was due to be open this week. Sure, it was obvious some work was going on, but it looked a long way from finished. They are also fiddling about with the car parking arrangements on the wharf, so that's a bit of a mess as well.

With the demise of the Mandorah pub a few years ago, there's little point, apart from a short boat ride, in taking the ferry from Cullen Bay to Mandorah, so we drove the 110km around instead. One reason was that we wanted to go was to find the wreck of the WW2 B24 Liberator bomber that I had heard about.

Finding it was easy: just follow the huge brown and white signs!

B24 Liberator bomber. Mandorah NT

After this, we went the short distance to the end of the road, to the Mandorah wharf. Took a few snaps the area including, the site of the ex-hotel and Wagait Beach.

Ferry Wharf. Mandorah NT

A level for all tides! Mandorah NT

The pub was right behind those white posts. Mandorah NT

Wagait Beach. Mandorah NT

Red-tailed black cockatoo. Mandorah NT

Berry springs is on that same road out to Mandorah, so we were prepared with our swimmers, towels and noodles. The carpark was almost full, but the pools didn't seem crowded particularly. We had a lovely swim and float about before returning home.

Top pool and falls. Berry Springs NT

Middle pool. Berry Springs NT

Archer fish. Berry Springs NT

Lower pool. Berry Springs NT

What would a trip to Darwin be without a visit to the Mindil Beach markets, and of course the obligatory sunset photos. I am always surprised at just how many people get onto the beach to watch the sun go down; and then hit the now dark markets, looking for a feed from one of the heaps of mostly asian inspired sideshows.

Judy checking out the supply of necklaces. Mindil Beach NT

Didge anyone? Mindil Beach NT

Ah, the crowds. Mindil Beach NT

Sampling the 'latest' in bio-cosmetically degradable skin cream. Mindil Beach NT

The didgeredoo man. Mindil Beach NT

Yet another 'must have'. Mindil Beach NT

One man and his paella. Mindil Beach NT

Ohhh these look nice. Mindil Beach NT

Waiting on the sun. Mindil Beach NT

Ahhh there it goes. Mindil Beach NT

On come the lights and up goes the crowd. Mindil Beach NT

I love this, the ultimate in recycled ratified rubbish. Mindil Beach NT

Another Saturday and another go at the Darwin park run. Managed to get a more respectable time, but it's still quite warm and humid despite being 7am.

So, is it any wonder that we need to lie about half the day?

Monday, July 21, 2014

Darwin NT

Today we did nothin'. Well except for a fruitless search through Darwin City looking for the city; you know big shops, arcades, cafes, hustle, bustle etc. But no, there are two bits of streets that may once have been the thriving heart and soul of the city, but which are now faded shadows waiting for the inevitable developer to finish their demise. The shops, if you want shops, are in places like Casuarina, a huge mall. Its a pattern very similar to a lot of country towns that get big enough to attract a big retailer. They come in and build their own centre, which sucks the life out of the traditional street shops. Cafes are sort of spread around a bit, such as down at the wharf where all the tourists are or in one of the malls where you will find lots of people shopping and then wanting a coffee and sticky bun to recuperate.

We gave up on that and headed up the coast a fraction, just past Mindel Beach, right next to the museum. The museum has a nice upmarket cafe, bit expensive but always crowded. We had heard that you could just wander into the Water Ski Club right opposite and get just as good a feed with heaps of empty tables on grassed areas under shady trees. They were right. Now we just have to suss out the Sailing Club, The Trailer Motor Boat Club and the Surf Club, just to be sure, to be sure.

We're out tonight. We have to make our annual assessment of the food and service at Crustaceans, which is right on the end of the often mentioned Stokes hill Wharf. Don't have to check the view and the scenery, it will be great, unless they are burning off on the other side of the harbour, in which case it will be spectacular.

Darwin City. Knuckley street toward Cavenagh. Darwin NT

Darwin Water Ski Club. Darwin NT

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Darwin NT

Finally ventured out into the big smoke today, because it was a double whammy: the beer can regatta and the Mindil Beach markets at the same time.

Mindil Beach was packed, they had a long row of huge sunshades erected for the spectators to sit under and watch the activities, and then there were 10,000 punters hanging about on the beach watching the action up close. The basic idea is to build a craft using beer cans and then race it around this course out into the bay. It certainly has the potential to be enormous, but a little bit of organisation would probably improve it tenfold. The program we had didn't correspond to what was actually happening at the time and the individual events (not the boat races) were a bit ad hoc with the organisers trying to get people to become involved. There didn't appear to be any teams ready and rearing to go. We did get to see the end of a boat race that seemed to have five boats competing but only two that were truly made of just cans, the others were dinghies with cans stuck to the outside. Highlight of the whole day seems to have been the appearance of Chris Brown from The Living Room and Bondi Vet. I had to get a cold flannel for Judy! The locals loved it all though, probably the thought of all that beer that had to be drunk to build the boats!

Then there was a tug-of-war event happening, we watched the under 12's, they were so cute. But again, it didn't seem to be organised, if you happened tone wandering past and were under 12, then hey, you could have a go. Even the Men's and Women's ones were just strangers wandering not the t-o-w zone, one would have thought that they would have had proper teams from all the various concerns in town, all paying to enter, especially as the whole day was a fund raiser.

Finally, they had a 'iron-person' event and had to call for contestants to sign up for about an hour before hand to get the 9 places filled.

Anyhow they all seemed to be having fun, so good luck to them.

We bought a few chicken satay sticks and spring rolls for lunch followed by a big bowl of fruit salad which we ate sitting on the grass in the shade of a large tree. Naturally we then hit the market stalls proper but came away empty-handed, it all looked just like the stuff from last year, and the year before.

After so much excitement we thought a coffee down on the wharf at Stokes Hill would be in order, and it was, accompanied by a mango slice and a coconut puff thing. Very nice, and we were entertained the entire time by the kites dive-bombing into the bay in front of us catching the rubbish people were throwing into the water to feed them. Then a shark cruised past and hung about for a while. boats came and went, fishos went past, even the few jet skis weren't all that annoying. In all a very pleasant afternoon.

We came back to the park and headed for the pool, which blissfully was nowhere near as crowded as the 60-70 kids that were in it yesterday. When you come into the park you get a free glass of wine voucher, so i went and cashed that in, and only spent another $6 for a glass of Accomplice, for which we only pay $4.99 a bottle at the IGA. Oh, well, not to worry, as they say!