darwin, australia - part 2:

Andrew and I spent our second day in Darwin exploring some more, before heading to the Mindil beach markets. We drove around the coast, checking out Lee Point, Nightcliff foreshore and ended our day with the most incredible sunset on Mindil Beach. Again, we ate some super-yum food, sampling local delicacies at the evening markets (try as many different dishes from the various vendors as you can) and enjoyed the buzzy atmosphere before heading down to the waters edge.
The sunset was like no other, and my photos (and there are a few) do not capture the warm, balmy air and array of colours we saw. It was perfect and we didn't want it to end.

next: Litchfield National Park

lee point

nightcliff jetty

mindil beach markets

i'll admit that i was pretty happy i got to hold a crocodile!

mindil beach

amazing!

darwin, australia - part 1:

Andrew and I have always wanted to visit Darwin - Australia's most northern and only tropical capital city. We had heard so many amazing things about it's multiculturalism, food, sunsets, landscape and lifestyle. So off we headed, making the most of a long weekend and some cheap flights.

I'm happy to report back that it's all true. We fell in love with Darwin and the 'Top End' as it is affectionately known. The city itself is small and mostly new due to the devastation caused by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, however it was the vibe and lifestyle that really caught our attention. It is an incredibly buzzy place, with everyone out and about enjoying the beautiful weather (it is currently dry season) accompanied by a friendly and relaxed attitude. It was a nice contrast to the much busier Sydney, with both of us genuinely feeling relaxed as soon as we arrived. And to be honest, by the end we didn't want to leave (a wet and cold Sydney in the midst of winter didn't help things)!

We spent two days exploring the city, before heading south and spending a day in Litchfield National Park. Our first port of call was the Parap markets, held every Saturday morning. We grabbed fresh mango smoothies, chicken and pumpkin laksa (one of the best I've ever had) and enjoyed the vibe of the market. We loved all the incredible produce that was available and snacked on many tropical treats. It is here that you can really see how multicultural the city is with not only a large indigenous population, but many ethnic backgrounds represented as Darwin is much closer to Asia than any other major Australian city.

To finish our first day up north, we headed out onto the harbour in a beautiful old pearl lugger to experience one of Darwin's infamous sunsets - a real treat for us east-coasters! 'Stunning' doesn't do it justice. It really is a special sight and capped off the day so perfectly.

next: Darwin, part two.

parap markets

laksa

heritage houses at myilly point - the only to survive cyclone tracy

darwin harbour

beautiful