Darwin Botanic Gardens and Mindil Beach Sunset Market

Today was a really beautiful day! We wanted to explore a bit of Darwin, so we decided to go to the botanical garden. And on Sunday evenings, there is always the Sunset Market at Mindil Beach, and because it was near the botanic garden, we combined the two attractions.

The botanical garden is like a park without an entrance fee, just like in Perth. It is located at the other end of the city, from our hostel's point of view. But still, it's only a good half-hour walk away. So you can see how big Darwin really is :D

The park was super beautiful, we also recognized some plants from Perth. But mainly, there are palm trees and plants from the Northern Territory, ranging from tropical to desert plants. The tropical section of the garden was like a tropical house in a zoo in Germany, except that everything was outdoors and the air wasn't so humid because of the dry season. That's why all the streams that usually flow through the garden were completely dried up. But we still found a nice place with the sound of water splashing at a waterfall to rest and have lunch.

After 2 hours in the botanical garden, we continued to the Beach Market. It is always on Sundays from 4 to 9 and on Thursdays from 5 to 10. Thursday is also the main day, where there are a few more stands. Maybe we'll go there again, we liked it so much today! At the market, it's mainly about food from all over the world, but there are also clothes, jewelry, art, massages, or tarot card reading offered. There are also different musicians and an area where some dance groups performed today. It's really cool to watch everything! When it was time for dinner, Andi and I bought a Sea Basket, which contained a huuuge portion of fish and chips. But the fish was not just fish, it also included calamari rings, fried shrimp, oysters, crabs, and a barramundi fillet. A real variety! And there was also salad. This box was really piled high :D And the whole thing only cost 20$, which is about 14€, which was really cheap, because otherwise, a portion of food already cost 12$ at the stands.

We then settled down on the beach with our food and a bottle of wine. Because it's BYO (bring your own) there and you can also bring alcohol. Because otherwise, that is completely forbidden in public in Australia and we are not allowed to drink alcohol in the hostel either, we had to take advantage of that. We then met up with another German couple there, who we met in the hostel yesterday and who are really nice. They have only been in Australia since last week, too. Yesterday evening, we went to the Batji Bar with them, which is the hostel's own bar of our sister hotel, and tried some Australian beer. The two of them have quite a jet lag and are currently sleeping from about 5 a.m. until 2 p.m. or so. Thank god it wasn't like that for Andi and me!

By the way, Mindil Beach is one of the beaches where these super poisonous jellyfish are found, and there are warning signs not to go into the water if possible. Swimming is only completely prohibited in the rainy season, but box jellyfish have also been sighted during the dry season. Of course, there were still people swimming. But I won't take that risk, no way!

Together with the other couple, we watched the sunset at the beach and listened to the didgeridoo/drum sounds of a duo that occasionally played shows to sell their CDs. It was really beautiful. The other two went back a little earlier, but Andi and I looked at the stars and strolled through the market again. In these latitudes, you can also rely on the fact that it doesn't rain or get cooler in the evenings. Quite handy!

So we spent another great day in Australia :)