Sunday August 14th 2011 Darwin Festival

Heath and I arrived in Darwin this morning at 2:00 a.m. Onya Annie and Max for taking us to the airport and same to Bobby who picked us up.

I don't think Heath (Jennifer's partner) really believed me when I told him about the warm weather until he stepped out of the airport.

It was lovely being able to catch up with family and friends and just be home.  Nice to walk along Semaphore Rd and The Esplanade.

Robert did a few sightseeing trips during the week and caught up with a cousin he hadn't seen for over 44 years and an ex-student who is in the defence force.

We checked out Mindil Beach markets tonight - you'd have to be really fussy if you couldn't find a cuisine that you enjoyed. I thought there would be a few food stalls and some art/craft stuff but there were so many food stalls selling delish food and even more art/craft stalls. We focussed on the food and next time, the other stalls may get a visit.  

Before we window-shopped the food stalls,  we walked to the beach to watch the sunset that we'd heard so much about. The number of people doing the same thing was staggering. Hundreds of people stood facing west to watch the glowing ball disappear on the horizon. Whilst it was a lovely sight, I think Largs Bay beach has an impressive sunset and I've seen many of them. Oddly, some people actually clapped when the sun set. A sunrise might be something that I would find impressive because I haven't seen many of them. 

The tempting aromas from the food stalls were soon competing with each other as we checked out the many offerings. Fish cakes, tempura prawns and a pawpaw chilli salad followed by a mango sorbet did the job. Thursday night might see us back there for something different. 

There were hundreds of people doing the same thing as us and out of that crowd, we bumped into Madi and her mum. Madi is an ex-Lefevre High student, whom we both taught and she's up here working for a few months. Being homesick last week, Bob showed her some of the local sights and took her shopping. 

Bobby and Heafy at Mindil Beach

 Jennifer had organised tickets for Heath and me to see a drag show (an act from Darwin Festival) called Drags Aloud and The Sistagirls. Jennifer managed this act for the week. This show was different because the Drags Aloud were seasoned performers and quite well known but the three sister girls from the Tiwi Islands had not performed as an act in public until last night.

The show was excellent with lots of great songs that were made for dancing and clapping. The choreography was well done; the humour was risqué and everyone enjoyed it. We had the best seats as Heath was asked to photograph the performers during the show. I think Bobby would have enjoyed it but he didn't want to go.

It was great being able to meet The Sistagirls after the show and chat with them for a while. They are very fond of Jennifer even though she bossed them around. It can't be easy being a Tiwi Islander male and living as a woman. Gutsy stuff! 

The venue for many of the shows looked inviting with coloured lights strung to give the illusion of being in a big top. The rest of the park was decked out with special lighting to highlight trees; huge paper lanterns were suspended from trees and magical fish swam through the air above our heads. Lengthy bamboo poles cut through the space and added another layer to this setting. The atmosphere was friendly - a bit like Womad.