I first heard about the Mindil Beach Sunset Market from my colleague when I mentioned my upcoming long weekend trip to Darwin. The second time was when we were already in Darwin, from a local named Christine, who also recommended it with a heads-up: “They clap during sunset“. It was intriguing enough to pique our interest, so that same evening, Jik and I found ourselves at the Mindil Beach Sunset Market.
The Mindil Beach Sunset Market is an open-air market held on Thursday and Sunday evenings at Mindil Beach, near the Mindil Beach Casino Resort (I almost booked a stay there but cancelled when I saw the price tag. Who knew the prices in the Northern Territory were also exorbitant?)
When we got out of the Uber, my first impression of Mindil Beach Sunset Market was that it was much more crowded than the Parap Village Market we had visited the previous afternoon. You can’t stay cooped up at home on a Sunday evening when the weather is so pleasant.
Rows and rows of food stalls lined the market. You name it, they had it—Indonesian gado-gado, Korean chips, and even a sad-looking sushi place. The more we explored, the more food we discovered. The market seemed long and never-ending, with various unique food stalls.
Eventually, at the very end, we came across non-food stalls that branched off into another path with small booths. I recognized that at least half of these stalls were from the Parap Village Market. There were a few stalls I hadn’t seen before, but the most eye-catching ones were the crocodile stall and the massage stall.
The most fascinating stall was the crocodile one, which featured a whip demonstration by a young girl around 7-10 years old. People are built differently in the Northern Territory.
After making two rounds and deciding we didn’t want anything—besides purchasing a crocodile sock and almost getting tricked into buying my name on rice (I had already done this 30 years ago at Mall Taman Anggrek in Jakarta)—we made our way to the beach, which is right beside the market, hence the name.
We saw a beautiful Aboriginal painting but were too shy to ask about it. There was also a lady who repurposed items.
The plan was to sit down for a while before heading to Pee Wee’s for dinner, but it soon became apparent that everyone was there to see the sunset. Well, when in Rome…
We sat quietly, savouring the moment, and quickly understood the fuss about the sunset. It was indeed so spectacular that we clapped when the locals clapped—again, when in Rome.
The only downside was that we were the only ones without food, as we planned to have dinner at Pee Wee’s. Still, I was glad we went.
There are many reasons to visit Mindil Beach Sunset Market, from the food to the unique items, but the sunset alone—clapping with the locals during sunset—should be reason enough to go. Or, in our case, a perfect way to spend time between lunch and dinner.
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We need to visit some markets during our trip