Festivals and Ferris wheels

Hello again Darwin!

I'm back for Part 4/4 of our two-year sojourn in the north. Ken is still in Melbourne but I have resumed Darwin life with all our routines, including workworkwork during the week and a weekend cycle. The coastline and the mangrove boardwalk are looking good.

Darwin is deep into the dry season. It's hot but not humid. The surrounding bush is dry, the grass is brown, and it's windy. The Larrakia people call this season Gurrulwa guligi, the season of big wind. The air is smoky from burn-off, but far less so than in June and July. That's the time of the year when the vegetation is burned off (legally) to reduce the fuel load ahead of thunder-storm season in a couple of month's time.

And it's still tourist time.

The Darwin Festival was held from 4 to 21 August. It's an arts and cultural festival, serving up theatre, dance of all kinds (the Australian Ballet regional tour was sold out), music of all kinds, comedy, art shows and drone lights over the water. The 2022 theme is Hot August Nights. I missed most of it, sadly, but was back in time for the last weekend. Sunday evening in Darwin!

One of the city parks was set up as Festival Square, adorned and bedecked with lights in trees ...

... and bejewelled with hanging jellyfish. The artist, Ally de Groot, is well known for her jellyfish art of all kinds — remember the jellyfish statue* made from reclaimed rope and ghost nets that stands at the entrance to East Point?

I managed to get tickets to the final show of a burlesque / cabaret. It was okay, I guess. Nice costumes and talented performers, but the music was tediously tech-house / techno / dub-dub throughout, and I do prefer a bit of a tune ... It wasn't until the final number that I recognised any of the music (thank you, Britney Spears, and I never thought I'd say that).

Much more enjoyable was the free music provided by the Air Force band. This band is based in Melbourne; they're in Darwin for Operation Pitch Black, to help entertain the 2500 visiting air force members from 17 countries. (More on Pitch Black in another post.) Now they played some decent tunes! Real crowd-pleasers! The Beatles, AC/DC, INXS, all the oldies but goodies, including the theme song from Top Gun, which I thought was a nice touch.

Put the Festival in your calendar for 2023! It's peak Darwin.

From the Festival to another festivity: the Ferris wheel. It's set up on Stokes Hill Wharf from June to September. In October, the humidity descends, the tourists depart and the carnival is over [cue for song].

Back in June, I was keen to have a go. Ken was a bit unenthusiastic about ‘being a tourist’ but I insisted ... and so here we are, riding the giant wheel.

This year the Ferris wheel was accompanied by a 9-hole mini-golf course and a pizza bar. The theme was Australiana. All the usual tropes were there … Vegemite! sharks! crocodiles! a thong! But the sun was shining, it was warm and the drinks were cold, so it was fun.

A flock (a herd? a gaggle? a posse?) of tugs were heading out to sea during our ride, so I’m slipping in a few tug pics here as well. Off they went to shepherd in a gas carrier arriving from Japan, coming to Darwin to top up gas supplies for our north Asian neighbours.

Ah, the festive life in Darwin. In tourist season. And on weekends ... for me, anyway.

* Strange beaches indeed, 13 March 2021