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ABC
Darwin | Alpine
Stories To
market, to market
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The
magic of the Mindil markets | |
ABC Local Radio and online series produced by Fiona Churchman.
To
experience the taste, flavour and mood of life in Darwin all you need to do is
visit one of the city's many markets.
From Thursday to Sunday you can sample
Laksa for breakfast; a mango smoothie and prawn satay for lunch; a strong, hot
curry for dinner and take home bunches of coriander, snake beans and a bag of
limes for the fridge. Stallholders will try and entice you to buy their homemade
arts and crafts, perhaps as a souvenir of a visit to the Top End.
The busiest
markets are at Mindil Beach on a Thursday night with a worldwide reputation as
one of Darwin's must see attractions. About 15 thousand people enjoy dinner from
one of the hundreds of market food stalls as they watch the sunset each Thursday,
with about half that number visiting the quieter Sunday markets.
Tourists
also flock to the Parap markets in a suburb just out of the city for breakfast
on a Saturday morning, and to Nightcliff for brunch on a Sunday.
For locally
grown tropical fruit and vegetables Darwin's oldest markets at Rapid Creek are
the place to visit on a Sunday.
The city of Palmerston, about 20 kilometres
out of Darwin, hosts it's own market on dry season Friday evenings, and a little
further down the track rural area residents visit the Coolalinga markets all year
round on a Saturday morning.
Find out more about Darwin's markets
by listening to this ABC radio series featuring some of the stories of stallholders
and marketgoers.
Thanks to Tim Robinson for assistance, particularly with
camerawork.
This series was partly funded by ABC Radio's Regional Production
Fund
Episodes Play
it again
Visiting Darwin's markets is a feast for the ears and eyes, with
buskers and performers greeting you as you amble along. [ more
]
 A
market lifestyle of hard work
Fiona Churchman discovers the reality of
life running a market stall. Early mornings, long hours and sweat and exhaustion
at the end of it all. [ more
]
 Dishing
up a brighter future
The Mindil markets offer the chance for economic independence
for Liberian refugee Joseph Dorbor. [ more
]
 For
the love of it
John and May Vall run a stall selling food from the Phillipines
at the Mindil and Palmerston Markets.
They call it their little hobby,
but the hours and exhaustion are starting to take their toll and they're not sure
how much longer they will continue. [ more
]
 A
master of conversation
Bruce McLean has been a stallholder at Mindil Beach
for 20 years. You'll find him chatting away to friends and customers at many of
Darwin's markets. [ more
]
 A
slice of seachange
A holiday to Darwin led to a complete change of lifestyle
for Lisette Monsello and her husband Ian Campbell, as they moved north and set
up a wood-fired pizza business at the markets. [ more
]
 Market
fanatics
Meet a group of Darwin residents who love the Parap markets so
much they formed a club dedicated to the cause. [ more
]
 Growing
a green thumb
Pieter and Aree Bekkers sell their produce grown in the rural
area at the Rapid Creek Markets each Sunday. They're part of a dedicated group
of stallholders who enjoy interacting with customers each week. [
more ]
 Putting
the squeeze on Mindil
Hear about a stallholder who has been squeezing oranges
since the Mindil markets began. [ more
]
 The
Coolalinga animal lady
Lyn Horner has a reputation for selling animals
of all shapes and sizes at the Coolalinga markets in Darwin's rural area. [
more ]
 Nothing
wooden about this toymaker
Jacky Holden creates and sells wooden and metal
puzzles at Darwin's Mindil Markets. A visit to her stall is as much about the
performance as the goods for sale. [ more
]
 Swapping
satays and sweat for air-con and weekends
Teenager Vilin Phinitkittikhun
works at her family's market stall, which is one of the oldest in Darwin. Both
her and her parents imagine a different, easier future for her, away from the
heat and exhaustion of the markets. [ more
]
 Meet
Bobby Sate
Bobby Wibisono is an original stallholder at Darwin's famous
Mindil Beach markets. His smile has been captured on thousands of cameras as he
fans the flames at his satay stall. [ more
]
 The
story of the markets
Darwin's markets range from the very small to the
very large, but they all have long and interesting histories. [ more
]
Date
published: 04/06/2007
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