Slappa's Thongs
“October’s A Great Time to Visit Colourful Darwin”
If you have a love for flowers and trees October is definitely a great time to visit Darwin. The air is filled with the sweet smells of trees blossoming. Rain trees, flame trees and frangipani’s are a mass of magnificent flowers and also attract plenty of native birds.
The flame tree has a striking red/orange flower which is so beautiful and bright. Such a happy tree with so much character and can be seen a mile away.
There are a few rain trees, one has a pretty pink flower with a very fluffy stamen and another with small yellow flowers. The flowers don’t last long as they tend to blow off with the wind. A great example of these trees can be seen along Gardens Road along the golf course not far from Mindil Beach and the Botanical Gardens.
My favourite tropics tree is the frangipani. These trees thrive in Darwin and there are many Darwin species that are now grown all over the world. The flowers form in bunches and come in many different colours ranging from white, several shades of pink, orange, burgundy, yellow and mixed shades. The white with a yellow centre is probably the most common and has a beautiful fragrance. Many people pick the flowers to put in their homes. You will see a lot of these also along the median strips of the roads.
It was rumoured that an Australian celebrity couple had florists pick flowers from people’s backyard frangipani trees all over Darwin, just to make sure they had only the best and freshest flowers for their wedding.
I often find my children up one of our frangipani trees in our backyard, picking the flowers to decorate the house and my daughter always comes home with a bunch whenever we are on a walk or riding our bikes.
The frangipani does flower all year around, however is at it outstanding best in October.
So forget all the other things people say about Darwin’s Build Up and come and visit Darwin to see the mass of colour and freshness it provides this time of the year.
You will also have the chance to catch the last few Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, where you can find many of these beautiful trees, plenty of entertainment, food, gifts and the amazing sunset. Book a table from the Mindil Beach Sunset Market office to make sure you have a prime spot.
www.slappasthongs.com/buyslappas