Travel is a surreal beast. You start the day eating laksa for breakfast in balmy Darwin and finish it with a flat car battery at cold, rainy Sydney Airport …
Noooo! Dammit. But let me go back to the carefree beginning.
We woke on Saturday to the most unexpected Darwin weather – a gentle breeze and no humidity.
Eager to make the most of our last few hours before flying home, we jumped in an Uber to the Parap Village Markets, which run every Saturday from 8am to 2pm. The markets feature stalls of local produce, arts and crafts and delicious food.
At their centre is Mary’s laksa stall, where owner Guo Yang Yei (Mary) has been making her laksa from scratch each week for the past 20 years, even the freshly-ground laksa paste.
After sharing a bowl of Mary’s chicken and pumpkin laksa, we grabbed a couple of satay sticks from a nearby stall then cruised the arts and crafts.
I was mad keen to buy an Aboriginal grass weaving (like the ones above), but dwindling budget and luggage space didn’t allow for it.
All too soon it was time to head to the airport for our flight home (via Adelaide as direct Sydney flights were insanely expensive).
In Adelaide we had a brief opportunity to explore the very snazzy new Qantas Lounge – DD has access due to how extensively he travels for work – and it was soooo fancy.
Showcasing South Australian food and wine, it features a live cooking station, which was serving king prawn pasta and a very impressive local cheese selection during our visit.
I had just enough time to slurp down my pasta and an accompanying Aperol Spritz before we boarded our next flight to wet, cold Sydney.
DD had scored a bargain long-term parking spot at the airport, but when we braved the wild conditions to the car … it wouldn’t start.
Fortunately some kind airport staff came and gave us a jump start before we embarked on the final leg of our journey. First stop was my apartment, where DD had to haul my suitcase up three flights of stairs to ensure I didn’t throw my back out again.
He headed off into the night and I took the dogs for a quick walk before another wild electrical storm hit.
Then I headed to bed in my freezing apartment and huddled under the doona with my fluffy dressing gown on top for extra warmth.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about being back in the real world, after watching the crazy weather unfold in NSW.
My Facebook feed on Saturday was filled with pics of people skiing at Guyra Golf Course and stuck in snow on the highway north of Armidale, which would be way worse than the minor inconvenience of a flat battery at the airport.
The SES reported snow at never before seen levels in the Northern Tablelands. It even snowed in Queensland. Blimey!
Hope you are doing OK in your neck of the woods if you were impacted.
As for what I’ve been up to since returning … I haven’t let the grass grow under my feet. Sunday involved grocery shopping and catching a bus to DD’s place to collect my car, before taking him out for an early birthday dinner at our favourite local Italian restaurant.
Then I woke yesterday to the harsh reality of catching another bus for the rainy commute to work, plus starting my long-overdue health kick.
My city barista cheerily welcomed me back and asked if I’d like two little cookies with my takeaway coffee … no, no, just one, I’m on a diet …
Such restraint!
My amazing Kimberley expedition already feels like a distant memory.
PS The main pic is the sky above me on our last night in Darwin – palm trees, fairy lights and a sliver of the moon.
Song of the day: Karma County “This is not the real world”
housegoeshome 
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