Sweet sweat

Last Saturday night I went to a party. Parties in Darwin have a unique nature - and they all have it. First, you are always required to bring a chair. I never struck this phenomenon anywhere else. Perhaps it emanates from the transient nature of the inhabitants of the place. Almost no-one you meet was born here and almost no-one will end up here. We mostly come from somewhere else - come for work or a visit - and just stay, for years longer than we originally intended, and thus we don't carry furniture that is excess to immediate requirements. Or perhaps it's simply that almost all parties in Darwin take place in the dry season, and they are all outdoors.

Parties take place in backyards or in parks and not in those structured pergola-covered areas you find in other places. No, here the hosts set up a table in the backyard and everyone arrives carrying their own camping chair which they proceed to arrange in a circle around the table. The circle widens as more guests arrive.

Most backyards have lots of tall trees (for shade during the heat of the day) and lots of palms. So you sit there bathed in starlight that moves and sways between the deep bars of the palm fronds, surrounded by citronella flares.

Conversation is quieter, the atmosphere more peaceful, the air sweeter, here under the sky - and towards the end of the evening, maybe someone pulls out a guitar and a dozen voices sing an old folk-song in harmony.