‘Breathtaking’: One place Aussie star always visits

This actress has seen her fair share of beautiful places across the world, but she insists this Aussie sunset is unlike any other.

Aussie star Miranda Tapsell will always come back to Mindil Beach.

Darwin-born actress Miranda Tapsell has now lived in Sydney longer than the Top End, but she is still its biggest advocate.

Her connection goes well beyond producing, co-writing and starring in the 2019 rom-com Top End Wedding or naming her 2020 memoir Top End Girl.

“When I feel like I’m not sure what my priorities are or what I want out of life, I go back up there, take a step back and it’s a recalibration,” Tapsell, who grew up in Kakadu National Park, says.

Aussie actress Miranda Tapsell spends most of her time in Sydney these days. Picture: Don Arnold/WireImage

But she’ll head back to the NT at any opportunity she gets. Picture: Supplied

Speaking to news.com.au about her love for travel, the 35-year-old jumped at the opportunity to share her favourite place up north: Mindil Beach Sunset Market in Darwin.

Not only is the food fresh, Tapsell says the location is like no other.

“Sitting on the beach it’s like being at a rock concert because strangely as the sun set, everyone clapped. Even though the sun sets everywhere in the world,” she laughed.

“It is just something to behold. It is a really breathtaking thing to witness on that particular spot. You watch the colour changes and I guess at a certain point as the sun lowers there is something really meditative about it.

“You’re just really grounding yourself in that moment and you’re really grateful for being there.”

Mindil Beach Sunset Market is Tapsell’s must-do activity in the Territory. Picture: Supplied

Litchfield National Park is the place she likes to show off to her foreign visitors.

It is where fellow Australian actress Shari Sebbens and Tapsell made sure to take the cast and crew of Top End Wedding to swim at Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls.

“There isn’t much of a beach culture up there so what people do is they take their eskies and they bring it out to these beautiful waterfalls and spend the day there,” she said.

Her advice to her foreign friends is to bring a Spanish outlook to their Territory travel schedule.

She encourages people to set their alarm, do their activities in the morning, and come back inside during the hottest part of the day for a siesta before heading out again in the late afternoon to watch the sunset.

When life gets overwhelming, Tapsell says the Territory helps put her priorities back in order. Picture: Supplied

But Tapsell, who lives with her husband James Colley and their toddler Grace in Sydney, said it’s not just foreigners that take some convincing to give the Territory a shot.

She says there is a misconception among Aussies in Sydney and Melbourne that it’s an expensive trip with not a lot to do.

“They think ‘well what am I going to get out of going up to Darwin as opposed to somewhere in Europe or the US?’ and my argument is that you don’t go up there for a metropolitan experience, you go up there for adventure,” she explained.

“You go out there to be a part of the great outdoors. If you do it right, you are going to enjoy yourself.”

Tapsell said the change of pace compared to the major cities is the Top End’s biggest drawcard for her.

Tapsell just got back from a trip with Virgin Australia at Darwin, Kakadu and Alice Springs. Picture: Supplied

The proud Larrakia and Tiwi woman just finished up a campaign with Virgin Australia where she travelled to the Northern Territory to chase five sunsets in five days – Mindil Beach in Darwin, Yellow Water Billabong and Ubirr in Kakadu National Park, and Simpson Gap and the Larapinta Trail in Alice Springs.

The airline currently has an NT summer sale on, which includes Brisbane to Darwin fares from $149, Adelaide to Alice Springs from $169, Melbourne to Darwin from $179, Perth to Darwin from $209, and Sydney to Darwin via Melbourne or Brisbane from $199.

There is also a further $10 discount (code DRW10) on the price of a fare every time Darwin is more than 10 degrees hotter than Melbourne and Sydney.

The sale ends midnight AEST Friday, September 1.

Other than chasing sunsets, Tapsell is currently gearing up for her latest project, The Artful Dodger, to drop.

The Disney+ series, which also stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis and Maia Mitchell, is described as an irreverent follow-up to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist set in 1850s Australia. It premieres November 29.

As well as acting, Tapsell was on the writing team.

“Having written Top End Wedding with Josh Tyler, I’ve got a real taste for being on the other side of the camera now,” she said.

“And that is what I believe is going to count towards my longevity, creating my own work.”

Tapsell still can’t believe how her life has ended up.

“It’s kind of crazy to think a young Aboriginal girl growing up in a national park, like essentially the bush, managed to … I still pinch myself,” she said.

Shari Sebbens, Jessica Mauboy, director Wayne Blair, Miranda Tapsell and Deborah Mailman at the The Sapphires premiere during Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Picture: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Tapsell explained she went into her acting career knowing she could be unemployed for a lot of it because the road to being an actor was difficult.

But at 24-years-old she was “thrown into the deep end” landing the musical comedy-drama film The Sapphires.

“Before we knew it I was at Cannes Film Festival. I just never imagined I’d end up somewhere as prestigious as that,” she said.

Vietnam, where some of The Sapphires was filmed, still remains Tapsell’s favourite country outside of Australia. She even had her honeymoon there in 2018.