One other thing, Tinny, that I didn't mention before was my shock and horror that the beautiful Hotel Darwin and my beloved Green Room had been demolished. Now that was a crime by a bunch of craven philistines.
When I arrived back on that visit, I made a beeline to the site in anticipation of having a few quiet beers in the tropical ambience, with the palms, the cane chairs and the outside gardens, only to find a bloody resort of some sort. What a damned tragedy.
As I said before, I found it hard to relate to the place anymore. Greedy developers with no appreciation for tradition. The Green Room was a lovely place, reminiscent of a Somerset Maugham novel out of the 30's. The alternative watering holes just turned out to be plastic and glass and while the Vic retained some character, it was noisy, crowded and seemed to have been taken over by the younger set - not that I begrudge them.
I just couldn't find anywhere with the same appeal. There used to be some competition when the Fannie Bay Hotel was still around, but that got blown away a long time ago.