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 Tasmania's capital has long been admired by visitors as varied as Agatha Christie and Darwin, both of whom toyed with the idea of retiring there. In February 1836, Darwin's ship the Beagle anchored in Hobart and the 26-year-old naturalist came ashore with his pet monkey.
He spent his 27th birthday party at Bill's house in Secheron Road, then owned by the town's chief surveyor, George Frankland. Here, Darwin passed "the most agreeable evenings since leaving England". The only hiccup was the death of his pet.
Bill took the skull to Max Banks, an expert at Tasmania's university. "What animal is it?" he asked.
Banks replied: "It's a monkey. Where did you find it?"
Bill explained.
"Then it's Darwin's pet monkey," Banks said. "It died while he was in Hobart." 
FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 16, 2006
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As a rule, the exchange rate is 50 roubles:£1. Local wine is about R150 a glass, while imported French wine can be a steep R400 a glass. Best to drink local champagne at under R100 a glass...
Listings copy:
Fasol: Gorokhovaya ul 17. Tel: 571 0907. Main course R200. Trendy, Manhattan-style bar-brasserie, with good, Japanese-influenced food. It's cheap too. Maybe that's because the waiting staff are paid half rate - they're certainly no more than half-awake.
Khristofor: Bolshaya Morskaya ul 27. Tel: 312 9761. Main course R450.
Nautically-themed restaurant whose designer must have been shipwrecked off the coast of kitsch. Wonderful, immaculately presented dishes with bizarre combinations - mango, banana and raw fish, anyone? - that work.
Restoran: Tamozhenny per 2. Tel: 327 8879. Tea and cakes R300. A stunning, crypt-like atmosphere makes this a perfect place for a drink, or a tea-time bliny. Give the deeply dull dinner menu a miss, though.
Restaurant 1913: Voznesensky pr 13/2. Tel: 315 5148. Main course R500.
Delicious local dishes served, sadly, in conditions that Mike Leigh's Abigail would consider the height of refinement.
Backstage: Teatralnaya pl 18/10. Tel: 327 0684. Main course R600. A charming gem tucked away on a side street, where fine smoked meats, seafood and superb wines are served by discreet and efficient staff. Just what the maestro ordered.
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