Bruny Island

In our grand plan was the idea of taking our vans across to Bruny Island and spend one or two nights there exploring. The ‘spend’ part of getting our rigs across on the ferry ($250 all up) really encouraged us to come with another idea. Could we do Bruny Island in a day? It’s only about 100klm long by about 15klm at it’s widest and the ‘to do’ list wasn’t that long. A lighthouse here, a cheese factory there – what the hell, let’s give it a go.

We left at 6:45am to make the 7:30 ferry at Kettering. I’d volunteered to be chauffeur for the day, to help the Jeep remember what not towing feels like.

The day was improving by the minute and we cleared the Bruny Island terminal in less than half an hour. It’s a very popular destination, so we made the most of our early start and headed for Cape Bruny Lighthouse at the southern most tip, aiming to spend the rest of the day working our way back up the island.

We arrived at an almost deserted headland. The lighthouse rose like a spire into the clear blue sky and it was the rugged coastline that had given it it’s purpose. The jagged cliffs looked forbidding on a good day. I could only imagine how dark and turbulent seas would render against the cliff faces during a violent winter storm. After a series of tragic shipwrecks the lighthouse was commissioned in 1835, and is the second oldest in Australia and only replaced by solar beacon in 1993. The last lighthouse keeper wrote: “You’d sit there in the tower, on some of those nights, it was eerie those nights, a mass of white sheet and sleet and that, it’s hard to explain – as you look into the storm, but it’s just like looking into a firestorm, just roaring at you as it hits the tower”

We made our escape just as the throngs arrived and doubled back along Lighthouse Road to grab a coffee at the junction to our next stop – Cloudy Bay.

Cloudy Bay was just a name on a map, but so glad we took the time to explore. A few kilometres of good dirt road and we were there. Put Cloudy Bay anywhere else except Bruny Island and it would be up there with Wineglass Bay. The upside however is that the beauty is yours alone to admire. There are a couple of walks, but, as you know, our time was limited.

Now Ken was chasing his taste buds as much as I was chasing views. Bruny Island has a reputation for fine fare including cheese, wine and artisan sourdough bread bought out of three roadside fridges on an honour system, baked fresh every 90 minutes. However, like many tourist attractions, you’re paying for location, location, location. Even Ken baulked at the cheese prices, which is saying something. We called in to Adventure Bay and grabbed some hot chips for lunch. It’s a cute seaside village, reminded me of what Byron Bay must have looked like before it became….. Byron Bay.

We had covered the southern half of the island in about four hours. Bridging both halves of Bruny Island is The Neck, best viewed from from Truganini Lookout.

This lookout is named after the last full blood indigenous inhabitant of Tasmania, and acknowledges a brutal and systematic genocide against an aboriginal population. Reduced from 6,000 to less than 100 in less just over 30 years.

This is the photo op. of Bruny Island and the viewing platform at the lookout was as congested as a Myers Boxing Day sale. I kid you not, there was a que of people waiting for the best position. Some guy was even chatting up Asian tourists by offering to take their photo.

The northern half of the island was cleaned up in just over an hour. It was the first part settled and was largely farm and dairy cattle country. We took a drive just for a look-see, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy to report on. Back on the ferry by 3:30pm and home for our usual five o’clock swill. So, the answer to the question is, yes you can do Bruny Island in a day and not feel like you’ve missed something.