Exploring Bruny Island, TAS

The 15-minute ferry ride from Kettering on mainland Tasmania deposited us at Roberts Point on North Bruny Island.

In all, Bruny Island is about an hour from Hobart, but it feels like a whole world away. The brochure mentions that people have been “walking her land for over 40,000 years” and invites us to take our turn now.

Practically everyone who has been to Tasmania has described it as being more similar to New Zealand’s South Island than it is to Australia. The same holds true for Bruny Island. We spent six weeks exploring New Zealand and can see the resemblance.

There’s a lot of spectacular scenery on Bruny Island … but most of it is hidden behind the trees. Much of the time, you are driving through a “green tunnel” … as we call roads lined with thick trees. Unless you have the time to do some of the hikes, you don’t see the best of what the island has to offer … unfortunately. We did a couple of short walks, but didn’t have time for either of the two hikes listed as being among “Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks” … one of which is 9 miles long. I guess short is relative! Finding signposts for the trailheads was another problem

Our route took us from the ferry landing on North Bruny Island to the lighthouse at the tip of Cape Bruny on South Bruny Island. The two islands are connected by The Neck, a very narrow strip of land just wide enough for a two-lane road.

We stopped at the Truganini Lookout on the Neck for an aerial view of the strip, and then continued onto Adventure Bay. Along the way, we trod the beach at Two Tree Point … listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register for its historic and cultural significance. You see, it was here that Captains Furneaux and Cook both replenished their fresh water supplies in the 1770s. Captain Bligh, who visited the same site in 1788 — on the now infamous Bounty — named the creek Resolution River after Cook’s ship.

Next, we crossed over to the west side of the island where we found the famous “ Bruny Island Bakery.” There is no bakery here. Rather, the baker brings fresh sourdough bread and ANZAC biscuits to a roadside “safe” — two very old refrigerators. Locals and visitors in the know then either do a bank transfer — details on the inside of the fridge — or put cash in the box for their purchases. It’s all based on an “honesty” system. The biscuits were already sold out, but we walked away with a loaf of bread … still warm … with that delicious fresh sourdough smell. We were tearing off pieces to eat even before we got back in the car.

Our final stop of the day was at the Lighthouse at Cape Bruny … down an 11-mile, unpaved road. We walked the narrow path up to the lighthouse but skipped the tour — AUD $20pp — that would have gotten us to the top of the lighthouse. There were plenty of points from which to enjoy “free” aerial views of the scenery below us.

While Bruny Island did not quite meet our scenic expectations due to the “green tunnels,” I’m glad we went. We saw plenty to keep us happy.

We have one more day in Hobart. We plan to stay close since we also need to finish our prep work before getting on the road on the 26th.Read more