A short drive south from Hobart (about 40 minutes) at the little town of Kettering you can catch the car ferry to Bruny Island.
There is no need to book, you simply arrive at the ferry and pay as you drive on. There were all sorts of vehicles on board with not a breath of wind, a short 15 minute ferry ride watching the dolphins and stunning views, I thought this is shaping up to be something very special: on the brochure is reads – “Once you reach the other side, take your watch off, throw your mobile phone out the window, because you’re on beautiful Bruny Island!”…so true although I didn’t want to throw my mobile phone away as I wouldn’t be able to take any photos.
Bruny Island is about 100km long, with a population of just over 600 people and is made up of a North and a South Island, separated by a narrow isthmus (sand spit) called The Neck.
From Trugganini lookout you get 360 degree panoramic views of the Bruny coastline.
The north is largely open pastures and light bushland, where as South Bruny is hilly, with lots of trees and large rainforest areas.
At the far south of the Island is the Famous Cape Bruny Lighthouse overlooking some of the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere.
View from the Cape Bruny Lighthouse
I was able to drive all over the island and had a really good look around. Bruny Island has it all – great agriculture, fantastic produce, wines, amazing oysters, local fish, stunning scenery, lighthouses, farms, wilderness, wildlife and adventure. It did not disappoint one bit.
Stunning white sandy beaches.
I stopped and got frash water at Resoltion Creek just as Captain Cook did when he landed here and needed a drink in 1777..
Resolution Creek
Rob Pennicott who I mentioned in my last blog, runs his tours out of Adventure Bay, an eastern facing bay on south Bruny.
A 3 hour wilderness cruise exploring the rugged coastline of Bruny and venturing out into the Southern Ocean on one of his custom built boats is a must do. With 3 x 200hp motors on the back and rugged up in matching big red jackets we reached the two meter swell off the coast.
Luckily it was a sunny day, the further south we went, the colder it got.
The scenery was awe inspiring. The high sea cliffs, towering crags, deep sea caves, blow holes, dolphins, seals, whales, enormous sea birds, the different colours of the water, huge beds of kelp and different coloured seaweeds, and rugged beaches. Rob’s tour did not disappoint, we saw the lot (well apart from any thermal clad mermaids!)
After an exhilarating cruise, back on dry land and thawing out.
Hotel Bruny on the beachfront in the little town of Alonnah, is such a great place to go for drinks, dining, accommodation and fun.
Great local oysters
Everyone on the island is so friendly and easy going, they even let me pitch my tent in the beer garden at Hotel Bruny!
The worst thing about Bruny Island was leaving it.
But it was time to move on, back on the ferry, more places to go and people to see, like the Huon Valley. Another stunning drive from Bruny Island to Huonville.
The Huon Valley is a very fertile stretch of land on the banks of the Huon river.
There are so many apples Frank decided to make some cider. You can find Franks’s cider around every corner. It was apple picking time, the place was a hive of activity. Even the rocket made some friends.
I met some of the locals.
Hanging out with Annie the Apple! Get an apple in ya!
I even made it into the local HUON NEWS
“During his travels around the country, Mick flagged down HVN Kids Club mascot, Annie the Apple for a photo to represent the Huon Valley”
I had a good look around all the little marinas up and down the river, it is like they have their own festival running the entire time with all the boat building going on. The Huon Wooden Boat Centre at Huonville is a school and visitor centre dedicated to preserving the traditional craft/trade of wooden boat building, there was lots to see.
Sometimes it is challenging moving on from some of these beautiful places, but it was time to move on and treasure the memories and look forward to what is coming up next.
As Walt Disney said ” Around here we don’t look backwards for very long – we keep moving forward opening up new doors and doing things because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Keep opening up new doors,
Mick
