Tasmania Part Five: Tassie Lovers Paradise aka Bruny Island

Those familiar with Australia may have heard of Bruny Island before, and maybe some of you are lucky to have actually been to it, but Nick and I had only a slight inkling about Bruny before we made it to Tassie. I think that a former boss of mine had mentioned it as an incredible foodie destination, and a few of our fellow foodie & winey (whiney?) friends had echoed his praises.

I titled this post “Tassie Lovers Paradise” because on reflection, I feel that a lot of what’s amazing about Tasmania can be found in the very small area of Bruny Island. It’s remote (you have to take a short ferry from the “mainland” of Tasmania), it’s beautiful, clean, and friendly; there’s great oysters, cheese, wine, whisky, and people; there are beaches and 4wd tracks and hikes; and finally a bit of interesting history as well.

Here’s a map of our Tassie trip so far – red has been covered in a previous post, green is covered in this post.

Detail of Bruny Island in particular (notice the scale – 7.2km – it’s a small island packed with a ton of goodness!)

We didn’t really know what to expect from Bruny, but we knew we’d spend two or three days exploring, and hoped to really get to know the island. Most tourists only go over for the day – the locals we spoke to were happy we were taking our time, because there’s a lot to see and do, and time runs a bit slower down there…

From the ferry, you have the option to continue along the main bitumen road down to the southern part of the island, or you can split off to the north and take a winding coastal road to explore a little bit off the beaten path (but not too far off – it is a small island).

Guess what we chose!

Coastal driving on Bruny Island

After a bit of winding coastal fun, we happened upon the Bruny Island Quarantine Station, which I had seen on WikiCamps and assumed it was somewhere we needed to give up our fruits and vegetables, similar to entering Western Australia. We were both pleased to find a very comprehensive museum, complete with a volunteer guide who helpfully gave us an overview of the history and recent restoration of the site.

Learning about the Bruny Island Quarantine Station

Here’s a gallery of some of the history and items we saw at the Quarantine Station. We weren’t in the mood to do the longer Heritage Walk, but it certainly seems highly recommended from the TripAdvisor page.

After our visit to the quarantine station we continued on our Northern Loop, up to the Jetty Cafe, where the owners serve wholesome homemade food in a warm timber building with an absolutely stunning view.

Introduction to Bruny Island by way of the Jetty Cafe

From the Jetty Cafe we completed our northern loop and re-joined the main road heading south, to most of the touristy/sightseeing stuff. First stop was Bruny Island Get Shucked Oysters, where we just HAD to partake in an offering called “The Pirate and the Mermaid”: a shot of Talisker whisky and a freshly shucked oyster. The flavours were pretty interesting together – and the method was too, as we were told to pour the last sip of whisky into the empty oyster shell and drink it up that way. I’m not sure I’ll replace my usual favourite oyster pairing of champagne or white wine 😉 But it was a fun and unique experience we haven’t had anywhere else in Australia!

And, since just down the road from the Oyster Farm (literally a few hundred metres) was a Bruny Island Honey Pot shop, and Bruny Island Cheese & Beer, why not continue our gluttony and stop there too!

Sufficiently stuffed, it was now time to continue on to our campsite at The Neck, the isthmus that connects the North and South parts of Bruny Island.

The Neck, Bruny Island (can you spot the Jeep?)

At the Neck lookout, there’s also a memorial to Truganini, a member of the displaced Nuenonne tribe which inhabited Bruny Island before the European invasion. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that Tasmania was particularly impacted by the incoming Europeans – virtually all original inhabitants of the Tasmanian island are now extinct, with Bruny Island no exception.

Our campsite at the Neck was one of the best we’ve had, for a small $10 donation, you’re camped up just metres from the beach, which no one else seems to be interested in. We had our morning coffees down there, watching the waves and just enjoying the peace and quiet.

After our food gluttony of the previous day, we tried to focus the next day on healthier pursuits – hikes and walks and checking out some of the beautiful views that Bruny offers. We started off with a walk to & around the Bruny Island lighthouse – the southernmost lighthouse in Australia, and the fourth oldest, which was built using convict labour and locally quarried stone between 1836 and 1838 after several shipwrecks occurred nearby around 1835.

In the first 76 years of the lighthouse’s operation, there were only 7 lighthouse keepers. In the next 50 years there were 23 keepers. It must be an incredibly isolated life, being a lighthouse keeper, and even more so in the mid/late 1800’s.

There have been a few deaths at Bruny Island lighthouse:

In 1875, Christina Merrick, the 2 year old daughter of the lighthouse keeper at the time, choked on a piece of raw turnip and died.
In 1898, the youngest child of the light keeper A. Williams died of infant diarrhea.
In 1937, a local farmer named Rupert Peters fell while fishing off the rocks nearby.
There have also been a number of beloved pets buried on site – including a goat named Paddy.

Cool photo Nick took of the spiral staircase inside

From the lighthouse we continued on to Cloudy Bay, a beach, campground, and walk that we had read great things about. To get to the campground, you have to drive along the beach, and you’re rewarded with a quiet campground with big sites fairly isolated from each other by dense vegetation.

Many of the fellow Tasmanian travellers we spoke to referred to Cloudy Bay as their favourite campsite on Bruny, and we’d have to agree. There was a beautiful beach with a rope swing, and even a nice walk to the headland to check out the views.

The pathway to the headland was the most overgrown we’ve ever seen – Parks Tas should try to get out there and clean it up a bit soon – long pants and strategic arm placement (to avoid scratches and itchy plants) was definitely required!

All this effort was rewarded in the end though, with some pretty spectacular views, and a nice spot to sit and have a rest and a packed pb&j sandwich for lunch.

While we were at Cloudy Bay, we also took the opportunity to check and replace our air filter. This is a super simple job to do, and we try to check it frequently, and either blow it out with our air compressor or just replace it if the filter is looking a bit tired. Admittedly this time it had been a while…check out what we found in there!

Bugs and seeds and dirt, oh my…this one is definitely due for replacement

AND THIS!!! He was trapped in the intake. Poor little (big) dude. Must have crawled into the snorkel some night and gotten stuck in there.

Luckily, our next and final stop on Bruny Island was somewhere we could pour one out for the poor decreased – Bruny Island wines, and Australia’s southernmost vineyard. The scenery was lovely and the staff was friendly and helpful, but we’re just not into cold climate wines, so we didn’t come away with any gems…this time (probably for the best after the Barossa and Margaret River overstocking).

And with that, it was off to the ferry again and over the pond back to the mainland of Tasmania (mainland is a funny concept, because Bruny Island is an Island off Tassie, but Tassie is an island off Australia, so how can it be a mainland itself…?)