Trip Report Contents
Day Two: Bruny Island (Vote me off the island,
please)
Quick Summary: Ferrying over
to Bruny Island, exploring the island, the difficulties getting back to
Hobart, and a nice dinner with locals.
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For day two of our trip
we had to decide between seeing Bruny Island or drive the Huon River
Valley. We thought of doing both but didn’t really think we had the time
to do both properly, and ended up settling on the island.
Getting to the Ferry
After breakfast we set
out from our hotel, and headed south to Kettering, whence the ferry departs for
the quick, twenty-minute sail over to the Roberts Point, on North Bruny.
Bruny Island is almost two islands, connected in the middle by the narrowest
isthmus, just wide enough to carry the dirt road between the two. The
north features farms and pastures, while the south is heavily forested, and
covered with large areas of rainforest, with an iconic lighthouse at its
far-southern point. We drove the length of the island.
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| Boats moored in Kettering Harbour |
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| Kettering Harbour |
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| Queue of cars, waiting to load onto the ferry |
As we drove off the ferry
and onto the island, we were surprised by what greeted us: a ridiculously
long line of cars to get onto the ferry and back to the mainland. As we
had dinner plans for the evening back in Hobart, we realized that we’d have to
allow lots of extra time to get back; but, more on that later.
Driving Down Bruny Island
Within just a few miles
of the ferry dock we found ourselves alone on the road. Like much of what
we experienced on Tasmania, there was a profound sense of isolation and
remoteness. We passed pastures with sheep and others with cows
grazing. It was all idyllic. The weather still was no cooperating
and left us with fog, clouds, mist, and a mugginess hanging in the air.
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| Fog and mist hug the hillside, while animals graze in the foreground |
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| I know they're going for "Careful not to run into wildlife," but I'm reading "Kangaroos like to lift cars" |
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| Tasmanian sheep |
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| Tasmanian sheep, one looking at me with suspicion |
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| Baby sheep with horns |
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| Philip, sheep-side |
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| Me, sheep-side |
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| Tasmanian cow |
As we drove down the
center of Bruny, the sealed road turned into a dirt road. We passed
through the isthmus part of the island and onto South Bruny. Pastures were
replaced by thick forest.
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| Forest |
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| Yeah, about thirty miles of gravel road! |
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| The main road down Bruny Island |
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| Didn't I see this in The Wizard of Oz? Oh, right, that was paved with yellow brick |
Highlight on Bruny Island: The Point and Lighthouse
Finally, we rounded a
curve and were rewarded with a sweeping vista out over the sea cliffs and to
the ocean; the Bruny Island Lighthouse stood on a cliff-top in the
distance. It was stunning. We got out to take some photos. We continued along the final mile or so to the lighthouse and climbed the hill up to the beacon. The views were incredible. The only thing missing was the sun!
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| The Bruny Island Lighthouse |
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| Gorgeous sea cliffs |
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| The lighthouse |
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| Cliffs |
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| Rocks in the ocean |
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| Seascape and fog |
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| Just gorgeous |
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| Welcome! |
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| The road, coming into the lighthouse area |
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| Nice panorama from the top of the hill |
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| Clouds, cliffs, and ocean. That was Tasmania! |
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| More cliffs |
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| Me ... oh, and a little landscape behind me |
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| Beautiful lagoon. I can only imagine how it must be to see it in the sun |
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| Looking north |
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| Bruny Lighthouse |
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| Seascape |
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| Bruny Lighthouse |
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| Bruny Lighthouse |
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| We saw so much of this type of rock on Tasmania and Bruny |
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| Sweeping view |
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| Beautiful colors |
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| Looking up at Bruny |
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| Bruny Lighthouse |
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| Me in front of the lighthouse |
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| A panorama from near the lighthouse |
After taking in the views
we loaded back into the car and headed north, back toward the ferry.
Along the way we stopped for a snack at the Bruny Island Winery.
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| Wildlife by the roadside |
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| Snack plate, of local produce |
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| More of the food: the fish and cheese were the best items on the tray |
Soon past the winery we came
back to the isthmus. On the way down we didn’t stop, deciding to do so on
the way back.
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| At the isthmus |
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| At the isthmus |
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| At the isthmus, looking down at some beautiful hills |
The afternoon was getting away
from us and we knew we had to get back to the ferry to get in line and be back
on the mainland.
Trying to Get Off the Island
Bruny felt so isolated and
empty. When we got to the ferry we discovered where everyone was:
in line for the boat. We arrived at four o’clock for the 4:30
ferry. We didn’t make that one. We were one of the last three cars
in line to get onto the 5:30 ferry. But, we did make it onto the ferry
and back into Hobart in time to freshen up for dinner.
Dinner In Hobart With the Locals
For dinner that night we had
plans to meet up with the friends of my colleague, the same couple who owned
the dinner we ate at the previous Saturday. That Monday was a holiday in
Australia, so a good number of places were closed. We went for a pre-dinner
glass of wine, then headed to a local seafood restaurant on the
waterfront. Fried, local fish was the specialty of the place, so that’s
what we had. The company was nice and the food was good. After
dinner we went to have an after-dinner glass of wine and conversation before
parting ways. A pleasant end to a full day.
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