Bruny Time

If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of Bruny Island. 

Bruny Island Ferry (from the Bruny side)

You drive 35 minutes south of Hobart along the main highway, through the small towns of Kingston, Margate, and Snug to Kettering, then sail for 15 minutes across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny, then drive inland for about 10 minutes. Then you come to a bit of a junction. You can choose to go left – which is north – or straight – which is south. Usually we go north, to Pete and Anna’s “shack” or what we’d call “the cottage” – though, by definition in Tasmania, a shack is where all the stuff-that-gets-worn-out-in-the-house-but-that-is-still-too-good-for-the-tip goes. As a certain young man cheekily asked a certain older man recently, “Is that where your wife sends you?”

Nebraska Beach, near Dennes Point on North Bruny Island

There are all kinds of shacks all over Tasmania – in various states of gentrification or dilapidation or just good plain homeyness. They’re mostly found on or near water, though not all… and they’re mostly where people go to get away from their regular lives. Shack culture is prevalent here. There's a website called islandshacks.com, and a book called Shack Life with some fabulous photos by Matt Newton. Indeed, he describes shacks as “perhaps one of the most endearing symbols of Tasmanian life.”

But that’s not what I want to write about here. Well, I don’t really even want to write much. Mostly I want to show you the pictures.

 

In late November I got to over to Bruny once again – but this time we headed south.

We passed all kinds of bays, including Adams Bay and Ford Bay and Little Fancy Bay, which are all part of Great Bay. Out of sight over the hill on the eastern side were Top Slip Point, Trumpeter Bay, Lookout Bay, Variety Bay, and Tarpot Bay. Near Fancy Bay we passed Bruny Island Airport – a tiny airstrip where the rich and famous can fly in. North and South Bruny are joined by a long spit of land that looks narrower on the map than it really is. It’s called The Neck, and it separates Isthmus Bay from Adventure Bay. I longed to be able to see both sides of water from the road, but alas I could not. What I could see was a gorgeous vista – because the tide was out, it was kilometers of flats. There’s a tiny penguin rookery there (for tiny penguins – not that it’s particularly tiny) – next time I hope to see one of the little birds up close…

Bruny is about the size of Singapore, but has a population of 620 instead of 4.5 million. Some of them live in the villages of Alonnah, Lunawanna, or Adventure Bay, where Rob Pennicot’s award-winning Bruny Island Cruises depart from. Although Adventure Bay sounds like a TV show, it was really named after a ship that anchored there – it belonged to Captain Furneaux, one of several European explorers who explored around Bruny, including Captains Flinders, Cook, and Bligh (yes, Captain Bligh of Bounty fame!). First sighted by Abel Tasman in 1642, Bruny was named after Rear Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux who visited in 1792-93.

Adventure Bay

We headed down through Alonnah and Lunawanna, (where we stopped for award-winning meat pies), Little Taylors Bay, Great Taylors Bay, Cloudy Bay Lagoon, and Cloudy Bay toward Cape Bruny Lighthouse in South Bruny National Park, but we stopped when we noticed a sign that dogs weren’t allowed into the park – even in cars. But you know from the map that once you get to the lighthouse there’s nothing between you and Antarctica.

On the way back we stopped at Morella Island Retreat and Hot House Café, where we had a beer in the greenhouse-like restaurant and a fabulous view of The Neck.

 

Bruny's tourism brochures rave about the “abundant wildlife, beautiful beaches, and stunning scenery… boutique food offerings including cheese, wine, chocolate, fudge, and smoked atlantic salmon… Once you reach the other side, take your watch off and throw your mobile phone out the window… you’re on Bruny Time!”

From what I experienced, I couldn’t agree more… it was a great day and a fabulous weekend. Thanks again to my wonderful hosts… I’m thinking that I could get used to Tasmania’s shack culture and Bruny Time…