Bruny Island

Friday, January 05, 2024
Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia
We were up very early, after not a great sleep. Clare’s cold had gotten worse. I handed her the better drugs so she could get through our busy day. We had a cup of tea, some of our bread buns and were out the door. As we left the hotel, Clare realised she had forgotten her phone, so she sprinted back upstairs to retrieve it.
Our pick up point was a short 5 minute walk away and we made it before 7am as directed. We were collected in a mini bus by our guide, Dave, and soon on our way to the ferry. We were a group of 14 from Queensland, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Norway. We stopped along the way to pick up fresh bread for our morning tea.
Bruny Island is extremely busy at this time of the year and the line for the ferry was large. We were unable to get on the first one so had a 30 minute wait before Dave could drive us onto the barge-like ferry. We were able to get out and enjoy the views as the island came into sight.We caught glimpse of a seal swimming in the water.
Once on the island we were off and exploring. The vegetation is scrubby with farmlands and coastal trees. The waters are beautiful and the beaches look white. Our first stop was the oyster farm, Get Shucked, where we could drive through and collect our oysters. Then we stopped at the cheese farm for supplies before heading past the tiny town of Alonnah and stopping at the Alonna Boat Club to enjoy our morning tea in the picnic shelter. We enjoyed a walk along the jetty white Dave set up. The jetty is made from a barge used when the Tasman Bridge was out of action after a boat (with a drunk captain) ran into it.
Morning tea was delicious. We had coffee, cheese, oysters and bread. The cheeses from Bruny Island Cheese Farm were great; a hard, award winning C2, almost like a parmesan; their famous ODO one day old cheese marinated in herb oil and a French style brie. The bread was crusty and fresh and great with the cheese and in the oil. But the oysters! They were amazing, big and juicy and so fresh. They are a Japanese style oyster and there was plenty to enjoy. Not everyone was keen, but those of us who were enjoyed a great tasting. I ate Clare’s share.
Next stop was the Truganini Lookout at the Neck, which is where the two parts of Bruny are divided into North and South. There are 250 steps to the top, but the views are fabulous. There is also a penguin rookery in this location, but we were there at the wrong time of the day to see them.
Back on the road and a quick stop at the Bruny Island Bakery - where a local baker puts fresh bread in an old fridge by the side of the road. It is very poplular as there is nowhere else to buy fresh bread on the island. It has also become quite the quirky tourist attraction. When the poor baker went on holiday he was hounded and abused on social media. Anyway, the fridge was empty, a delivery was expected soon. There were some wrapped Anzac slices in the freezer compartment, so Clare and I bought one of them each, pooling our coins. Not bad for $2.
We were back on the road and up to the Bruny Lighthouse, bright white in the distance. We climbed the steep incline to the base of the lighthouse and waited our turn to go up. We were lucky we were on a tour. You need to book and we had reservations. We climbed the beautiful spiral staircase and came out onto a magnificent view. We were so fortunate to have a clear day that was not too windy. We circled the platform and marvelled at the ocean and land around us. 
Once everyone was back on the bus we went to the Bruny Island Hotel for our lunch. We had pre-ordered while we were at the lighthouse so it was a short wait for our meals. As recommended, I tried the local cherry pear cider. It was very good. Clare ordered a delicious lamb marinated in local honey and I had a seafood chowder. I think she won that one.
We had time to stop at a beach for a walk and one of our fellow travellers wanted to have a swim. The beach was so pretty and the sand as white and squeaky as Albany. It was a lovely way to spend half an hour enjoying the peace and quiet.
We hadn’t seen the legendary white wallabies, so we went on a bit of a drive looking for them. We did see some brown ones, but the whites were elusive today.
We stopped in at the Bruny Island Chocolate Factory, along with many others, and sampled some fudge and honeycomb. They don’t seem to do just chocolate which is a bit weird. Then onto Bruny Island Honey for a honey tasting. They have a lot of different varieties. I bought a little leatherwood honey ice cream. It was good. 
We made a quick stop at the Bruny Island Cheese farm as one of the girls was keen to get some ODO. The crowds were too much so we moved on again. We drove through Get Shucked again, one couple were going to buy some oysters, but changed their mind and we drove on to the ferry line up.
We were all a bit drowsy from our big day. Dave was giving commentary as we drove along, lulling us into a little nap. We waited a short while at the ferry line up and were soon on our way. This ferry was a bit smaller and not really great for walking around so we enjoyed the ride from the bus.
We made one more stop once we were back on the mainland at the Oyster Cove Organic Produce Store. They had the cheese that our friend was looking for and they stocked up on other provisions too. I bought a handful of big black Bruny Island cherries for Clare and I to enjoy on the way home. They were sweet and juicy.
We were soon back in the city and walking up the hill to our hotel. It had been a big day, but lots of fun. I needed a nap. We spoke to the concierge about a late checkout for tomorrow , we could stay until 12pm which was a help.
We weren’t really hungry, but headed towards Salamanca Place to find a snack to share. There was a Friday festival on in Franklin Park with live music but it was a bit chilly to perch ourselves outdoors. Leave that to the Tasmanians. We couldn’t really decide what we wanted but we didn’t want to be cold so we eventually settled on a wine bar sheltered from the wind but still amongst the action and ordered drinks, a pizza to share and a burrata with spicy tomato which was delicious but not quite what we were expecting - the tomato component was a sauce. Good, but required our pizza crusts to soak it up. 
We walked back to the hotel, had a nightcap in the bar and finally made it to bed for a well earned sleep.

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