Adventure Bay - Bruny Island

 25 - 28 February 2022

After almost three months staying with our daughters in Hobart we felt it was time to pack up and head off in the trailer for our last couple of weeks in Tassie. Bruny Island is another on our growing list of favourite spots so we looked for the best weather and booked three nights at the caravan park.

The drive from Hobart to the car ferry at Kettering only takes about 45 minutes so we did our final pack up and left home after 11. We didn't need to stop along the way and arrived at the ferry terminal at around midday. We ate our packed sandwiches in the car while we watched one ferry load up - but not everyone could fit on. Fortunately it was only a short wait until the other ferry arrived and we boarded for the short trip across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.

The only caravan park is situated across from the beach at Adventure Bay. Although we were further away from the road separating the park from the beach we could still hear the waves. We had a good bit of setting up, sorting and repacking to do so it took a while before we were ready head for a long walk along the beach. There had been forecast rain but the sky remained clear and the temperature was warmer than expected - until nightfall anyway.

We decided that a drive to explore North Bruny was in order so we headed off straight after breakfast on Saturday morning. Most of the accommodation and camping is on South Bruny so we hadn't really explored the north on previous visits. Along the way we did stop at a spot on Great Bay where the birdwatching is usually good, before continuing in to Dennes Point.

Dennes Point looks out across the channel towards Tinderbox and South Arm. It's a lovely, sleepy little spot so we spent some time walking on the beach, enjoying the views and taking photos. From there we continued along the coast to the Bruny Island Quarantine Station.

The Quarantine Station has an interesting history, starting life as a colonial property, then becoming a quarantine station for overseas arrivals to protect Tasmania from infectious diseases. At the beginning of World War I it was used for the internment of German nationals who just happened to be on a vessel which was in the vicinity. It was also used to quarantine soldiers returning from the war, at the height of the Spanish Flu epidemic. More recently it was used as a plant quarantine station. There are a number of buildings to visit, each with interpretive information, as well as points of interest within the grounds. We didn't spend as long there as we might have as it was quite late in the morning when we arrived. We will probably schedule a longer visit some time in the future.

We returned home to the caravan park in time for lunch and had a quiet afternoon before taking a long walk all the way to the northern end of the beach. The weather continued in typical Tasmanian style - clear, cloudy, hot, cold, windy, still - but we didn't get any rain until the night.

On Sunday morning we started with a walk along the creek at the back of the caravan park, and then onto the beach for the long walk to the southern end. Later in the morning we drove up into the forest behind Adventure Bay to the Mavista Nature Walk. This walk is an easy half hour or so, through rainforest along a small creek. There is also a picnic area at the start of the track with picnic tables and a shelter, but no toilets.

After lunch we headed off to visit the Cape Bruny Lighhouse. It's a steep walk up the hill to the lighthouse but the views of this rugged coastline are fabulous, as expected. You can take part in a guided tour and climb to the top, but we were happy to look around outside - especially as Mick had spotted a bird to photograph. There is also a small museum back at the car park, housed in one of the lighthouse keepers' cottages. I poked around in there while Mick continued to chase birds. The weather wasn't great, with some light drizzle making photography a bit difficult.

From the lighthouse we decided to drive down to Cloudy Bay but the light rain persisted so we didn't spend much time there this time. There were the usual assortment of beach birds including Sooty Oystercatchers, as one lone surfer.

After three days on Bruny, we decided that we would go down to Southport for a couple of days as the weather forecast suggested clear skies – but this is Tasmania and anything can happen. We drove to the ferry and there was some light rain coming across the channel while we waited.

Once back on the “mainland” we headed towards Margate, then turned off to travel through Sandfly before joining the highway that would take us through the Huon Valley to Southport.