Island hopping........

We woke up on Monday morning to grey sky and drizzle but set about packing up anyway.  We were going to head across to Bruny Island today hoping the long weekend crowds had left early.

Bruny Island is the same size, in land mass, as Singapore but I'm sure that is where the similarities end.  Singapore has a population of over 6 million people and the permanent residents on Bruny Island are said to number around 650.  Sounds perfect doesn't it.  Let's hope there aren't too many tourists there this week.

We drove straight to the ferry at Kettering stopping only for lunch at a lay by in town.  The now cold and miserable day did not invite us to get out and explore so we joined queue for the ferry straight away.  Once on board we were off in about 5 minutes.

The trip across to the island only takes about 20 minutes and so soon after we were on our way driving straight to Adventure Bay on South Bruny.  We were hoping to get a couple of nights in the only Caravan Park to catch up on the washing.

On our arrival it didn't look like too many people had left this morning but we were able to get an unpowered site which suited us fine.  Though still grey, cold and windy the rain had stopped so I took a punt and got on with the chores anyway and as luck would have it all was dry by the next morning.  That afternoon we walked along the beach and found these cute little Oyster Catchers braving the weather.

Still grey and cold at least the rain had stopped so we got out and about to see if we could find a campsite to move to the following day.  

We enjoyed a look at Adventure Bay first, taking in the beach and the place that Capt. Cook had first landed.  It seems many other boats had been in to this location before him dating back to one of the earliest arrivals in 1642.

From here we drove across the island on an inland track and came out on the Cloudy Bay Rd.  The campground here had got our attention and to reach it you had to drive about 3 km on the beach.  

We did this and just loved the sites but decided the first bit of road off the beach was just too low with trees for our tall van.  Such a shame as it would have been perfect .  Never mind, our next stop was The Neck beach campground and this too was great so sad faces were put away and now we could enjoy the rest of our day.

From here we crossed The Neck, an amazing sight at low tide and visited the Cheese Factory before returning home to chill out for the afternoon.

The next morning we were up and off pretty soon and we made our way straight to The Neck where we found the perfect spot just as another JB van was leaving it.  And just in time too as only a few moments behind us were two more looking for a spot.  We set up and then drove back to Adventure Bay to pick up a few things at the shop and have a look at a few of the sights we had been driving past.

Two Tree Point at Resolution Creek was another watering spot for the many boats of old to come in and fill up while enjoying the safety of the bay.  Once again Capt. Cook was only one of many to pass this way.  The scenery was simply stunning and by now we had realised that whichever way we looked on Bruny Island we were going to see spectacular sights.

From here we drove to Cape Bruny as far south as we could drive on the island and enjoyed the views from the Cape Bruny Lighthouse.  When this lighthouse was first lit in March 1838 Cape Bruny was Tasmania's third and Australia's fourth lighthouse.  

It was built by convict labour after the catastrophic wreck of the convict transport, George III.  From the summit the views over the three bays were truly spectacular.  Mabel Bay, Lighthouse Bay, Quiet Bay and Court Island kept us enthralled for some time before we headed back downhill to our car.  

Back at home we had lunch and then took a long walk along the beach towards the lookout at the Penguin Rookery.  It was a lovely sunny day and we enjoyed being the only people walking along the beach.  On the way back Bill stopped me and pointed out the little family of Hooded Plovers.  They really are quite hard to see and we could have easily missed them.  Bill went into photographer mode and spent some time shooting these cute little birds.  Took me two days to get the sand out of everything!

That afternoon we met our neighbours and enjoyed drinks round the campfire with Alf and Desley from Qld and Robert and Katie from Dubbo.  Seemed we had been following each other through Tasmania so lots of notes to compare.  We had all enjoyed a wonderful time in each place we stopped.  

Our travels the next day took us across The Neck to North Bruny where we visited Dennes Point.  From the top of the hill you are looking back at mainland Tasmania at the little village of Snug and Tinderbox.  Once again stunning views on a glorious day.

From here we drove around to Barnes Bay where we found a delightfully tranquil harbour and another very tiny little town.  The rocks here and the pylons of the jetty were covered in oysters most of which had been scavenged by birds or other creatures.  

Our next stop was back on The Neck where we climbed the many steps to the lookout on the hill.  This rather steep climb gives those that make it the most wonderful look right across The Neck and it is a truly spectacular sight seeing the waves crashing on one side and the tide out and mud flats on the other.  Bruny Island is really two small islands joined by this narrow isthmus.  It really is such a narrow strip of land that has cars driving across all day every day I'm surprised it survives the constant traffic.

Coming back down the steps you could see the many penguin burrows but we didn't go and see them at nightfall as the rangers had told the others that it was moulting season and only about half a dozen birds were coming in.  We decided to give it a miss and joined our neighbours around the campfire again that night.  We were all leaving in the morning and going separate ways.

We woke the next day to steady rain which had obviously been falling for most of the night.  Large puddles and soaked awnings made for a fun time packing up and all three guys got pretty wet as they completed their outside tasks.  Of course we ladies didn't totally escape as we all had to help checking lights etc but we did not get as damp as the men.

From here it was straight to the ferry and soon after we were back in a cold wet Kettering and once again we didn't stop here.  Next stop was the Showgrounds in Hobart- yes it was time to spend some time in the big smoke.  Stay tuned and see what we did

until next time........