In February, Alexa – a Regional Sales Manager with the Globus family of brands – experienced our Cosmos ‘Tassie Quick Bite’ tour. Below she shares why Bruny Island should be on your Tasmania bucket list.
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Pristine beaches. Abundant wilderness. A treasure trove of fresh produce.
If this sounds like your kind of paradise, then keep reading and you will see why Bruny Island is not just your average rock!
Located just 40 minutes south of Hobart, the easiest way to access Bruny Island is by car or tour as there is no public transport on the island. On our Cosmos tour we travelled with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, a family-run business who have been sharing Bruny’s best kept secrets with thousands of visitors since 1999.
Once we reached the town of Kettering, we took a short 20-minute vehicular ferry ride across the channel to where our adventure really began in South Bruny. Interestingly, Bruny Island is split into North and South sides and is joined at ‘the neck’ (isthmus), the sandy land mass between the two sides.
The locals on Bruny Island (the islanders) have some funny nicknames for their visitors, with visitors from Tasmania known as ‘mainlanders’ and visitors from the rest of the country referred to as ‘biglanders’.
Aside from a quirky sense of humour, Bruny Island is home to a range of wild and sea life including fur seals, wedge tailed eagles, white wallabies and fairy penguins. It is also endemic to twelve bird species including the Tasmanian Thornbill which makes it a remarkable destination for bird watching as almost half of the island is made up of natural habitat and forest.
We were fortunate enough to take a stroll through one of the nature walks, which felt other-worldly with sprawling ferns and towering eucalyptus trees. For those who enjoy the best of both worlds, there are six popular routes to consider when visiting Bruny Island, including amazing coastal walks along the peninsula.
After a morning spent exploring the coastline and local forests, we had worked up quite the appetite. Bruny Island is known for its trove of fresh produce including cheese, berries, oysters and salmon. Most notably, as you ferry across to Bruny you will pass Tassel salmon farms which makes for a delicious salmon roll at the Bruny Island Cruise Centre & Restaurant. Our next stop was at ‘Get Shucked’ where we experienced our first drive through oyster experience which was a unique little side dish after lunch.
We chose to save our oysters for the ferry ride home and the team at Pennicott were well-prepared with an esky to keep the oysters fresh as we drove to our final stop of the day!
We were then welcomed to the Bruny Island House of Whiskey which really set the tone for those who were keen to continue on that evening as we sampled some of their famous single malt collection.
In a nutshell, Bruny Island really has it all and is not to be missed on your next trip to Tasmania. There is something for everyone, and you are guaranteed to leave with a full belly and a greater appreciation for this beautiful piece of Tassie. Click here for the full itinerary.
