Tassie Trip January 2018: Bruny Island

Beautiful Bruny Island

Barb had always wanted to see Bruny Island after reading a novel called "The Lightkeeper's Wife" which is set on Bruny. Pam had already been there,  but was very keen to go again and this time stay overnight so we could see the Fairy Penguins (who come to feed their babies at "The Neck" after dark.)
Jan and Nick drove us to Kettering and we went across with the car on the ferry. It's really necessary to have some form of transport as Bruny Island is about 80 kilometres long! We were thrilled to get the pensioner discount (thanks to Nick!) so it only cost $23. Bonus!

 

The ferry is very well organised and at peak times two ferries shuttle back and forth to the Island continuously. You just rock up and wait in line until you get on.
We had booked into a self-contained cottage at Lunawanna and had to pick up the keys at the pub at Alonnah, but first we wanted to visit "The Neck" where the famous penguin rookery is located and climb the hummock to see the views of the Neck. There's a lot of steps to climb to the top, but it is so worth it!

 

 

Afterwards we drove to have a look at the nearby campground to have morning tea and have a look at the beach where some brave souls were surfing.

 Then went on to the famous lighthouse. Sadly we arrived at a busy time and didn't get to go into the lighthouse for a tour, but we did get to have a look around at the Lightkeeper's cottages and even saw an echidna wandering across the path.

 

 

Afterwards we drove on to have lunch at Jetty Bay and take a look around there and also Cloudy Bay, before we went to the Pub to pick up the keys and have a well-earned drink.

The cottage turned out to be really good. Two bedrooms and a lounge/kitchen and separate bathroom. There was a little deck which was very pleasant to sit out on and feed the resident ducks and ducklings. We'd brought along a curry for our dinner and afterwards dressed warmly to go back to The Neck for the penguin viewing. It was freezing cold!!! Barb had five layers on including scarf and gloves and Jan's big coat that she wore when they visited Antarctica some years ago.

We had to hang around in the cold so some hours waiting for it to get dark. There was a couple of Rangers there keeping control of the crowds so no-one went over the barriers or used flash photography. All torches had to be covered with red cellophane so as not to disturb the penguins. The Rangers gave lots of good information. The first arrivals just on dusk were the mutton birds whose nests are also among the rookery. We had to wait until almost 10 pm for the penguins to come out of the sea. We watched them toddle up the beach to find their babies in their nests. It was a dream come true for Pammie. She even saw a baby.