It's All Over

I can't believe we have been here for twelve days and this is our last day. It's going to be long one because our flight isn't until 9:15pm

With a full day ahead of us we headed off to Bruny Island. This is a small island off the south coast of Tasmania. It's renown for it National Parks, wildlife, scenery and local artisan breweries, cheese makers and eateries.

We caught the ferry over to the island which is a short 15 minute trip. On the way over we were trying to decide if were would head north or south. We were surprised by the size of the island and that it would take an hour to drive down to the lighthouse.

Our first stop was the "the Neck" lookout which is a climb of 220 steps to the top. It was worth it though because the view back down to where the two parts of the island join was impressive. At them bottom of the steps is the penguin rookery. Like the one's on Phillip Island there are only lots of holes and no penguins during the day.

We had forgotten to get fuel before we boarded the ferry so made detour form the road to get some fuel. Not surprisingly, fuel was just a little bit expensive. Down this way is where another Pennicott tour departs from, but not for us today. We tried to find the Captain Cook landing point but the signing was not that great so we missed it. Another attraction of the island was the Bruny Island Chocolate Factory. I was reading reviews and there were far more negative ones. It was so bad that we thought we had to check it out for ourselves. Sadly the reviews were pretty accurate. It was just a shop, there was no viewing of the process or tasting. Needless to say we didn't buy anything.

Back on the road to the lighthouse, the road narrowed and eventually turned in dirt and we were a little concerned when a sign advised that the road was no longer maintained by the council, We shouldn't have worried because we couldn't really tell the difference.

By the time we reached the lighthouse carpark we were glad we were no longer in the vans as the wasn't much room to park for cars, let alone two long vans. It was quite busy when we arrived as we started our trek up the steep hill to the top.

As expected, when we got there, the views were pretty good. The Cape Bruny Lighthouse project was commissioned by Governor George Arthur in 1835 after a series of tragic shipwrecks off the south coast. The lighthouse is no longer operational and there is now a rather insignificant solar lighthouse just over on the other hill on the same point that now protects the ships and boats going around the island.

We had a quick look at the little lighthouse museum and the big attraction for the kids was the dial up phone. There a young teenager trying to work out how to use it. She had no idea and it made us all feel very old.

It was time to make a start back as we wanted to try out the Bruny Island Cheese Company. They not only make cheese, they are farmers, bakers and brewers. The cellar door was in a lovely bush setting and we ordered a delicious cheese platter and a beer tasting paddle. They provided a list of the beers and what cheeses would work best each beer. 

We though this would be our entrée as we planned to try out the oyster restaurant "Get Shucked". Unfortunately, the gates were closed with a sign saying they had reached their Covid limit. 

It was almost time to head back to the ferry. The last scheduled trip was at 3:30 and then on demand after that. We didn't need to take the chance of getting stuck on the island until late.

We were a bit disappointed that we didn't get the time to do any walks and decided that to do the island justice, you would be better off staying for at least one night on the island.

We headed back to Hobart thinking we could spend a little more time looking around the docks and surrounds but the rain decided to set in so we choose to have a drink and then an early dinner and Mures Restaurant. It was very busy and the food was OK.

We headed out to the airport to drop off our bags and then Terry and Mark went to take the rental car back while Ruth and I stayed with the bags. When they got back Terry said that the taxi driver was not happy about having to accept the fare as it was only a 10 minute trip. Apparently the taxi have to wait up to two hours to get back into the airport. In the end Terry had to offer him more to take the fare. 

With everyone safely back at the airport, we waited for our plane. I found myself so tired that I think I was asleep before the plane actually took off.

Back in Melbourne, we were able to collect the bags really quickly and then get the car and head home. 

We have had such a great time with Ruth and Mark and seen some beautiful sites. We have only seen a tiny part of Tasmania so can't wait to go back and explore some more.