Tuesday March 19 turned out to be a lovely day. The forecast had been for cloud and some late afternoon rain. Instead we had a mainly sunny day, with very few clouds and a high of 22C.
It was perfect weather for our full day gourmet tour of Bruny Island with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. We were picked up in a small bus at 7:50 a.m. at the corner of our street. We headed out to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry to Bruny Island which left from the nearby town of Kettering. Our tour guide, Sam, was enthusiastic and a lot of fun. He lives in a small town we drove through, just outside of Hobart.
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| Lots of boats at Kettering |
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| More |
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| Leaving Kettering on the Mirambeena Ferry |
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| Peaceful crossing |
There are only 852 permanent people on Bruny Island but it is foodie heaven. The Island is made up of a North and South Island which are separated by a narrow isthmus called "The Neck". The ferry ride only takes 15 minutes and arrives on North Bruny. The North Bruny Island is drier than the southern island, which is hilly, heavily timbered and includes a large rainforest area.
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| Arriving at North Bruny Island |
Our first stop was the Bruny Island Cheese Co. where Alain sampled four beautiful cow cheeses. The Bruny Island Cheese Co. was founded by Nick Haddow in 2003. He had made cheese in many different countries in the world but settled on Bruny Island to start his own artisan cheesery. Since 2016, they have been making beer and also make wonderful wood-fired breads.
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| Sign for Bruny Island Cheese Co. |
Unfortunately, they only had cow cheeses, which I cannot not eat. Because we had indicated that I was lactose intolerant, the Cheese Co. organised a lovely tray of treats for me, including zucchini pickles, olives, quince and pickled onions. One of the other people on the tour asked me to pass the tray and I had to tell him the treats were for me as I couldn't sample the cheese.
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| Treats pour moi |
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| Alain passing a cheese tray-- the samples were quite large. |
Alain sampled "Tom" with a hard, natural rind; "Saint"- a soft white cheese like a camembert; "1792"- named after the year the French first set food on Tasmanian soil- a soft cheese with a washed rind on huon pine; and "Odo" (One Day Old); fresh, marinated in olive oil. He said they were all very good.
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| Lots of great looking cheeses |
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| Outside cheese bar |
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| Beer and cheese |
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| Our tour bus-- very comfortable |
Our next stop was "Get Shucked" Bruny Island Oysters. Pacific oysters were introduced to Australia from Japan about 70 years ago. This is the type of oyster grown at Get Shucked. The oysters take from 2-3 years to grow to edible size. We were told that they sell about 200-300 dozen oysters a day. They have a limit and don't sell over that amount per day.
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| Signage for Get Shucked |
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| Sorting oysters-- they go back in the water if they are too small |
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| Oysters in the fridge |
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| The oysters were very good-- we had about 8 each-- great breakfast |
The oyster place was fabulous-- in restaurants, oysters are very expensive. This was a real treat.
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| Alain liked the Drive Thru idea--- he posed here after we had our oysters |
Our next stop was Bruny Island Honey for a honey tasting.
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| Alain outside Bruny Island Honey |
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| Lots of manuka trees to make honey in Tassie - the most expensive of the honeys |
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| We had a taste of a number of honeys- we bought a small bottle of the honey with fennel |
We then had a break from eating and stopped midway on the isthmus which connects the north and south islands. It is known as "the Neck". We walked up a pathway to the Truganini Lookout, named after an aboriginal woman.
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| Signage for lookout |
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| Part of the pathway |
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| At the top-- great view of the beaches on either side of the "neck" |
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| Gorgeous view |
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| The beach looked so tempting and the water was pretty warm |
There is also a Penguin Rookery located on the isthmus. I finally got to see the famous small blue penguins. They are very cute.
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| Lovely blue penguins |
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| Blue shows up better in this pic |
We then crossed onto the South Island of Bruny Island and passed by Adventure Bay, a very popular spot for summer holidays.
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| World at Adventure Bay |
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| A local was going for a swim |
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| Captain Cook creek |
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| Lovely spot at Captain cook creek |
We then spotted a number of wallabies through the bus windows. No white ones, but a number of brown ones. The term wallaby is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo (intermediate in size between wallabies and kangaroos).
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| Hard to spot wallaby |
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| Closer |
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| Closest |
We then stopped for "morning tea" i.e. a freshly baked blueberry muffin and tea/coffee at the Bruny Island Cruises Seafood Restaurant owned by the folks who run the tour. They had a hot vegan blueberry muffin for me. The restaurant has views of Adventure Bay.
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| Stairway up to the eating area |
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Alain with his muffin and coffee
Our next stop was a non-food stop at Two Tree Point at the mouth of Resolution Creek. This point is listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register. It has historic and cultural significance. It has changed little since 1792 and is evocative of the landscape experienced by 18th century explorers. It was known as "Watering Place" on the charts of Captain Cook (Resolution 1777) and was the place the explorers replenished their supplies of fresh water. It was later named Resolution River by Captain William Bligh during his visit on the Bounty in 1788.
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A member of Bligh's ship's crew, Lieutenant George Tobin produced a series of watercolours in Adventure Bay - the trees in the painting look like younger versions of the trees that are there now,
although it has not been established conclusively that they are. |
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| Two Tree point today |
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| Beach at Two Trees |
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| Lovely surf |
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| Another view |
We then stopped at Bruny Island Premium Wines for a wine tasting and lunch.
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| Sheep nearby |
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| Most southern vineyard in Australia |
Unfortunately, the wines were the only low spot on the food tour. Not really drinkable and very pricey. The cider was also not very good.
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| Tasting--- maybe just a bit too far south for vineyards |
We had our lunch at the vineyard. The food was better than the wine.
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| Salmon and potatoes |
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| Lamb ragu and pasta |
We then went to the Bruny Island Chocolate Company for a fudge and chocolate tasting. Alain had both and I had a dark chocolate frog (non-dairy). Very accomplished fudge maker.
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| Bruny Island Chocolate Company |
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| Lots of treats |
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| Alain in disguise |
We then headed back to the ferry. Our final stop back on North Bruny Island was the Bruny Island House of Whiskey. We were asked on the bus whether we wanted a gin and tonic or a whiskey. We both chose gin, but after hearing the rave reviews of the whiskey, Alain bought me a single malt whiskey, which was awesome. They had over 70 Tasmanian Single Malts in the store as well as limited release Gins. I really hope they have some whiskey in the duty free store before we leave Australia.
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| House of Whiskey |
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| Tasting room |
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| Gin starts blue but turns pink when the tonic is added - very good gin |
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| With the whiskey bottle and my drink-- Hellyers Road Distillery Pinot Noir Finish - awesome |
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| We had just missed the 4:00 p.m. ferry, so wandered around in the sun until the 4:30 ferry came |
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| On the return ferry |
It was a fabulous day. Great gourmet food/treats on a beautiful island. Highly recommend a visit to Bruny Island, an island off an island (Tassie), off an island (Australia)!!
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