Bruny Island is Tasmania’s fourth largest island and has over 300kms of coastline and roads providing plenty of
places to visit and endless things to see and do. The island caters for all individuals -
walking tracks for those fit and adventurous to
penguin watching for nature enthusiasts. It is a beautiful island, rich with history and culture, and varied with flora and fauna, and geological landscapes. Most of Bruny Island is good gravel road and the majority of Bruny’s attractions are on South Bruny, which is a rugged, mountainous and heavily timbered region. South Bruny National Park is wild with spectacular
views, with some parts only accessible by walking or 4WD.
After crossing the D’Entrecasteaux Channel by vehicular ferry from Kettering, the first interesting landmark you will meet is the narrow neck or isthmus dividing the north and south areas of the island. There is a good
lookout a short walk from the car park showing good
views of the island and just how narrow
the neck is. This is also a good place to watch the fairy penguins just before dark and is usually best on a moonlit night otherwise they are hard to spot.
From
the neck, head towards the east coast of South Bruny and follow the signs to
Adventure Bay and the Fluted Cape walk at the end of the
Adventure Bay township. The Fluted Cape walk is a good 2 - 2½ hours walk and provides an excellent history of the island, its whaling days, and great
views back to North Bruny and the Tasman Peninsula. A word of warning though - the return part of the walk is steep!
From
Adventure Bay, keep your eyes peeled for the
sign to Lunawanna. This is the lesser known route to the Eastern side of South Bruny and is a fairly rough gravel road about 8kms in length with some pretty rainforests and a couple of good
lookout points along the way. The gravel road meets bitumen again and you head south and follow the signs to Cloudy Bay. Here you can
camp at
the Pines or Cloudy
Beach camp (both signposted and National Park areas). The
beach camp maybe a good option (4wd only) when the wind is off-shore. Cloudy Bay is also noted as a good fishing and surfing spot if you can stand the Southern ocean temperatures. You can explore South Bruny further by heading out to
Cape Bruny and the
Jetty Beach Camp if you’d like to extend your visit to Bruny further.
How to Use this Trek Note
- To download this information and the route file for offline use on a phone, tablet, headunit or laptop, go to the app store and purchase ExplorOz Traveller. This app enables offline navigation and mapping and will show where you are as you travel along the route. For more info see the ExplorOz Traveller webpage and the EOTopo webpage.
Environment
Bruny Island is actually made up of two islands - North Bruny and South Bruny separated by a long and narrow sandy isthmus. North Bruny is drier and is
well suited to sheep farming whilst South Bruny is more mountainous and has large areas of rain forest in addition to sandy heath. Both areas have spectacular scenery with wonderful, deserted beaches and abundant wildlife. The coastline of Bruny Island consists of cliffs and headlands broken up by beaches such as Cloudy Bay.
Around many of Bruny Island’s settlements, much of the landscape is covered in grazing fields and large tracts of dry eucalyptus forest. Inland, forests continue to be logged, but other large sections - mostly along the south-eastern coast, the forests are preserved as the South Bruny National Park. Many native and diverse plant species are found inside the park. These range from predominantly dry sclerophyll forests, heath-lads and coastal vegetation to wet eucalypt forests and pockets of rainforest at Mt Bruny and Fluted Cape.
The park provides key habitat for bird life such as the endangered forty-spotted pardalote, which enjoys refuge in White gums. Blue gums on the other hand provide nectar which swift parrots depend on. Over 120 bird species have been recorded on the island. Near the coast, the tiny hooded plover usually frequents the beaches. There are also colonies of shearwaters and fairy penguins, especially in the Bruny Island Neck Game Reserve. The surrounding marine environment is
home to seals, dolphins and whales.
History
Dutch explorer Abel Tasman made a landing in the vicinity of the island in November 1642. In 1773 Tobias Furneaux, who was exploring the coastline with James
Cook, anchored his vessel off the coast. On 26 January 1777,
Cook sailed the Resolution and the Discovery into
Adventure Bay and stayed there for two days. In 1788 and again in 1792 William Bligh anchored in
Adventure Bay.
Bruny Island and the channel between the island and the mainland were named after French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux who explored the area in 1792. It was known as Bruni Island until 1918, when the spelling was changed to Bruny. The island was originally inhabited by Aborigines who named it
Alonnah Lunawanna. This traditional name now survives as the name of two island settlements,
Alonnah and Lunawanna. In more recent history, Bruny Island was the site of a land transfer by the state Government to local Aboriginal people.
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