Bruny Island

After a pretty intense few weeks of work Jenni and I had a long overdue weekend off. We went to Bruny Island, yet another island, off an island, off an island and only one hour drive away. I thought Tasmanian’s were passionate about their island but Bruny Islanders are even morer passionater about their smaller island, and rightly so. It is quite beautiful as you can see. We also saw some rare and beautiful creatures that are specific to Bruny Island. Although you may see pics of other rare and not so rare animals during the blog. I have kept the highlight till last.

Bruny Island is only a 20 minute ferry journey from Tasmania’s main island. It is named after French explorer Bruni d’Entrecasteaux. Its traditional Aboriginal name is lunawanna-allonah, which survives as the name of two island settlements, Alonnah and Lunawanna.

We were staying in a beautiful Airbnb in Alonnah with friends Don, Kathleen and Amy and had a lovely dinner together at Bruny Island Wines. Whilst they had excellent food and some superb wine they also sold some J. Dillon and Sons Bruny Island Ciders. Of course I had to have a few and take some home.

The next day we planned a walk at Cloudy Bay and after that explore a potential future camping spot at Jetty Beach.

Cloudy Bay

We’d been to Cloudy Bay before with our friend Judy and were keen to explore the area a bit more. It’s a super surf spot as there’s little to stop the swell between here and Antarctica.

Leaving Cloudy Bay and on the way to Jetty Beach we happened across a donkey and a few alpacas. Is it an alpaca or is it a llama?

Jetty Beach

We arrived a Jetty Beach and it was deserted.

We rolled out our towel and had our thermos of tea and sandwiches for lunch sitting drinking in the silence and the beauty.

Jenni and I then took off our shoes and socks and went for a paddle in the other direction along the beach. The water was cold. We did see someone in swimming while we were there but as they were obviously insane I didn’t point the camera at them to enrage them. So no pics.

It was time to head back to the Airbnb as it had started raining.

The campsite is just a short walk down a track to the beach. We took these pics of the fees to remind us of the booking details when we come back. Seems quite reasonable.

However, instead of turning left to go back to our rented cottage, we turned right to take a look at the Bruny Island lighthouse. At the side of the road Jenni spotted an Echidna. I grabbed my camera and jumped out of the car and grabbed a couple of shots before it disappeared into the undergrowth.

On the way back down the path from the lighthouse to the car Jenni spotted another Echidna. Quick as a whip I snapped off some pictures.

We made it back to our cabin without seeing any more exotic wild creatures. We met up again with Kathleen, Don and Amy and had dinner in the Bruny Island Hotel. I had the biggest Chicken Parmy on the planet.

After diner we lit the wood burning stove and watched the sunset out the window while I rubbed my belly.

The White Wallaby

The first morning waking up on the island I pulled back the blinds and was amazed to see this sight. A rare white wallaby just grazing in the garden.

From the Bruny Island web site;

White wallabies are Bennett’s wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus) with a rare genetic mutation that gives them their white fur. Bruny Island has a population of white wallabies, some which are albino with white coats and pink eyes, ears and nose, while others possess only the white coat. 

I’d heard of them but despite being led to believe they were regularly seen on Bruny Island I hadn’t spotted any on on the last two trips here. Now, here was one in the garden. I ran to get my camera.

I called Jenni over. Just then the white wallaby stood up and posed for us.

A bit more research and we discovered there are only 200 of these. It feels quite special the we saw this up close. He (or she) appeared next morning as well. He was so close I got a decent selfie with him.

And then it was time to go home. We packed up and drove to the ferry stopping at the Truganini Lookout to admire the view.

So with a final Bruny Island sunset picture I will end this blog and say “Till next time”