Bruny Island Neck Game Reserve

In the warmer months, when the birds are prolific, rangers will meet you at the car park and introduce you to a twilight spectacle. As penguins waddle silently up the beach, shearwaters begin their descent, some darting past at head-height. Flight paths that appear random and reckless are actually very precise. You don't need to duck, but you might find it impossible not to. Amid the flutter and shadows, you'll see chicks waiting impatiently at the entrance to their burrows, hungry for food and parental attention.

Penguins and short-tailed shearwaters inhabit the same stretch of beach quite amicably, but humans can ruin everything by inadvertently trampling the delicate burrows. As well as harming their occupants, you can break an ankle stumbling into one of the deep holes in the sand. For these reasons, the Parks and Wildlife Service has constructed sturdy and convenient stairs, boardwalk and viewing platforms at this favourite seabird breeding site. Please keep to these structures.

To reach Bruny Island, take the car ferry from Kettering. The Neck is 25 kilometres (10 miles) south of the ferry terminal, on the way to South Bruny National Park.