South Bruny National Park

The island itself is just a 20-minute car-ferry ride from the tiny port of Kettering, which is 30 minutes' drive south of Hobart. Once very much a Tasmanian secret, in recent years word of Bruny has spread among visitors. Despite the island's proximity to Hobart, you'll want to stay for a night or two to explore and relax.

South Bruny National Park is essentially a park of the coast, only occasionally extending inland to protect rainforest. In addition to the rookeries of short-tailed shearwaters (also known as mutton birds) and little penguins (formerly called fairy penguins), its 5,059 hectares (12,648 acres) protect habitat of the threatened swift parrot, the endangered endemic forty-spotted pardalote and an endangered endemic plant called eyebright (Euphrasia fragosa).

Shearwaters and penguins are probably best viewed at dusk at The Neck reserve, which you pass on your way from the ferry terminal to the park, but you may be lucky enough to view whales, dolphins or seals from one of the beaches or cliffs in the park.

South Bruny National Park traces the entire southern coast of the island, but road access between the two major walking areas - Fluted Cape and the Labillardiere Peninsula - is divided. (See the How to Get There section for more details.)

In addition to walks atop immense sea cliffs (Fluted Cape is 272 metres high), this park is famous for wildlife cruises. that take you to crowded seal haul-outs. The cruise boats are often shadowed by an albatross or sea eagle, and sometimes encounter clouds of shearwaters.

The impressive lighthouse at Cape Bruny built in 1838, after three ships were wrecked in a single year, resulting in the loss of 151 lives.

• Grass Point return (90 minutes) and Fluted Cape (2.5 hours)
• Labillardiere Peninsula (full day)
  

You can camp at Cloudy Bay and Jetty Beach. No bookings are taken. Camping is also available at The Neck reserve. As Bruny Island is a popular holiday destination, there is plenty of commercial accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets, including a caravan park at Adventure Bay.

There are a number of small museums on the island that tell the stories of its Aboriginal heritage, European discovery and whaling history. Abel Tasman first sailed along the shores of Bruny Island in 1642. Subsequently, 18th century British sea captains Tobias Furneaux, James Cook and William Bligh used Adventure Bay as a harbour during their explorations of Tasmania, as did French Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux, after whom the island was named. Long before the arrival of Europeans, Bruny Island was inhabited by the Eastern Tasmanian Aboriginal tribe, who called it Lunnawannalonna (preserved in the current town names of Lunawanna and Alonnah).

On the way to or from Bruny Island, you can explore the D'Entrecasteaux Channel (the mouth of the Derwent River). Paddle a kayak at Kettering, or travel further south to Woodbridge, where you can dine on fresh produce, wander through bushland as part of a cafe picnic, or visit a winery and sheep's milk cheesery.

From Hobart, drive 40 kilometres (25 miles) south to Kettering via the Southern Outlet (A6) and the Channel Highway (B68). From here, catch the ferry to Bruny Island. Although you can travel on the ferry if you don't have a car, it is at least half an hour's drive from the ferry terminal to the park (follow the signs to Adventure Bay or, alternatively, Alonnah, Lunawanna and Cloudy Bay), and there is little public transport.

• National parks and reserves
• Preparing to walk in the outdoors
• Park entry fees

• Phone: (03) 6293 1419
  Fax: (03) 6293 1446

• Hobart Visitor Information Centre
  20 Davey Street
  Hobart
  Phone: (03) 6230 8233
  Email: tasbookings@tasvisinfo.com.au
  
• Kettering Visitor Centre
  18 Ferry Road (beside ferry terminal)
  Kettering