Bruny Island has a permanent population of around 550 people. You will find wild seascapes, sweeping surf and quiet channel beaches, coastal walks, sealife cruises, fishing, rare birdlife and wildflowers, tall forests, farmlands, and an historic lighthouse. Most of the roads are unsealed.

Despite being only 35 minutes’ by car, from Hobart, and a 20-minute ferry ride from Kettering, Bruny seems another world away. You can stay at one of the many bed and breakfast or cottage accommodation, and there are small grocery stores at Lunawanna and Adventure Bay,

Bruny Island is really about 50 kilometres long but appears to be two islands; North and South Bruny are joined by a narrow strip of land called The Neck.

This isthmus of land connects north and south Bruny Island. The Neck, as locals call it, is an important habitat for native wildlife. There are boardwalks and viewing platforms, at the The Neck Reserve, enabling you to watch short-tailed shearwaters and little penguins (also known as fairy penguins). These remarkable birds return to their burrows in the sand dunes at dusk—little penguins making their way up the beach in tight groups, and the shearwaters gliding in from the sea (from September through February). The Reserve has an interpretation board and during peak viewing times there is a Parks and Wildlife interpretation guide present at dusk. The best viewing period is during the warmer months—September to February.

Timber stairs lead from the dunes to the Neck lookout, offering stunning 360 degree views. You’ll find a memorial here to the indigenous Nuenonne people who lived on Lunnawannalonna (Bruny Island) before European settlement.

The Neck campground is just 20 metres from the beach and has several accessible, flat sites, car parking, picnic facilities and toilets.

To reach South Bruny Island, head south, crossing at The Neck to reach the park boundary near Adventure Bay or south of Lunawanna. Walks include the coastal track to Penguin Island and Fluted Cape, from Adventure Bay; beach walks on Cloudy Bay; or the full-day circuit of the Labillardiere Peninsula. An unsealed road links Lunawanna and Adventure Bay, giving wide, stunning south-westerly views. As you walk look out for Bennetts wallabies, pademelons, echidna and wombats. The lighthouse at Cape Bruny was built between 1836 and 1838 with convict labour.

In 1773 Tobias Furneaux, who was exploring the coastline with Captain James Cook, anchored his vessel, the Adventure (after whom the island's main bay has been named), off the island's coast. Four years later on 26 January, 1777 Cook sailed the Resolution and Discovery into Adventure Bay and stayed for two days. His contact with the Aborigines who lived on the island was amicable. In 1788 Captain Bligh anchored the Bounty in Adventure Bay and planted some seeds. It is claimed that Bligh was responsible for Tasmania’s apple industry. He returned in 1792. Bruny Island and the waterway between the Island and mainland Tasmania, however, is named for the French explorer, Bruni D'Entrecasteaux, who first explored the area in 1792.

To get to Kettering take the A6 Highway from Hobart to Highway B68 passing through Margate and Snug. The Bruny Island Ferry Service runs seven days a week and you can check the timetable at (03) 6273 6725.

Bruny Island Charters
Bruny Island Farm Tours
Bruny Island Ventures
Inala Nature Tours

Bruny Tourism Incs