Tasmania
We were on a quick visit down south and decided to pay a visit to Bruny Island, which is about 40 minutes south of Hobart and then a short 15 minute ferry trip from Kettering across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel (named after the French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux). Bruny Island has three parts, the north island, the south island and the neck (that joins them). It's also a foodies paradise as we discovered!The ferry runs at very regular intervals and it's only $30 for a return trip for a car and all its passengers.
Most people seem to stay in their cars on the ferry but you are allowed to get out and wander around. The view is spectacular and it's generally a very smooth journey.
Bruny Island is known for many things and its a lovely place to spend a day or two travelling around. Whilst there are less than 1,000 people on the island it is actually around 100 kilometres in length. There are a few accommodation options but they are limited so get in early.
It has lovely scenery and views, plenty of food options, quite a bit of history and lots of wildlife - including fairy penguins and of course lots of sheep!
Everything there is smoked on site and many are also available to sample and all are available to enjoy in their licenced restaurant.
They have chutneys and preserves right through to smoked salmon, trout, duck, quails and chicken.
They also have wine tastings as well so you can settle in here for an afternoon.
It's open 7 days a week and as they have tastings and door sales its well worth dropping by - at least for a nibble as there's plenty to sample here!
Our next stop was Get Shucked - Bruny Island Oysters - an oyster outlet that has possibly the best oysters in the world.Get Shucked has been going since 2004 and it's obviously been going well as they are presently building a large shop/cafe/restaurant to handle the demand. For now there's a very unpretentious caravan - but don't be put off - this is a must see place and you must buy some oysters!
So are they the best in the world? It's a big call but these babies are amazing. We only grabbed six as a snack with a wedge of lemon to squeeze on them.Mlady isn't a big lover of oysters and she said they were delicious and the best she had ever had. I have to agree - they tasted like no other oyster I'd had before either. Get Shucked is open 7 days from 10am till 5pm in warmer months and till 4pm in cooler months.
Next stop, while still on North Bruny Island, was Bruny Island Cheese Company. This is a lovely place in a lovely setting and it's more than just a cheese shop as well. Yes you can taste their cheeses here - and they are very good. There's also a cafe and a bakery too. We grabbed some Otto - cows milk cheese wrapped in prosciutto. This is normally meant to be baked for around 10 to 15 minutes but can also be eaten as is. We also grabbed a loaf of organic wood-fired sourdough bread with olives.
Even though we bought the prosciutto wrapped cheese and the sourdough for later on we decided to grab a coffee here at the pretty little cafe.Then we decided we couldn't wait any longer to eat the cheese and the bread.
The people there were kind enough to give us a breadboard, knife and plates and it all tasted so good together that we gobbled it all down!
Any visit to Bruny Island would not be complete without going to the Neck. In fact you have to cross it to get from the north island to the south island - the neck is the thin strip of land that joins the two islands and it is spectacular. There's an amazing lookout right in the middle that gives you beautiful views of the neck and both the north and south islands. One side of the neck was choppy and the other was blue and clear - it was such an amazing contrast. There's also a memorial to Truganini and her difficult life story can be read here.
Shortly after hitting the south island we stopped off at Bruny Chocolate and Fudge Factory Shop. We're always keen to taste chocolate and after all the steps and the high winds at the neck we figured we'd earned a reward.
There's more fudge than chocolate here but we did sample some goodies and they were very tasty so we bought a few for later on.
We then travelled on to Bruny Island Berry Farm.
Even though we didn't get any berries we stopped for a drink and took in the beautiful views.
It's a really pretty place and in season it would be great to pick some berries and then sit back and have a drink afterwards!
Apart from the great food on Bruny Island and the picturesque views of lovely countryside, you do notice - lots of sheep!It's such a pretty place. We were made to feel welcome where ever we went.
Our regret - we should have had more oysters - lots more in fact as these were amazing.
Bruny Island is well worth visiting if you're in Hobart for a few days and feel like getting out a bit. People pop over there for a few days but you could probably fit in most of the main places in a day trip - particularly if you head over there early in the day.
There's plenty more information available from Bruny Tourism Inc.
