Our first stop on the island was the Bruny Island House of Whisky, which is the first tourist point after driving off the ferry. After tying Moose up out the front to be greeted by numerous tourists walking past, we explored the various Tasmanian whiskies and spirits inside. I decided to try a gin and tonic with the Seclusion limited release gin which was excellent, while Dave sampled one of the famous Sullivans Cove whiskies.
We were rather peckish at this stage of the late afternoon (after having a light lunch at home) so drove to the Bruny Island Cheese Co where we sampled a few of their soft and hard cheeses, before deciding to get the George (a hard cheddar-like cheese) and a freshly baked baguette to take to our campsite as a pre-dinner snack.
As we had Moose with us, we were somewhat limited as to where we could camp, but we decided to check out the Captain Cook camping site at Adventure Bay. Arriving at about 5:30pm, it was already pretty busy (even for a Thursday), but we managed to find an empty spot not far from the beach. After enjoying some cheese and bread, we set up our tent for the evening, before heading off to grab some pub dinner at Hotel Bruny in Allonah (about a 15 minute drive from the campsite).
We arrived just as the sun was starting to set, and after ordering the fish platter to share, we sat outside with a glass of wine and a beer while watching the sun go down. The seafood was exceptionally fresh, with a mixture of oysters, smoked salmon, calamari, scallops and white fish, with a side of salad and fries. Even though we were pretty full, we decided to share some sticky date pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert before heading back to the campsite.
We were woken at about 6:30am the next day by Moose standing over our heads, as he had decided that it was time for us to get up, so I took him for a half hour walk along the beach at Adventure Bay as the sun rose. After returning to the campsite, we all had some breakfast (porridge for me, and cheese and bread for Dave) before packing up the tent and heading off to the Bruny Island Cafe for a coffee (along with a peanut choc chip cookie to share).
There were a few other foodie spots we wanted to hit up before heading back to Blackmans Bay (as we both had to work later that day), so we went via the Bruny Island Chocolate Co which is known for their homemade fudge (we picked up some of the caramel off-cuts) and the berry farm (where we sampled some of their lavender ice cream, as berry picking season had finished). After giving Moose a run along one of the secluded beaches that we drove past, we headed to the Bruny Island honey shop and got some manuka honey to take home.
As we were aiming to get the 12:30pm ferry home, we thought we'd get an early lunch back at the Bruny Island Cheese Co, where we shared the baked Otto cheese (a delicious soft cheese wrapped in prosciutto) served with baguette and condiments. Our final port of call was one last stop at the whisky house, as we wanted to get a bottle of the seclusion gin to take home.
We definitely squeezed a lot into our 24 hour getaway, but at the same time it didn't feel rushed, and I am very keen to head back to Bruny Island in the near future (particularly to go on one of the Bruny Island cruises to see more of Tassie's awesome nature and wildlife). Given that we can get there in less than an hour, I'm sure it won't be long before we are back on the beautiful island.
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