The car ferry to Bruny Island takes about 20 minutes from Kettering. A strong wind was blowing from the west straight down the little bay - so what's new - but the crossing was uneventful. Once on the island we headed down to Adventure bay where we booked our boat trip around the south-eastern part of South Bruny Island. After that we had a few days to explore the almost-two islands which are actually one, being joined by "The Neck", a long isthmus of sand dune which is a penguin rookery. A walkway of 238 steps (but who's counting…) takes you to the top for a fantastic view and the opportunity to be blown off the edge of the platform. Did I mention the winds?

We settled into a NP camp just south of the Neck and invited the three young travellers to join us around the fire: a Canadian girl, a German girl and an English boy, the latter two on a gap year having only just finished school this year.

We started the next day by finding a 4WD track through the South Bruny Range. It had been raining, and while the track was not overly difficult, it was very slippery. This track took us quite a way south and we made for Cape Bruny and Bruny Lighthouse. The lighthouse is now automated but has the distinction of being the second oldest in Tas and the longest in commission, 150 years all up. Again it was blowing a gale which doesn't encourage long stays anywhere!

An explore of North Bruny was just a leisurely drive - there just aren't that many roads to go down, but unlike the south where forests and national parks predominate, the north is mostly farmland and holiday shacks.

The highlight of the stay in Bruny was a boat trip around the east of the island to the southernmost point. The Pennington trip is in small aluminium rigid inflatable boats, half covered and holding about 40 people. Three huge outboards on the back are needed to plough through the rough seas. Whilst travelling down the eastern side of South Bruny, the seas were very rough with a swell of around 4-5 metres, but we were steered right in close to the rocks and the breaking waves with great precision. We saw a side of the island not possible any other way, huge towering cliffs of columnar dolerite, tall pillars reaching high out of the water, arches and seacaves, and on Friar Rock south of the main island, a fur seal colony. Once we actually moved south out of the "shelter" of the island we were in the Southern Ocean and the wind really picked up. Your face felt like it was being flattened out and pushed past your earlobes such was the strength of the gale. And the waves rose commensurate with the increase in the wind strength! It was quite exhilarating!! And cold…

On the way back we turned to follow a pod of Common Dolphins, many with babies, which promptly decided to swim all around the boat, leaping into the air regularly and providing a spectacle for everyone to enjoy.