Bruny Lighthouse, Cloudy Bay and Lunch at Bruny Premium Wines

18th Feb 2023

It is a bit overcast this morning and the temperature dropped significantly overnight to around 20 C currently. We are going to explore the western side of South Bruny, facing the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, this morning. There are not many roads on Bruny so we need to head North until we hit the main road which will allow us to head west towards Alonnah.

Once through Alonnah, and the only Hotel on the Island, Hotel Bruny, we  come to a T intersection with the Lighthouse to the right and Cloudy Bay to the left, both destinations we plan to go to. Firts off to the Lighthouse which is about 19 km of dirt road. Eventually we get to the entrance of the South Bruny National Park, Mabel Bay Lookout.

 

From this point on, the road is the responsibility of National Parks and the deterioration is significant. Progress to the Lighthouse is slow, but the scenery is well worth it when we arrive. 


                                            Finally the lighthouse comes into view

On arrival, like everywhere, parking is a problem, but eventually we get a spot near the walkway up to the lighthouse.


                                        It is just a short steep walk up to the lighthouse


Built in 1836, it is the second oldest lighthouse tower in Australia and was continuously manned for 158 years making it the longest continuously manned lighthouse in Australia.

                                        Walking track down to lighthouse beach

From the lighthouse's elevated position, the are some great views.


                                                         Lighthouse beach on the Tasman Sea


                    Looking west towards the entrance to the D'Entrecasteaux Channel

The weather looks like it might be closing in and we still have to get to Cloudy Bay, so it is back in the car and retracing our path to the turnoff to Cloudy Bay which is another 10 km of dirt road from the intersection.

Car parking at Cloudy Bay is even more crowded than the lighthouse and we park along the incoming road a fair way back from the beach. As we walk down the road there appears to be a lot of activity, with a reasonable crowd of people, a gazebo with a sausage sizzle under way, and a coffee van.

It is pretty cool, so we make a beeline for the coffee van.


                                                    Parking space is at a premium


                            Sausage sizzle raising money for the local school

                                                and, a most welcome sight, A coffee truck


The coffee truck was a pretty slick set up and we ended up talking to the young couple who owned it. Amazingly, they come from Mona Vale, and had been operating the truck at Mona Vale Beach whilst the new surf club was under construction. Once that was complete they hit the road, and is now their lifestyle, travelling and making a few dollars selling coffee. The coffee was very good.

Not only is the big crowd here a bit hard to explain, but there are people in the water surfing (it is bloody cold).


Coffees in hand, we take a walk along the beachside track where there seems to be plenty of traffic and a hundred metres or so a long the track we stumble upon a big crowd. It seems that we have turned up on the day of The Bruny Surfing Classic !


                                                     At first a few banners appear


                    and then around the corner, we come across the officials and contestants


   Driving on the beach seems OK, despite warning signs for beach walkers to be careful not to             step on breeding plover chicks which feed along the shoreline ?

It is beginning to rain and we are ready to get out of here. The coffee truck has packed up and is also ready to go. Only the hardy surfers and sausage sizzlers remain.

Lunch is our next priority and we hope to be able to get a table at Bruny Island Premium Wines, the most Southern winery in Australia. We had a meal here some years ago and it was excellent, so hope to repeat the experience today. By now it is bucketting down, hopefully the rain might keep a few lunch patrons away. 


Bruny Premium Wines



Fortunately we get a table out of the rain and cold, and the menu still includes a tasting platter of local produce which we enjoyed so much last time we were here. Washed down with a local Pale Ale and a Ginger and Apple Cider for Carole, we were in no hurry to head back out into the rain. The restaurant area has expanded quite a bit since we were last here.


 It rains quite heavily for almost all of the way back to Adventure Bay, which is disappointing as I was hoping to get a photo of the best looking beach here on the way home.

Hanssons Beach is not far from where we are, but the are very few places on the road you can pull over to get a photo. This is the best I could do in pretty ordinary weather.


Tonight we ate in again, but this time getting takeaway from Mary Bruny Cafe. I suspect the owners are Nepalese, very nice people who moved here from Strathfield 3 years ago and have only taken over this cafe in the last month or so. We tried their butter chicken and Cumin Lamb Curry both of which were very nice





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