Grass Point and Fluted Cape Walk

17th Feb 2023 

The forecast today is for a very hot day in Tasmania, so we are keen to get our bushwalking out of the way this morning, and then be able to relax before it gets too hot. The plan is to do a combined bushwalk at the end of Adventure Bay which includes at walk to Grass Point, and then taking on a bit of a climb to complete the Fluted Cape walk which is a loop which will bring us back to our starting point.

Finding the starting point for the walk is not that easy. After failing to find the Bruny Island Cruises base yesterday, we drove around te bay, quite a bit further than we expected and eventually found the carpark and cruise centre complex. Where the walks started from was a bit more hit and miss, but eventually, after walking through the remains of an old caravan park, now occupied by wallabies, we found the beginning of the trail to Grass Point.

                              Remains of the caravan park with the wallaby custodian

                                         It looks like we are on the right track now

The beginning of the trail starts at the end of the beach where the daily Bruny Island Cruises leave from.

The trail is well maintained, flat and follows the coastline through a casuarina forest, where most undergrowth has been killed of by the casuarina needle coverage on the ground. It is a very calm morning and the views out over the bay are very scenic.

Along the track there a a lot of historical references to the whaling industry which was very active along this coast.

The track to Grass point is about 2km, and is a pretty easy walk culminating in some great scenery of bird colonies and rocks covered in future fertiliser. 

Backtracking a few hundred metres along the Grass Point Trail, there is another trail that leads to Fluted Cape which is on the list of one of the best walks on the island, so we decide to take it on. The track is pretty much uphill all of the way, initially with only a modest incline as it follows the edge of the headland. The scenery is spectacular and Fluted Cape starts to appear.

We marvel at the view and expect that we have now seen it and that the trail will now head back inland towards the carpark. Little did we realise that we were on our way to the very top of the cape you can see in this photo. We have a long, steep walk ahead of us.

As we climb higher we catch glimpses of the sheer coastline and see the Bruny Island Cruise boats coming into the little bays around the sheer cliffs on their daily cruise trips.

Dolerite columns that have eroded to free then from the cliff face stand out occasionally along the cliff face.

Finally at the top of the cape we can see all of North Bruny and the neck that connects the two islands

The walk is a loop and the return walk is much easier going, as it travels inland, and is not as steep, but you still need to watch your footing as the ground is very rocky and uneven.

It seems to take forever to get back to the carpark. The whole walk has taken 2.5hrs and we reckon we have covered around 7 km.

Back in the car park 2 wallabies are sizing each other up.

Needing a comfort stop we go into the  the Bruny Island Cruise building which houses there booking office and a substantial restaurant.

The restaurant is packed, but plenty of room outside in the sweltering heat

As a reward for our physical efforts we decide to drive to Bruny Island Oysters to have oysters and a cold beer for lunch. As with everywhere here at the moment, we are greeted with a packed restaurant and join the queue to get our oysters and were lucky to get somewhere to sit.

It was worth the drive to get here, these have got to be some of Australia's best oysters

On the way back to the caravan park, we stopped in at the chocolate factory and bought of few treats to have with coffee.

By now it is getting very hot, well into the 30's, so we retreat back to the cabin in search of shelter.

Tonight we again cooked at home, which is much easier than searching out a restaurant some distance way.