Tasmania – IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY………..

Here we were, on Bruny Island, and right at the doorstep of a Wilderness Journey which has been tagged “One of the Greatest 100 Trips of the World” (by Travel and Leisure 2008 Year Book). Of course, we HAD to do it ! As we were staying in Adventure Bay, the departure point for the trip, we wandered down to the booking office late one afternoon and decided to book for the following day as strong winds were forecast for the day after.

The morning dawned and it was pouring with rain. Not just pouring, teeming with rain, relentlessly and driving. Heavy wet stuff combined with wind and a chill temperature of about 8C. If we had been at home, we would have cancelled the trip and stayed by the fire, or at least indoors. However, this is Tasmania and the weather changes hourly, so feeling optimistic we set out for the warm coffee shop alongside the office. The rain continued to pour and the fog set in and I was thinking “this is hopeless, we won’t see anything…” but I was wrong. As we set off for the jetty to board the Yellow Boat, miraculously the rain stopped!

The boats are named the 4WD of the sea and are designed to cruise in all weather every day of the year. They are safe and comfortable and look like a jet boat with zodiac sides which apparently allows for manoeuvrability and gets close to cliff faces and into sea caves.

Once aboard we were given floor length wet weather gear complete with hoods and told to put them on as it was likely there would be spray and it would be cold! Once that was done the skipper handed out ginger tablets and then told everyone this was an adventure trip – not a luxury cruise – and to expect the unexpected. Here we are in our glamorous attire:

We set off out off Adventure Bay, round Penguin island and travelled along the spectacular coastline towards some rocks known as The Friars. All the while the skipper was talking about the early history of Adventure Bay, of the aboriginals and the early explorers. The co skipper, a lovely girl called Belinda, then spoke about the wildlife and what we would be seeing. These included Australian and New Zealand Fur Seals, Dolphins, Seabirds by the hundred and perhaps Whales.

The cliffs were amazing and are 272m Jurassic Dolerite sea cliffs formed 160 million years ago. Apparently they are among the tallest in the world. This was awesome. We saw “Breathing Rock” which was a blow hole and quite incredible, went into deep sea caves and passed through some narrow gaps between sheer cliffs which had our hearts in our mouths – the skipper had obviously done this many times before! We drifted out to the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Southern Ocean and luckily for us it was relatively calm.

Yes, we went through this gap….

And this one….

The Blow Hole

There are giant kelp forests – and many of them. It was everywhere and is fascinating stuff. It’s a wonder someone doesn’t farm it – but maybe they do.

We found hundreds of seals basking on the rocks and they were quite unperturbed by our presence. The smell and the noise they make is something else!

Note the kelp growing along the edge of the rock and the high tide mark.

There were thousands of birds all with their own habits – the albatross are among my favourite and watching them take off from the ocean, fly around and come in to land is quite fascinating.

Other birds were nesting on the rocks and clearly had hierarchy !

We drifted into calm bays and then ventured into the wild ocean and all the while the rain stayed away and the sun even appeared. It was a magnificent day and one I would thoroughly recommend to anyone who is in Hobart or on Bruny island.

On the way back – and feeling good!

The calm of Adventure Bay.

For more information about the tour go to:www.pennicottjourneys.com.au

After a full three days in Canberra we joined Chel and Rob and drove to Melbourne to pick up the car ferry – Spirit of Tasmania – for the overnight trip to Devonport. This was the third time we have done this voyage and so knew exactly what to expect! The drive to Melbourne took about 7 hours with a couple of stops along the way. We had lunch at Benalla at the wonderful art gallery overlooking the river and situated in the Botanic gardens.

The current exhibition is called “Dawn till Dusk” Gifts of Light and Landscape and is well worth visiting if you are in the area. As usual the lunch was excellent and the break was refreshing.

Then it was on to Melbourne in time for boarding at 5.30pm. The sun began to set and as we sat in the line up, we observed wonderful colours and light on the water.

Fortunately it was calm weather as crossing Bass Strait can be very rough and hazardous, even in a large ship such as what we were on with six decks of cars, two decks of cabins and a deck of entertainment, restaurants and sleeper seats.

Arriving from Melbourne — Photo courtesy of Spirit of Tasmania

After a gourmet dinner and beautiful Tasmanian wines, we retired to our cabins and were woken at 5.45am on arrival in Devonport.

Our destination was Bruny Island, at the bottom of Tasmania and which is accessed by vehicular ferry. Something I didn’t realise is that Bruny is the same size in land mass as Singapore which has a population of 6 million and Bruny only has 650 permanent residents!

We stopped in Hobart to shop for supplies for the house we were renting and, as always, went to Salamanca Place where there is the most divine Deli. Tasmania is known for its produce – wines, cheeses, fish, meats and so forth and here was everything we could wish for all under one roof!

Hobart is beautiful at this time of year – all the leaves are changing colour and there is a crispness in the air. This is the car park at Salamanca Place.

Then it was on to Kettering where we caught the little ferry. A pretty little port village with a large marina, the area thrives on all things marine and visitors come daily to take the ferry, with or without cars. The journey takes about 15 minutes and once on the other side, you have reached another world!