SO Day 1 on Bruny Island didn’t involve as much exploration as I’d planned, but at least it was a fitting introduction to the State’s arachnid population. Waking up on Day 2, my first priority was to text the homeowner to enquire about the possible presence of ‘Australian funnel-web spiders’ on his property (they’re one of two species on the island that have a potentially-lethal bite… thanks, Google). He replied and explained that the overwhelming likelihood was that they were “house spiders“. Let me repeat that for all of you Canadians out there, they were called house spiders. He further elaborated that, similar to a Whitetail Spider, if one were to be bitten by one of these alleged “house spiders”, it wouldn’t be lethal, but it would likely be painful and leave quite the mark- yeah, no thanks. Those certainly didn’t sound like things that I wanted to experience. I thanked him for weighing in, said it was “no worries”, and accepted that I’d be sleeping in my car burrito again.

Proceeding with my day, I’d planned to start with a hike along the Fluted Cape Walk, then visit Adventure Bay, and do a bit more lurking around the cheese shop at the North end of the island- no time to waste on thinking about spiders.

The trailhead for the Fluted Cape Walk was about 40 minutes from my Air B&B, so I got an early start on the day (hahaha nahhhh- sleep is king and I left at 9AM- the trail wasn’t going anywhere). When I arrived at the trailhead, I grabbed my GoPro and backpack, which contained water, snacks, my towel, and extra GoPro batteries. I stopped a few times to take photos of the ‘Fluted Cape Walk’ sign and to awkwardly explain to my GoPro that I was about to go on a hike. I think this might have been the first hike I had the GoPro with me so, naturally, I was very comfortable explaining my plans to the screen (*eye roll*). Off I went.

The Fluted Cape Walk is located in South Bruny National Park, which is on the East side of the island. The trail is about 6.3 KM long and, according to the All Trails app I use when I hike, it’s rated as being of ‘moderate’ difficulty. The trail starts along some fairly level, ‘beachy’ terrain and had me feeling quite cocky about acing the “moderate” trail without breaking a sweat. However, one thing I’ve learned with hikes is not to trust it when the beginning seems docile; it’s often a ruse that Mother Nature has concocted to make you feel overly confident. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I found myself going up an incline that runs along the cliff. The inclined stretch was fairly shaded by trees and there were a lot of open spaces between the trees along the cliff’s edge. If you glance towards the edge as you climb, the views through the trees, and in the open sections, are insane and definitely make it worth the effort (please note that I said “glance” because I wouldn’t advise walking up that trail without keeping a keen eye on the ground – there are lots of roots just sitting there, waiting for you, and you will stumble…take my word for it). The Fluted Cape Walk eventually brings hikers to a fork (make your choice, left or right), which takes you on a loop around the perimeter of the point. It’s advised, and apparently signage (that I missed) indicates, that hikers work their way around the point in a clockwise fashion. BUT, if you’re feeling rebellious, I’d advise going against the grain by opting to go counter-clockwise, like I accidentally did. The main reason I’d advocate for this route, is because you’ll end the loop with sweeping views of Adventure Bay, rather than starting with those vistas. All-in-all, the trail took me about two hours to complete, as I followed my typical ‘hiking style’. For the record, my ‘hiking style’ is defined by a combination of two speeds- I’m either cooking it along the trail because I want to see how quickly I can complete it, or I’m stopped for a million minutes to take photos, set up time-lapse photos of myself walking around, or to talk to the camera. Overall, the trail was fantastic and, if you ever find yourself in South Bruny National Park, I’d definitely recommend it! I promise that you’ll be met with a bit of a workout, stunning views, and some one-on-one time with nature and fresh ocean air (#winning).

Stop #2 for my day was Adventure Bay, which I’d been lurking through the trees during my morning hike. I was there during the shoulder season, so it wasn’t too busy or bustling, compared to what I imagine (and read) their warmer months are like. That was perfect for me, though, since I’m not the biggest fan of crowds, particularly on beaches.

It doesn’t take long to figure out why Adventure Bay is a hotspot for vacationers, both locals and out-of-towners, alike. It’s a large bay that offers stunning views, lots of space for people to walk around or park their towels for the day, and is a stone’s throw from vacation cottages that line the road that runs alongside the shore.

I took my shoes off and spent some time walking up and down the beach, wondering what animals might be hanging out in the water and thinking about what cheese I wanted to try later that day…you know, important things. I also gazed up at the cliffs on either side of the bay quite a bit. Ever since I started wearing glasses for distance, I’ve done this ‘thing’ when I’m looking at a beautiful view. I’ll take off my glasses for a few seconds, so I can absorb the blurry view. Then I’ll put them back on, so I can shock myself with how, all of a sudden, the view looks like it’s in high definition. I’m telling you, it works.

After taking my glasses on-and-off a few times, and taking a quick dip in the chilly water, I decided it was time to start making my way up to the Bruny Island Cheese Company. Before actually stopping there, though, I visited what is known as ‘The Neck’ of Bruny Island. ‘The Neck’ is a small strip of land that connects the bulk of the island to the side where the ferry from Kettering deposits its passengers. About halfway along the road that runs through ‘The Neck’, there’s a spot where you can park and walk around. One of the options at this spot is to enjoy a series of boardwalks that run over the sandy banks and lead you lower down towards the water. In the early morning and late evening, if you follow those boardwalks to the end, you’ll find yourself in a pretty cool spot. There is signage explaining that a colony of Little Penguins (also known as ‘Fairy Penguins’) live in the grasses and banks around the boardwalks. Fun fact: the reason why the penguins can be seen during those times, is because they journey to-and-from the ocean before it’s light out, so aerial predators are less likely to spot them. You guys, not only are the penguins clever, but they are also adorable. I’d seen the ‘march of the penguins’ (which refers to the penguins waddling between their homes and the ocean) a few times outside of Melbourne and was stoked at the prospect of getting to witness the spectacle in a more intimate environment (me sitting on a bench, rather than a large group of people seated on concrete, almost stadium-style seating). It’s asked that people sit very quietly during these times (and step lightly at all times), in order to respect their natural habitat and the fact that we’re visitors to their home base. When I was there, the penguins were busy hunting out in the ocean, but I made the mental note that this was where I’d be after dinner that night, so I could observe the penguins coming home for the evening. Even though they would likely give no cares about me or my day, I was down for supervising the final stint of their trek home.

In addition to the boardwalks, there is a well-known staircase at the stop on ‘The Neck’ where one can climb up to get some insane views. Since I was planning on having an evening of carb-overload, I climbed the stairs, did my ‘glasses thing’ a few times, and took my photos and videos. By this point, it was mid-afternoon and I headed to pick-up more cheese, before going back to the Air B&B to quickly freshen up for dinner (saved the cheese for dessert).

For my second and final night on Bruny Island, I decided to gather my gear and head back over to the local hotel for my last supper in Tasmania. I ordered myself their steak and chips, with a lovely local stout to wash it down (treat yo’self), and headed outside to the picnic benches that overlooked the water for my ‘dinner with a view’.  I parked myself at the end of one of the tables and delved into my book, while breathing in the fresh Tasmanian late-afternoon air and sipping on my pint.  Shortly after, my food arrived.

As I sat and took bites between page turns, I noticed a group of gentlemen pass the wooden, hip-height fence in front of me and enter the hotel restaurant. Only minutes later, one of the men popped out onto the deck and asked if I would mind him eating at my table (at that point, the other picnic tables were occupied by other parties). After happily inviting him to have a seat and enjoy the beautiful view, he mentioned (warned) that we would soon be joined by four of his “rather ordinary” friends.  I’m a pretty sarcastic person and, at that point, I had been living in Australia long enough to know that him describing his friends as “rather ordinary” was, 100%, a sarcastic poke at them. Again, not much time passed and we were joined by the remainder of his party.

Despite the friendly, jovial vibe these five gents gave off, I kept to myself and didn’t want to intrude on their group supper. This was a tough one for me, though, because they were clearly funny, chatty people and I love getting amongst that kind of crowd. Lucky for me, after only a few minutes of their quick-witted banter, I became a curiosity to them and they began to pepper me with questions about my book, then my “accent” (still so weird to think I have an accent), and then my general presence in Tasmania. I am a pretty open-minded traveler and am always enthusiastic to participate in conversation with new people. As such, It didn’t take long for me to close my book and welcome the ‘dinner company’ of these friendly Australians (Spoiler alert: they were from the Melbourne region- what whaaatttttt).

As you know, my initial plan for that evening had been to mow down my dinner, enjoy the sunset, and then toddle on down the road to await the homecoming of the Little Penguins on ‘The Neck’ of Bruny Island. Though, continuing to enjoy the wonderful company that had wandered out and joined me at the picnic bench struck me as being ‘one of those unique travel experiences’ that I just couldn’t pass up. So, rather than excusing myself to go and hangout with the penguins (which would have been awesome, as well), I spent the next few hours sipping wine, nibbling on fries, and listening to these gentlemen regale me with stories about their previous travels to places like Madagascar. They detailed ‘shocking’ experiences in backpacking, the joys of retirement, and what a wonderful time they’d had on (what they were calling) their ‘Licensed Establishment Crawl’ through Tasmania (meaning bars). In addition to offering up an array of stories and anecdotes from their travels, these guys were a pretty inquisitive bunch. They asked me heaps of questions about my trip so far, my interest in the environment, my obsession with Melbourne’s ‘laneway culture’, what had brought me to Australia, and what my plans were for the future. We discussed the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules Football, “AFL”) and they had me justify my allegiance to the Essendon Bombers, which I was more than happy to do. Only one of them agreed that The Bombers were the correct team for me to support and we immediately bonded over our opinion that The Bombers will one-day rise to #1. When they decided to head out, they wished me well on my trip and travels. I wished them all the best for the rest of their ‘Licensed Establishment Crawl’. They headed out through the restaurant and, when they reemerged and passed by the fence (wandering all over the road and nattering about the evening ocean view), we exchanged one last ‘farewell’.

At first glance, it might have seemed like I had absolutely nothing in common with a group of retirees who were on an annual ‘catch-up trip’. BUT what we had in common was an openness to chatting with new people. We all exercised that ‘traveller’s mindset’ and made an effort to learn about each other’s adventures and stories. These commonalities led to a wonderful evening that was spent bonding over our passions for travel and sustainability, as well as sharing a few laughs over the respective travel misadventures we’d all encountered. As I headed home, I was smiling like an idiot the entire way (that happens a lot with me when I’m traveling). I may have missed out on mingling-from-a-distance with the penguins, but I’d just had the most unexpected and engaging evening of conversation. I will always be so grateful that those guys invited me to join their evening; it truly was the most perfect way to end my trip through Tasmania (and my last side trip in Australia….at least, for now).