Tues, 30th Dec, 2014 Howden boat ramp to The Neck Campground, Bruny Island

Woke to heavy rain at 7am. By 8am it had cleared so we packed up and headed off. Lovely view as we leave.

Stopped at Margate to read the Huon Trail sign. In 1802 two small French ships moored in the bay here. Interesting history.

Down to Kettering and lined up to board the ferry.

We had the best view as we headed across D’Entrecasteaux Channel, unfortunately it was a rainy day but at least it was calm.

15 minute trip then we were disembarking at Roberts Point.

Past a cherry stall then up a hill – yes even Bruny Island is covered in hills. Turned south past lots of open pastures. The rain keeps coming across in scuds. Looking over Great Bay. Will check it out when the sun is shining.

Onto the thin ‘neck’ between North and South Bruny and onto dirt road. Now the truck and van will be dirty!! Past the Penguin Rookery and into The Neck Campground. A caravan was pulling out so got his nice flat spot and set up in between rain showers. The sun peaks out for a bit then down comes some more rain. I prepared Lamb Shanks in the Ecopot for tea then Steve tried the TV to see if we get reception. All else fails we can watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks on TV.

Lots of walks etc here so we will be busy for a few day. That’s if we get some better weather as the weather forecast at 2pm said 40 knot wind gusts this afternoon with rain covering Tasmania – yeah!! Can’t have perfect weather all the time. Listening to the sad news about the plane crash into Storm Bay who were following the Yacht race. That following the other airline crash – sad end to the year.

Read all the info – The island was first sighted in 1642 by Abel Tasman. Captain Cook visited Adventure Bay in 1777 with the ships “Resolution” and “Discovery”. Captain Bligh visited Bruny four times and it was from here that he left on the “Bounty” for Tahiti, sailing towards the famous mutiny. The French explorer Bruni D’Entrecasteaux (after whom the island is named) also visited in 1836 at the southern end of the island. John Archer, the colonial architect designed the lighthouse and 13 meter tower at Cape Bruny. The tower was built by convict labour from local stone.

Went for a walk to the beach of Adventure Bay which faces the open ocean below Storm Bay. Looks beautiful at the moment as the storm clouds are behind me.

Looking north to the Big Hummock where the penguin rookery is.

One patch of the beach had heaps of shells. These flat ones we get at Woodgate and make a great wind chime. We collected a heap so might make one!!

Haven’t seen these birds before. (Found out at the Bruny Lighthouse Museum that they are Pied Oyster Catchers.)

The sea is lovely and clear though the wind is freezing.

Decided to go for a drive and check out the other campgrounds in South Bruny. Down through two little towns, up and down hills and on dirt road again. Stopped at a lookout over Mabel Bay. Looking across to the other side of South Bruny.

A bit further round is another lookout looking over Lighthouse Bay to Cape Bruny Lighthouse.

Turned off to check out the campground at Jetty Beach in Great Taylors Bay. Narrow dirt road down to a treed campground. Room for the van if we wish. These are under National Parks so still costs us $10 a night.

A Huon Trail sign about the Bay and the Lighthouse. Even though the lighthouse started in 1838 it was another 130 years before there was a road linking it to the other towns. The lighthouse had to be serviced by sea and supplies were landed at Jetty Beach then along a track to the lighthouse which then became Bruny’s first road.

Walked down to the boat ramp and on to the beach.

Nice and calm here. Inviting except for the seaweed and clear jellies.

We saw big black cloud coming so we headed back up the hill. Lovely view.

Got to the truck before the rain fell again.  Back out again and then down to Cape Bruny Lighthouse.

Looking down over Lighthouse Bay.

There are three cottages here for the Lighthouse Keepers. This one was the Relief Lighthouse Keepers cottage and is now the Museum. The original house has been removed but we can see the foundations on our way up to the lighthouse.

The wind is howling up here so the forecast of 40 knot winds might be right. We had our jumpers but no wind jackets. Luckily the Museum was warm. Lots of information to read.

Weather Observations have been recorded since 1871 and they had some old books on show.

The lighthouse construction started in 1836 after more ships were being shipwrecked. It was completed in 1838, using Sperm Whale oil to run 15 lamps. It was turned by a clockwork drive mechanism till 1961 then an electric motor was installed.

The lighthouse ceased operation in 1996 when the automatic beacon was installed on the other hill. It is Tasmania’s 3^rd oldest lighthouse and fourth oldest in Australia.

As whale oil was getting too expensive they changed to kerosene. This was the set up and to keep the lamps burning the keeper had to pump up the bottle every hour.

On the wall the volunteers who have done so much work preserving this area and collecting information have posters about birds, animals and plants in the area. Found the bird we saw on the beach.

Climbed up the path – straight up!!

 Amazing how they built this – maybe the wind doesn’t blow this hard all the time!!

Peered inside.

The generators, batteries and radio were installed in sheds on these concrete slabs.

The children of the lighthouse keepers used to cross over to this green area which is Court Island.

Looking towards The Friars off the end of the larger side of South Bruny.

The wind nearly blew us over but got a few photos before the rain chased us down again. Dark clouds heading towards us but the sun still shines. If it was a clear day we would be able to see the South East Cape which is the southern most point of Australia.

Looking over Quiet Bay with its dolerite cliffs to Southport area at the end of the E'Entrecasteaux Channel.

Looking north over the cottages and Lighthouse Bay.

Spotted this little bunny as we are running down the hill. Must have been a pet compared to the normal brown ones.

Quick photo of  the site of the first Lighthouse Keepers cottage (on the way down from the tower).

Into the truck till that squall passed over. The wind is so strong it rocked the truck.

The wind speed meter was whizzing.

Wandered down the beach track to find the graves of two children that have died here, and their many pets.

These rocks were used to determine the swell height. Steve said it says the swell is 1.5 metres.

Lighthouse Bay looks so nice and tranquil till you look out to where the wind is whipping it up.

The rain came down again so ran back to the Museum. Found the Keepers timeclock. They had to turn their key to clock in and out from duty.

Looking out the window at Lighthouse Bay now all wet and whipped up by the rain squall.

As we were driving off there was a lovely rainbow.

Back out of the National Park and down into a flat area behind Cloudy Bay Lagoon. For a small island with so many hills there is still alot of grazing area.

Special little bay – called Daniel’s Bay. 

 Drove down to the boat ramp – no room here for us to camp! There is a lovely old home in the distance on the edge of the bay which would be a great holiday home though it is a very shallow bay.

Turned off at Lunawanna and headed down to the other camp areas at Cloudy Bay. Pines Camp is only a little area but there is no fee and no beach. Further down at Whalebone Point we saw some 4WDs heading along the beach to the other campground at Cloudy Corner. Not for us with the van and you have to still pay there.

Some homes on top of the dunes. The one on the left won the Australian Beach House Award in 2010.

Dashed out of the car for a quick photo of the info board. There is a walk around to Whalebone Point which we will do another day.

Turned to head back and another lovely full rainbow.

Back up the road with Mount Midway Forest Reserve beside us and another part of a rainbow. One minute we have rain next it is bright sunshine.

A wallaby jumped across the road then a white one. We had read about them being here. He jumped into the bush but we could still see him so I got out and took this photo – you can see the white in the bush but he jumped away before I could get a better photo. Didn’t see another one but we know they are here and will keep an eye out.

Steve spotted this mackerel letterbox.

Into Alonnah, looking at Satellite Island.

Tasmania mainland in the background.

There are Salmon ponds there – saw some as we left the ferry area too.

This jetty is working well protecting the boats. It was previously part of a floating bridge in Hobart between 1943 and 1964.

Info about the walk from Alonnah to Sheepwash Bay. Will do it when the weather is a bit nicer.

Back to the van to warm up with a nice cup of tea – boy are we getting old!! Yummy lamb shanks warmed us up too.

A knock on the door and a neighbour wanted to ask questions about the truck. We get a lot of that!! He wanted to know about the solar panels etc. The wind is still howling but we are protected here which is good. The rain has stopped for a while.